This brief, joyful Sonatina was composed for my wife, Yumi. As my interest in flute began while playing with her, it seemed fitting to start the recording with this piece. It calls for a bright and clear tone in the flute. The first movement is playful and energetic as I imagine she must have been when young. It quotes from Dvorak’s “Goin’ Home” (from the New World Symphony) which was played at the end of each school day when she was a child. The second movement is more pensive and folk-like – representing her more thoughtful side. My wife would often say how various slow movements of Sonatas (like the Poulenc Sonata) sound like a ‘bird dying at the end’ so I wanted to provide a happier ending – as if the bird delicately leaps off the branch and flies away, happily into the air. Thus, the second movement ends with this ‘happy bird’ sound. The third and final movement depicts the happiness of our daily life together – as the flute sings long clean lines over a fluttering piano accompaniment. Sonatina ends with a return to the initial melody of the first movement, signifying Yumi retaining her playful and innocent character throughout her life.
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