Sonata No. 3 in G major, for guitar and piano, was completed in 2016, and is one in a series of six guitar and piano sonatas, composed from 2014-17. All of these are dedicated to David Starobin, who has patiently guided my guitar writing, not only in these sonatas, but in many pieces over many years. The tonal organiza- tion of the six sonatas is palindromic, in sets of three; e minor, f sharp minor, G Major: A Major, b minor and c sharp minor. Like the other sonatas, No. 3 is divided into traditional movements, classically constructed, yet often extended harmonically, even notationally. Unlike the other sonatas, the four movements of No. 3 contain two that are transcriptions of my own pieces. The 2nd movement “Pastorale” was originally written for solo piano in 1995, and the 4th movement rondo “Allegro Molto” was also originally for piano solo, as the last movement of my Piano Sonata No. 1, in G major, 1998. This piano sonata became the first in a series of 24 Sonatas for piano (1998-2014), each in a different key, and this tonal diversity continued with a series of 72 Preludes for Guitar (2004-2016), in 3 books of 24, 3 sets also with each prelude in a different key in each book. Previously, I had made other arrangements of the “Pastorale” - for piano and orchestra, and flute and piano. “Pastorale” - subtitled “Barbara and I in the countryside before sunset: picking wildflowers” - was written one Summer in the South of France for my flautist wife. It may be extracted from Sonata No. 3 for separate performance as an individual piece for guitar and piano. Of the four movements of Sonata No. 3, the transcribed movements were originally written in the 1990s, the newer music in 2016.
