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 alto saxophone and piano op. 35d is an arrangement of the 1st Sonatina for viola and piano op. 35b, which Bertold Hummel wrote in 1995 at the suggestion of the Canadian saxophonist Normand DesChênes. It 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 saxophone sound floats, as it were, above the spherical sounds of the piano. The sonatina reaches its climax in the virtuoso finale vivace. Playful lightness, march rhythms and dramatic climaxes alternate in rapid succession. The coda leads to the end in wild arpeggios.