Sonata for Harpsichord

Description

Harp — I have always been fond of writing works for specific people or organizations.xa0 It has been my good fortune during most of my creative career to be asked to compose for many extraordinary performers.xa0 The “Sonata for Harpsichord Solo” is such a case in point: it was written in 1982 for Barbara Harbach, a superb performer, close friend, and collaborator on many musical projects.xa0 The “Sonata” was premiered on March 2, 1984, in a recital given by Dr. Harbach at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York.During my formative years as a composer, one seldom heard of the harpsichord as a modern instrument, though while I attended undergraduate school at Boston University, some of us banded together to construct a small harpsichord from one of the first “do-it-yourself” kits which began to appear in the late ‘40s.xa0 It was also during this time that I heard the “Sonatina for Violin and Harpsichord” by my teacher Walter Piston and consequently specified that the accompanying instrument for my second violin sonata could either be a piano or a harpsichord.xa0 It was not until recently, however, that my interest in the harpsichord as a solo instrument for new music was aroused.xa0 This was because of the emergence of so many young virtuosi, such as Barbara Harbach, who are interested in the performance of new music besides the great harpsichord music of the Classical, Baroque, and pre-Baroque eras.The keyboard music of Domenico Scarlatti has always intrigued and fascinated me.xa0 The brevity, excitement, and clarity of this sparkling music is charming as well as exhilarating.xa0 It is this type of Baroque sonata that inspired the conception and form of my harpsichord sonata.The entire work is loosely based on the musical translation of Barabara Harbach’s name, especially the conflict of the B (B-flat) and H (B-natural in German notation).xa0 This “secondo rub” or dissonance especially pervades the first movement, which is in a modified sonata form, pitting jagged and tense melodic elements against most lyrical and smooth lines.xa0 This second movement is a song-like melody accompanied by “rolled” chords which may be played on the lute stop of the instrument if this sonata is performed on a two-manual harpsichord.xa0 The final movement is an ever-driving joyous toccata which brings the work to an exciting close with a coda made up of accelerating repeated chords.—Samuel Adler