PROGRAM NOTE:
This sonata for flute and piano was composed in the summer of 2020 (June 20 - July 26) for two of my two flute friends, Deanna Little and Kathleen Karr, with whom I've enjoyed making music over the years.
I first worked with Deanna during the premiere of my children's opera, The Mousewife, in 1996. Years later, we connected to collaborate on performances of several works that include flute, including the premiere of The Bird, the Bee, and the Bear, commissioned by the Stones River Chamber Players for the 2019 concert season at Middle Tennessee State University.
Kathy and I are teaching colleagues at the University of Louisville School of Music. I first worked with her during the 1989 premiere of my Flash Point for woodwind quintet. Between 1990 and 2000, I composed five works for the Louisville Orchestra with Kathy performing as principal flutist, a position she still holds today in 2020 (Short Stories – 1990, Into the Light – 1991, Light Fantastic – 1994, Waiting for Daylight – 1997, Symphony 2 – 2000).
Although this work is called a sonata, more than anything else that title is simply evidence of laziness in creating interesting titles. While this is true, there are also connections among the three movements that tie them together in ways that might be considered "sonata-like," so the designation is not unwarranted.
The work is about thirteen minutes long in performance, with the roughly equal movements in a fast-slow-fast configuration. Discussing my musical language in this work would most likely be boring for all but the most detail obsessed. My intent, as has been my goal for most of my composing career, was to produce affecting music that reaches the listener on many levels while also being challenging and rewarding for the performers. (Said every composer ever.)
PERFORMANCE NOTES:
There are no special performance notes. The notation is clear. When necessary, courtesy accidentals have been added for clarity, though they are not in parentheses.
Steve Rouse
July 2020