The 1st movement (Allegro) is formed according to the sonata form. The main theme uses the fifth as a building block, while the third and fourth serve as the source material for the secondary theme. The main idea is developed and leads into a ländler, which leads to the recapitulation. A short coda concludes the movement.

In the 2nd movement , the arioso sections are connected by contrapuntally shaped "bridges". A farewell with ostinato figures leads to a calming conclusion.

In the 3rd movement, a rondo, dance-like sequences with many changes of metre are juxtaposed with chorale-like sections. A waltz episode appears twice as a third element. After a short adagio insertion, a brief coda concludes this lively round dance.

The dynamic marking of the solo part should be seen in relation to the piano part and the volume adjusted accordingly.

Bertold Hummel

In 1987 he wrote the Sonata brevis for alto recorder and piano for his granddaughter Mirjam, a very lively and varied three-movement work with many rhythmic and contrapuntal subtleties, but also intimate and lyrical passages. As an interpreter, you can let off steam inside and out, so to speak... the sonata seduces the listener with its special humour, its exciting structure and unconventional twists and turns, which are rewarded time and again by the consistent use of intervallic building blocks, country elements, glissandi, flutter tonguing, contrapuntal bridges, dance-like sequences with rhythm changes, waltz parodies, chorale-like insertions, farewells and a brief coda.

Paul Koutnik (in the CD booklet of Re Nova Classics, Vienna 2004)