The title and the various superscriptions naturally cause the sonata to be ranked as programme-music, but of a very simple kind. It is easy to suggest pastoral scenes: a few pedal notes, a certain simplicity of melody, and a few realistic touches expressive of the waving of branches of trees, or the meandering of a brook, and the thing is accomplished.
Dr. C.H. Parry is an English composer whose name has of late been much before the public. He has written works both secular and sacred for our important provincial festivals; also chamber music, songs, etc.; and all his music shows mastery of form, skill in the art of development, and eclectic taste. For the present, we are, however, concerned merely with his sonatas. Like Brahms, he at first composed pianoforte sonatas: No. 1, in F; No. 2, in A minor and major. Brahms made a third attempt, but the two just mentioned are all that are known to us of Dr. Parry's. No. 1 opens with a non troppo Allegro, a smooth movement of somewhat pastoral character; the music, also the writing for the instrument, remind one occasionally of Stephen Heller. A bright, though formal Scherzo, with a well-contrasted Trio in the key of the submediant, is followed by a melodious Andante and a graceful, showy Allegretto.
No. 2 has an introductory movement marked maestoso; it is divided into three sections. The first opens with a phrase of dramatic character; the second, in the remote key of G sharp minor, contains two short, expressive, Schumannish themes treated in imitation; the third has passages leading back to the opening key and phrase. The Allegro grazioso which follows is a compact little movement; in form it is orthodox, yet there is no repeat to the exposition section. The influence of Heller is still felt, but also that of Schumann. Grace rather than power distinguishes the Adagio con sentimento, in the key of C sharp minor. The Scherzo is clever and effective, and the Allegretto cantabile, though the last, is scarcely the best of the four movements.
A manuscript Sonata in D flat (Op. 20) by Dr. C.V. Stanford, another prominent composer of our day, was produced at the Popular Concerts (4th February 1884). It consists of an Adagio leading to an Allegro moderato. Then follows an Intermezzo in the key of the relative minor. An Adagio (F major) leads to the Allegro Finale in D flat major. It is thus noticed in the Musical Times of March 1884:—"Some listeners have professed to perceive in the work a deliberate intention to violate the established laws of form, but we confess that to us no such design is apparent. In matters of detail, Mr. Stanford shows himself an independent thinker, but in all essentials his newest work is as classical in outline as could possibly be desired. The opening Adagio is exceedingly impressive, and the succeeding Allegro moderato is worked out with splendid mastery of the subject-matter, the general effect being that of a lofty design carried into execution by a thoroughly experienced hand. The succeeding Allegro grazioso, a modified kind of Scherzo, is vigorous, and the final Allegro commodo, with its excellent first subject, seems scarcely less important than the first movement."
CHAPTER XI
MODERN SONATAS, DUET SONATAS, SONATINAS, ETC.
Some mention, however brief, must be made of various sonatas written by other contemporaries of the four composers discussed in the [last chapter]. After Beethoven, the only work which, from an evolution point of view, really claims notice is one by Liszt. All other sonatas are written on classical lines with more or less of modern colouring. Even M. Vincent d'Indy, one of the advanced French school of composers, has written a "Petite Sonate dans la forme classique."
Moscheles, in Germany, and Kalkbrenner, in France: these were once names of note. Their music is often clever and brilliant, but, to modern tastes, dry and old-fashioned; much of it, too, is superficial.