Sonate pour violon, clarinette & piano
(“Trois petites filles”)

Sonata for Violin, Clarinet & Piano
(“Three Little Girls”)

Inspired by the three daughters of friends at my local parish, this sonata represents musical portraits of these delightful young ladies. Each movement is named for one of the girls who were 12, 8, and 6, respectively, at the time of writing. The subtitles of the movements are, for Rosemarie, “toujours active, jamais passive” (“always active, never passive” — in other words, she won’t be still);  for Brigid, “elle marche pareille en beauté, à la nuit” (“she walks in beauty, like the night” — a quote from Byron);  and for Martina, “quand elle rit, le monde s’embrase” (“when she laughs, the world is set ablaze”). The score is available from Wolfhead Music.

mp3 files (Sibelius playback):

1.  Rosemarie (Allegretto)
2.  Brigid (Andante—Nocturne)
3.  Martina (Allegro)

Copyright © 2003 by John Craton (ASCAP)