Sonnet 1 (1999)
for solo violin
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Julieta Mihai, violin
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PROGRAM NOTE
Sonnet 1, for unaccompanied violin was written in February of 1999 for Jennifer Williams. The short work (approximately three and a half minutes) maintains a consistently slow basic pulse as it progresses through twelve sections of widely varying lengths, each section comprising the same rhythmic and harmonic information, stretched or condensed according to its duration. The resulting augmentation/diminution gives the shorter (dense) sections a "faster" feel, while the longer (sparse) sections seem "slower." The harmonic material is modified in each section by transposition and inversion, and timbral variety is provided by the use of ponticello, tremolo, double-stops, and left-hand pizzicato.