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Sonata for Flute and Piano Carson P. Cooman (Opus 651) I. Chanson II. Fantasy Variations Finalist in the 2006 National Flute Association Newly Published Music Competition Hear a preview:
Sonata for Flute and Piano (2005) was written for and is dedicated to flutist Brook Ferguson. It is in two movements. It was inspired by her support and activity with contemporary music. The work is also dedicated in memory of composer Meyer Kupferman (1926-2003), with whose music the composer was spending a great deal of time during the composition of this sonata. The first movement, Chanson, is an extended "song" that develops through a variety of textures. The opening song material is centered around G#. In turn, this G# is revealed to be a quasi-dominant of a D centered sonority. (A brief coda returns to G#, in preparation for the D center of the second movement.) The second movement, Fantasy Variations, is cast as two presentations of the theme surrounding five free variations, plus a coda. The theme serves as the basis of the musical material for each variation as well as the structural template for each. Also, each variation contains material referring back specifically to the previous variation. The opening theme is declamatory and massive. The first variation is fast and limber. The second variation is introspective and stratified. The third variation is fleeting. The fourth variation is distant and spare. The fifth variation is fast and driving. The final theme begins whispered and slowly regains its declamatory nature before an intensely hammered coda ends the work in a blaze. Carson P. Cooman September 2005 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA |
