Word: sonata
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Four ambitious large-scale works were included on the program. The main problems here for the incipient composer are over-all form and stylistic consistency, plus the special difficulties involved in writing a slow movement (which often trips up even the best-established composers). Frederic Rzewski '58's Sonata for Violin and Piano was most successful in the fast outer movements. The first movement, in a modified sonata-form with a bit too much stop-and-go, adopted a Bartokian brutality and approach to dissonance; and the finale dared to end softly with an effective pizzicato and staccato section. Rzewski...
Victor Ziskin '59 played his On the Border of Israel, which is in reality a piano sonata in three movements, entitled "Birth," "Recollection," and "Work." Ziskin showed a definite flair for idiomatic piano virtuosity, but drew too heavily on Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff and Ravel. The connection with Israel seemed rather tenuous, except for a few Jewish turns of melody, particularly in the exciting first movement. The second movement fell into a cocktail-lounge style, with slithering parallel chords in the left hand repeated ad nauseam. The finale was almost wholly a piece of Leonard Bernstein jazz, and relied too much...
David Behrman '59's one-movement Piano Sonata displayed the common fault of changing material too often. Though the music was busy, the ideas (save for the opening few notes) lacked an individual character. I felt that I was listening to a series of transitions that had no origin or destination. There was not even a real end; the piece seemed to break off abruptly...
...Debussy: Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp (Decca). One of Debussy's last compositions in a topnotch performance...
...Bartok: Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano (Mercury). A compelling but rarely heard work by a modern master...