Dinos Constantinides - Sonata (2nd Mvmt - Madness)

[andhow04]

Dinos Constantinides who died last year at the age of 91 wrote a four-movement piano sonata in the 70's, revised extensively in 1999, and it has a lot of interesting and attractive features. he wrote about it,

"The titles of its movements, 'Impressions-Madness-Dream-Resignation,' imply the cycle of emotions experienced by a young person in his struggle for survival in a confused society. The piece is eclectic in nature and employs various styles. Quartal harmonies, clusters, polychords and folk tunes are present throughout the work."

the second movement is my favorite, it is kind of in g minor and has a very clever texture; it also breaks out into some real wild moments.

the outer two movements are interesting but both have passages that are really impractical on the piano, and not pleasant to play or parse out. that said i am playing the entire sonata, and when i record the whole thing i'll put it out there. but the second movement is worth it on its own i believe.


hope you enjoy

[andhow04]

and here is a live perofrmance of the whole 4 movement sonata.

[stringoverstrung]

Thank you for bringing this music to our attention.
Interesting and well played as far as I can judge.

[stringoverstrung]

This is serious stuff. I particularly like the section 2:30 3:30. You make it sound as the legacy of the great Prokofiev. It is not Prokofiev but it has something to do with it. Great to hear that.This of course is meant as a complement to both you and Dinos.
Well done!

Keep  going with your  catalogue on Pianostreet.

tx

[andhow04]

This is serious stuff. I particularly like the section 2:30 3:30. You make it sound as the legacy of the great Prokofiev. It is not Prokofiev but it has something to do with it. Great to hear that.This of course is meant as a complement to both you and Dinos.
Well done!

Keep  going with your  catalogue on Pianostreet.

tx

wow, thanks so much for listening to this Sonata which got mixed review from the audience. some thought it too difficult, others loved the whole atmosphere of it and surprisingly the younger poeple in the audience just raved. probably because of the occasional fist smashing.

yes, i can hear the link to Prokofiev esp. the later sonatas, though this style is very different. honestly not all the passages here are quite comfortable on the piano, the composer was a violinist but understood piano sonority definitely, so you don't get the same satisfaction as you might from conquering a difficult Prokofiev passage.

there is a lot of admirable stuff in here, notably a quotation of the second movement right before the second movement starts, and the combination of all the themes in the final movement.

the family is currently not charging for scores, a decision they made after his death, so if you are interested, i can email you the pdf.

thanks again for listening to this lesser known sonata!!!