I. Chanson
II. Fantasy Variations
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.