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Programme Note

First performance:
April 24, 2012
Cho-Liang Lin, violin
Jon Kimura Parker, piano
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
New York, NY

Composer note:
Sonata No. I for Violin and Piano is described in that way because I wish to continue to write for this combination: I worked concurrently on another sonata (No. 2?) of quite different character. The headings suggest the nature of the movements as they begin, but they often move in other directions. The boundaries between the movements are sometimes blurred. The natural pulse of musical thought, relying more on aural confidence than heady structural logic guides the narrative. This sonata is the second of my pieces to receive its first performance at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, twenty-eight years after the premiere of Twilight Music, for horn, violin, and piano.

— John Harbison

Movements:
I. Sinfonia: Grave
II. Intermezzo: Grazioso
III. Aria: Tranquillo
IV. Rondo: Con allegria
V. Poscritto: Misterioso