Piano Sonata in E flat Minor

James Greiner is a classical composer and pianist.

My main reason for posting this music video is to encourage others to perform "Piano Sonata in E flat Minor." Please feel free to play this piece at recitals or concerts, or post your own video of the song, if you so desire. No permission is required.

From a performance perspective, "Sonata in E flat Minor" allows the pianist much liberty. The piece contains extensive rubato, meaning that the rhythm is generally unbound to a strict metronome. The possibility for compositional input also exists. For example, the sheet music’s footnotes suggest passages where the pianist can improvise pitches and rhythms.


PIANO SONATA IN E FLAT MINOR

If "Piano Sonata in E flat Minor" had been composed anonymously one hundred years ago, critics might have said that its composer appeared to have inhabited a port town. In port towns of the past, ships would bring residents a taste of previously inaccessible foods, language, clothes, literature, and music from other cultures. Today, with the prevalence of the Internet, it is as if most of us live a port town, so to speak. We are able to absorb all that other cultures have to offer, which influences our thoughts and actions. I confess that I, too, have breathed in the air of this new, “port-town” age. Therefore, it should not surprise you to discover that I have voiced many different languages in Piano Sonata in E Flat Minor. I hear Russian, Spanish, Arabic, French, Chinese, Italian, and German; what languages do you hear?

Along with linguistics, certain aesthetic ideas were specific to "Piano Sonata in E flat Minor." The first aesthetic idea was to present the same themes within different styles of music. A second idea was to strive for beauty. These two ideas, however, presented a problem. It has long been thought that beauty could only emanate from a single, unified style. Was it possible, then, to create beauty using varying styles? This was my challenge in writing this piece. A third aesthetic idea was to achieve complexity; that is to say, complexity in song structure, rhythms, chord progressions, and moods. I alluded to the fourth aesthetic idea earlier: create a feeling of freedom, not only in how the tempo is treated, but also in how the pianist is treated. What do I mean by this latter statement? Well, when a composer’s score gives the pianist the choice of compositional input, the composer is respecting the individual pianist’s artistry and intellect. The pianist, in this instance, is not relegated to the role of an obedient servant, only capable of mimicry; instead, the pianist becomes a free and vibrant individual who acts as his or her own legislator―and is this not the spirit of popular democracy?