Piano Sonata No. 2

This work is based on the lesser known Hans Christian Anderson story “A Story from the Sand Dunes”. The narrative follows the life of Jörgen, whose noble Spanish parents perished on the Jutland reefs. His mother barely made it ashore where she gave birth to him with the last of her energy and life. We see Jörgen grow up happy and content with his life, despite the relative poverty he lives in with his adoptive family. There are often comparisons made between his life as a fisherman in the sand dunes of Denmark, and what his life might have been like as Spanish nobleman. Throughout the story there are significant events that take place and there is a wonderful cyclical structure to the story where certain locations or scenarios return but with an important change which reflects the development in the story. It is these important moments that I have focused on in this piece.

I – The Shore’s Playground

II – The Party

III – Aesepige

IV – Your Crime Will Cost You Your Life

V – The King’s Son Clasped His Maiden Fair

Work Details

Year: 2021

Instrumentation: Piano.

Duration: 25 min.

Difficulty: Advanced

Commission note: Commissioned for the Brisbane Music Festival 2021

First performance: by Alex Raineri at Girl With The Flaxen Hair (The Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts) on 11 Dec 2021