sonata (2016)

for solo marimba

Duration: 8'

Premiered: March 15, 2016 @ Walter Hall, Toronto ON  

Jonathan Smith (percussion)

Programme Note:

In 2015, I was given the opportunity to collaborate with percussionist Jonny Smith and compose a new solo marimba work for him. At the time, I was studying classical form and analysis, and found myself often returning to the question of “how do these rules apply to the music of our day?”

Due to the timing of when this project began, I came back to this question and decided to explore the structure of the classical sonata-form through the lens of contemporary practices. The challenge and excitement was finding new balance between honouring the essence of this traditional form, while simultaneously searching for solutions to aspects that no longer apply to today’s compositional styles and techniques. It became somewhat of a puzzle, piecing together seemingly disparate ideas into a singular musical structure.

The work was premiered in March 2016 by Jonny Smith, and was later awarded a Pierre Mercure SOCAN Foundation Young Composers Award in 2017.