Sonatina No. 1

The Sonatina No. 1 for Trumpet and Piano was composed by Richard Lane in 1961 and was first performed that same year by the 14-year old Gerard Schwarz (formerly co-principal trumpet with the New York Philharmonic orchestra and today Music Director of the Seattle Symphony and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra) at the Frank LaForge Music Club in North Bergen, NJ. The performance was organized by Gerard’s piano teacher, Doris Humphrey. The three contrasting movements begins with a lively and bouncing Allegro vivace followed by a lyrical Andante with the trumpet (con sordino) set over a piano accompaniment featuring richly textured harmonies. The last movement is a Presto in form of a race between the piano and the trumpet starting with a fast 4/4, it merges into a dolce mp legato 6/8 that ends in a brief cadenza just before two bars recalling the beginning of the movement followed by a quick final measure reminiscent of a whip’s crack.