As the title suggests, this is a somewhat disguised Sonata. I wanted to try to create a seemingly “classical” structure by combining sonata-form elements with the style of romantic piano pieces suites (I got especially interested in Carnaval op. 9 by R. Schumann). The result as one would expect is a two-headed beast creation in which a listener could possibly find a three-part sonata form after considerable imaginative effort.
After starting with a “main theme” that seems impotent to define itself as a whole musical phrase, small episodes get introduced at various places in the music. Eventually some kind of Pierrot appears and sings a sad tune, which in old times would have been called a transition towards a second theme (triadic) that appears to experiment just as much trouble as the first one did in trying to establish itself in one whole sentence (it is constantly interrupted by rhythmically challenging staccato descents). Then another series of little «character pieces» follows and constitutes a fake transition towards the recapitulation that deforms the initial material just enough to make it almost unrecognizable as one, only confirmed by the rather useless return of the second theme, slowed down considerably (and for no reason). The movement concludes on a very short reference to the first theme (the first bar, in “inverted” musical character).
«Sonate de carnaval» was commissioned by the Société de Musique Contemporaine du Québec with financial support from the Canada Council for Arts’ commissioning program. It was premiered by Klangforum Wien in March 2003, during the Montréal Nouvelles Musiques festival.