Piano Sonata II. Moonspinner (Recording)

This playful, virtuosic movement is evocative of American folk music, particularly Appalachian fiddle music and song. The fiddle music is abstracted, certainly, yet the figurations are idiomatic. The folk song, which interrupts the “instrumental” music twice, is original. A hint of it appears in the “working out’ at the center of the form and also in the high register at the very close of the movement. The title, “Moonspinner” is named after an old-fashioned hand made wooden toy I once saw in North Carolina. I always promised myself I would write a piece with this title.