Program Note for Sonata-Fantasie No. 1 (2001)

The Sonata-Fantasie No. 1 was completed in 2001 and premiered in Lexington, Virginia. The piece is programmatic in nature. It was conceived as a sort of double portrait, one that was of an aggressive and violent nature, and the other in a very quiet and tender mood. I chose the title of Sonata-Fantasie partially as an homage to the great Russian composer Alexander Scriabin. I played his Piano Sonata No. 9 (Black Mass) while a student at Eastman and that piece has remained one of my favorite sonatas in the literature. It was after playing that sonata that I investigated more of Scriabin’s works and fell in love with all of his sonatas. The title of this piece is borrowed from the subtitle of his second sonata, sonata-fantasy. I felt that the title fit my piece very well. I also wished to avoid traditional classical structures in this piece and thus, felt this title more appropriate.