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Score title
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Piano Sonata No. 2: The Remnant
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Composer
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James Lee III
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Date
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2011
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Instrumentation
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Piano
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Program note
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"Piano Sonata No. 2" (2011) was composed for the pianist Rochelle Sennet to be premiered at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The sonata is inspired by the following verse.
"And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."
-Revelations 12:17
I have a deep interest in the visions of the biblical books of Daniel and Revelation. This work comes as part of an over-arching design for my latest works. I am also influenced by the evocative music of Charles Ives and Olivier Messiaen. My piano sonata is structured in four movements. The first movement is in sonata form and contains a musical commentary on the career of the dragon and his earthly representatives as they persecute the women mentioned in Revelation 12. There are shifts between aggressive tones and melodies evoking humility. The second movement conveys melodies of longing and sadness experienced by a religious movement that began in the nineteenth century. By contrast, the third movement contains areas of tonal ambiguity and the use of "deceptive cadences." I have also composed a 12-tone serial melody to evoke the idea of the celestial woman with a crown of 12 stars on her head. The dragon, which is also the fallen angel, transforms himself into an angel of light. He deceives many to believe that he is the Messiah. The melodies and harmonies eventually go through a series of metamorphoses until his true character is revealed. There is a false perception of C major throughout various passages of the movement, but the movement eventually ends with an E-flat minor triad. The last movement is in rondo form with a coda. There are rhapsodic-like episodes with forward driving rhythms inspired by Alberto Ginastera.
James Lee III
