Edith Borroff

Clarinet, piano

composer's note:

32 Variations in the Form of a Sonata was composed in 1991 in response to a commission from Timothy Perry, Professor of Music at the State University of New York at Binghamton.

After receiving the commission I began to think about a set of variations that would also be a sonata. The theme is a tone-row made of four three-note groups that can be used either melodically or harmonically (or both). This idea gave rise to a number of ideas, which I grouped as four movements. The first movement is a kind of sonata form, although there is little exact repetition. The second movement is fast and funny, that is a lightsome, humorous movement characterized by tricky interactions between the two players, who are seen as equals rather than as soloist and accompanist in all of the movements. The third movement is a slow simply-conceived ABA structure, the first A presenting the material, B providing a contrast and the second A stripping down to the bare essentials, musically and emotionally. This containment is followed by a dynamic finale in the form of a rondo. A coda ends the work by presenting the theme on which the variations are based.