Violin Sonatas I–IV and Viola Sonata

Book excerpt: The five sonatas in this edition exhibit Allen Sapp’s characteristic expansive lyricism and depth of expression. Violin Sonata I was composed in 1942–43 while Sapp was studying with Nadia Boulanger and Aaron Copland. Following his service in Europe during World War II, he composed his Violin Sonata II and Viola Sonata in 1948. Klaus George Roy, in his review of a Boston performance by Joseph De Pasquale, called Sapp’s Viola Sonata “a work of beauty and immediate emotional appeal. There is a genuine lyric line and warmth of expression, carried by a real mastery of the polyphonic medium. . . . Who says the moderns can’t write a melody?” While these first three string sonatas were cast in a neoclassical style, Violin Sonatas III (1960) and IV (1981) are written with more chromatically complex harmonies and employ serial composition techniques, yet still exhibit a strong tonal orientation. Sapp considered Violin Sonata IV as the beginning of his late phase of composition, and possibly the most memorable of his works.