King of Prussia, PA – Theodore Presser Company has published Steven Stucky's Sonata for Violin and Piano (144-40604 – Score and Part – $26.99), one of the composer's last works. In his later years, Steven Stucky revisited traditional forms, including a symphony, opera, piano sonata, and the dramatically ravishing Sonata for Violin and Piano. The composer explained, "I'm not sure why things have turned again, but I think some of us have become comfortable with the idea that our relationship with the great works of the past is something positive and nourishing, not something to be run away from." Performers will find a welcome new voice from Stucky in this sonata.
Stucky described the first and third movements as the main bulk of the sonata. The first movement alternates calm and lyrical sections with busy music that is sometimes forceful, sometimes playful. The third (Scherzo-Finale) begins skittish and fragmentary before embarking on a fiery allegro (con fuoco) and a slower, wistful melody. Between these larger movements, comes what the composer described as "like a sketch for a slow movement: too short to serve as much more than a linking Interlude, but nevertheless developing a surprising depth of feeling." The sonata was commissioned by the La Jolla Music Society for violinist Cho-Liang Lin who premiered the work with pianist Jon Kimura Parker.
Steven Stucky's Sonata for Violin and Piano is available now through Theodore Presser Company or your favorite music retailer.
Composer Steven Stucky (1949�2016), whose Second Concerto for Orchestra won a Pulitzer Prize, served for many years as the New Music Advisor for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, was a member of the composition faculty at the Aspen Music School, and had been a professor at Cornell University for over 30 years. In 2014, Mr. Stucky joined the faculty at the Juilliard School. Mr. Stucky was also the recipient of numerous commissions from orchestras, performing groups, individuals, and foundations both at home and abroad. Mr. Stucky�s extensive catalogue of compositions ranges from large-scale orchestral works to a cappella miniatures for chorus, an eight-minute work for five percussionists, solo piano pieces, and music for such ensembles as piano quartet, string quartet, wind quintet, voice and piano, and saxophone and piano. He was also active as a conductor, writer, lecturer, and teacher. Mr. Stucky passed away on February 14, 2016. To learn more about Steven Stucky, click here.
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