Sonatina I for viola and piano (op. 35b, 1969/1971)
I. Maestoso, II. Elegie, III. Lively finale
Viola, piano
Duration: 6 minutes
N. Simrock Hamburg-London (Boosey & Hawkes) EE 5464 / ISMN 979-0-2211-2256-8
First edition: N. Simrock, Hamburg 1972, EE 2948
I wrote this sonatina for one of my sons, as a kind of practice incentive. The 1st movement follows the sonata form with two themes - development and recapitulation (all in a very short space, of course). In the 2nd movement, the solo part, played with a mute, rises aria-like above a sighing motif in the piano accompaniment. In the 3rd movement - a rondo with a 2nd march theme - rhythmic elements take centre stage.
Bertold Hummel (1977)
The Sonatina for viola and piano op. 35b was composed in 1969 and begins with a powerful maestoso movement. The sonority of the first theme is attractively contrasted by a lyrical secondary theme. The recapitulation ends with an impulsive fugato. The second movement, Elegy, consists of a single, sensitively felt melody. The sonorous viola sound floats, as it were, above the spherical sounds of the piano. The sonatina reaches its climax in the virtuoso vivace finale. Playful lightness, march rhythms and dramatic climaxes alternate in rapid succession. The coda leads to the end in wild arpeggios.