Sonata in A Major: i. Allegro
Portrait of Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
The Sonata in A Major was composed over a period of years stretching from 1975 to 1990 in Miami and Tangier. A large-scale historicist composition, each movement focuses subtly on a different aspect of Viennese neoclassical form and style. The movements, all of which are in the "sunny" key of A major, are dedicated to Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven respectively.
The opening sonata-allegro in three-quarter time is engagingly Haydnesque, and requires both brilliant delivery and carefully nuanced phrasing.