My French horn sonata was written for hornist Mary Garza, who influenced its early development. Hornist Mollie Pate, who plays it in the performance heard here, also contributed a great deal to the work, especially as it reached its final version. My writing for the horn in this work is essentially lyrical, yet, especially in the outer movements, the sonata is filled with a sense of struggle. Only the second movement provides a reprieve from an overall mood of turbulence and striving.
The opening idea of the first movement is like a proclamation. There is a pervasive sense of unease, as if things are not as they should be, and we should take heed. The sense of urgency is even more pronounced in the middle section of this movement, with its obsessively repetitive piano figurations and taut phrases in the horn. The last section, where the piano takes up the ideas initially presented by the horn, is even more intense. Toward the end, the music dies down for a moment, as if exhausted, only to rise again at the end in one last challenging cry.
In the second movement, the horn sings a gentle serenade to a swaying piano accompaniment. The dance-like middle section is more energetic, with much calling back and forth between the instruments.
The third movement opens with great energy. The horn now sounds for the first time more heroic, and the piano galops along with its themes at a quick pace. A large-scale middle section has a wittier character, with unexpected harmonies and tiny, twisty melodic phrases. Then the opening ideas return, and the movement regains its energetic drive. You can hear the sonata played by hornist Mollie Pate and pianist Xiting Yang nearby.
- Passionately
- Gently
- Quick, energetic