11 Sonatas for Solo Violin or Viola

       Five of the sonatas (violin edition, #4, 6, 7, 10 and 11) were premiered at Duke University on March 31, 2006 in a program with Eric Pritchard, three of his students, and a friend of mine (Lin-Ti Wang). Eric played Sonatas 1, 10, and 11 on his faculty recital on January 14, 2007. The recordings of #6 and 7 are added to the synthesized versions below; you may see the program to the first here.  Eric recorded #1, 10, and 11 again in October 2009 with better surroundings, more takes, and some engineering, so those recordings are included here. I gave an introductory talk in '06 (click here for the recording) that may be a touch hard to understand due to the heavy reverb in the hall. A better recording (and shorter talk!) is from the '07 recital here. Many thanks to the musicians.

       Mary Kay Robinson performed the Sonata #4 in Brevard NC on February 15, 2009.

       Here is the score to the entire set of 11 Sonatas for Solo Violin (or Solo Viola) in PDF format, much more convenient than downloading each movement in Finale.

           These sonatas were written between 1975 and 2003 in a rather complex pattern of starts and stops, composition and disposal, editing and recopying. I wrote a solo violin sonata in the spring of 1975, and based my now-eliminated First Symphony based on its ideas; dissatisfied, I completely re-wrote it in January 1979, saving little from the original. I revised the first movement again in the spring of 1991 and the last movement in 2002. The second sonata came along in 1976, composed for Deborah Moreland’s 18^th birthday as a two-movement work. I rewrote both movements in 1991, and in 2002 reversed their order and added a third movement written in 1991. (In addition, in 1975 I wrote a sonata for solo ‘cello or viola, but discarded it later.)

            In 1979 I decided to write a total of 64 movements in 21 sonatas for solo violin, correlating each movement to a hexagram of the “I Ching”—not by using chance to determine things, as John Cage did, but just as a kind of unifying device and as an illustration of the nature of each hexagram. As I finished the 21 sonatas, my arthritis became severe enough that I could no longer play violin, and the sonatas remained unperformed.

            In 1991 I made an electric violin which I used for six months. It appeared that I was going to be able to play again, so I went back to work on the 21 sonatas, throwing out the weaker movements, rewriting those that had promise, and keeping the ones that were fine as they stood. This made the new total of 16 sonatas with about a third completely new material. However after this six month period I was no longer able to play, both physically and due to other complications. At this time, when I was forced to vacate my dwelling, my landlord threw away all my compositions that had been copied in ink.

            There followed ten years where making music was neither possible nor something I could bear the thought of doing; I had no reason to believe that there was anyone interested in my work, having found no performers, and the strain of giving with nothing coming back had made further production impossible. Finally, in late 2001 and early 2002, I had a stable life studying physics at NCSU, an old piano, housing, and access to a woodshop. I made two electric violins, a 4-string and a 6-string, that I held like a ‘cello, with an assistive device to hold up my bow-arm. I could only play for a limited time before it became too painful, but the new attempt at performance inspired me to rework once again my old solo violin sonatas, including arrangements for viola and 6-string violin. (I located two copies of the old 21 sonatas that I had given to violinists, return unperformed, and also recovered pencil drafts from the 1991 revisions—thus recovering from the landlord’s editorial judgment.) This led to once again throwing away weaker movements and a radical re-ordering of the remaining ones in sets of three or four to make eleven sonatas that are reasonably consistent. The grouping is arbitrary, though, and in performance it is perfectly respectable for the violinist to pick whatever movements seem appropriate and play them in the order of his or her choice.

            By spring of 2003, it became clear that the arthritis was too advanced and my attempt at a return to performance had to end. By great good fortune, the Age of the Internet came to pass, and lo, when Eric Pritchard saw the early version of this website, he became curious--and there followed his participation and performances. In time, he will make a complete studio recording of all 11 sonatas. As you can hear, he has a fine appreciation for the idiom, and the technique and musical feeling to do a wonderful rendition of any of the sonatas.

          Any violinist interested in this music may download the violin sonata scores (viola edition)or may contact me for a printed, bound copy.