Govinda Sonata

Govinda Sonata

for Flute or Violin and Piano

early March--May 11, 2006
Duration: about 16 minutes for Eric Pritchard

Eric Pritchard and Randall Love's recording at
Duke University October, 2009 cover

MP3 recording WAV recording (CD quality)

PDF Violin Score Violin part Cover

PDF Flute Score Flute part Cover

Introduction to WHQR broadcast by Pat Marriott

(September 8, 2008) mp3

I. Flavors of Devotion
   Allegro bhagavata    [7:23]

II. Largo Govinda
   Dark and lovely    [6:56]

III. Power and Light
   Vivace Sivaratri    [5:37]

Program Notes (by Pat Marriott)

In 2006 I was inspired to write a piece for flute and piano, as I had nothing like that in my list of compositions to date. I have been involved with devotion to Krishna (among many other spiritual paths) for decades and thought this would be a good vehicle for making music in the manner of bhakti yoga. I was in contact with two friends who are flutists and originally devoted this flute sonata to them; however they never performed the work. As of 2017, the flute edition remains unperformed and unrecorded.

          Historically, there has been much interplay between flute and violin music, and here is no exception. I started making music with violinist Eric Pritchard in early 2006, and so I made the version for violin and piano for him to play.
          About some of the terms used in the score; Govinda is another name of Krishna, which means literally “protector of cows”. Bhagavata means a devotee of Bhavavan, a name of God, as well as a tradition of devotion to Krishna. Shivaratri is an annual Hindu festival in reverence to Shiva.
          This violin and piano edition was first performed at Duke University on March 1, 2008, by Eric Pritchard, violin, and Randall Love, piano. They recorded this sonata at Duke in October 2009.
          Accidentals hold through the measure and not beyond, and do not refer to other octaves. Eric Pritchard edited the violin part. In 2022, I changed the format from legal-size to letter-size paper, which is easier to print and use on electronic music readers. Also, I made an arrangement for E flat clarinet at the request of Fred Jacobowitz; the pianist can use the flute and piano score for this.

Musician Biographies

Randall Love, pianist, native of Colorado, teaches piano and fortepiano at Duke. He has performed at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC, the Boston Early Music Festival, and the Schubert Club in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has performed Bill Robinson's music on several occasions.

Eric Pritchard, violinist, has been a member of Ciompi Quartet since 1995 and was formerly the first violinist of the Alexander and Oxford Quartets. Mr. Pritchard has taught at Miami University, San Francisco State University, City University of New York and the North Carolina School of the Arts. He was winner of the National Federation of Music Clubs Award in Violin as well as the first-prize winner at the Portsmouth (England) International String Quartet Competition and the Coleman and Fischoff national chamber music competitions. He has performed widely as a recitalist and as soloist with the Boston Pops and orchestras in Europe and South America. His major teachers were Eric Rosenblith, Josef Gingold, Ivan Galamian and Isadore Tinkleman and he holds degrees from Indiana University and the Juilliard School. He has performed many works by Bill Robinson since 2006.