March 31, 2021
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About the composer and piece
Born in Washington, D.C., pianist and composer George Walker (1922-2018) studied at Oberlin Conservatory, the Eastman School of Music, and the Curtis Institute of Music, where Walker was one of the first Black graduates. He studied with renowned pianist Rudolf Serkin, and later studied composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. In 1996, Walker became the first Black American to win the Pulitzer Prize in music for his composition Lilacs, for soprano and orchestra. His output ranges in style from the lush neo-Romanticism of his Lyric for Strings to the leaner, neo-Classicism of works such as in the Sonata No. 2 that Noah is performing. Walker’s piano playing can be heard in numerous recordings ‒ hear Walker himself play the Sonata No. 2!
Written in 1956 and debuted in 1960, Walker dedicated the Piano Sonata No. 2 to his father. You can read Walker’s comments on this sonata and other pieces in his memoir, George Walker: Reminiscences of an American Composer and Pianist. There are four movements:
I. Theme and Six Variations. The opening melody is an inversion of the bass line but played twice as fast.
II. Presto. A scherzo in ABA with an opening motive evocative of the blues.
III. Adagio. Walker describes “expanding figuration in parallel octaves above powerful chords.”
IV. Allegretto tranquillo. A sonatina form cyclically derived from the motive of the first movement.
The musical legacy of the Walker family extends beyond George. His younger sister Frances was also a pianist who was on the faculty at Oberlin. She has also recorded this sonata. His wife, Helen Walker-Hill, authored the landmark book From Spirituals to Symphonies: African-American Women Composers and Their Music. Their son Gregory is a violinist whose repertoire includes his father’s violin works, such as the Violin Concerto and Violin Sonata No. 1.
About this week’s performer
Noah Sonderling received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the IU Jacobs School of Music and is currently pursuing a doctorate at the University of Texas-Austin. He enjoys engaging with a wide variety of musical styles and genres as soloist, chamber musician, and member of orchestral ensembles. Among other honors, he won the 2018 Ligeti Concerto Competition at IU and received the Orchestral Keyboard Fellowship from the Aspen Music Festival in 2019; he has been invited to reprise this latter role in 2021.