A "London" Sonata
Jay Anthony Gach
About this work:
The title of this large scale solo piano piece, perhaps best describes what the piece is not rather than what it is. Formally, it bears no resemblance to traditional sonata form and there is nothing “Londonish” about the musical materials. But I did write the piece while living in London and even today the term sonata can still be useful in suggesting the scope of large-scale solo pieces.
Of the many kinds of music presented in this sonata I should point out the appearance of a Mormon hymn – partly authentic, partly recomposed by me –which serves as the signpost announcing the final section of the sonata. This entire section is written in memory of Aaron Copland who died around the time I was composing this sonata. He was very fond of American hymns and spirituals and, indeed, his most heartfelt music effects the spirit and piety of this genuine tradition.
I like to think of my London Sonata as continuing a kind of music tradition having its most immediate roots in the piano music of Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland: three of many American composers who sought to forge an American School of composition and whose later careers suffered unjustly during the nihilistic ascendancy of twelve-tone music in the USA.
JAG 93
Commissioned by the Third British
Contemporary Piano Competition 1994
Year composed: 1993
Duration: 16:00:40
Ensemble type: Keyboard:Piano
Instrumentation: