Of three works on this recording, the prelude (2010) and the quartet (2010-2011) are amongst my more recent while the sonata dates back to my NYC days being composed in 1990. The Sonata is a in simple tertiary form with an introduction, the ABA sections and a coda. It is not strictly in sonata-allegro form as the tonality changes differ from classical expectations and usage. Of note is the transformation of the first theme (Allegro, a minor) into the second theme (Adagio, b flat minor) by way of extension of its opening interval by a semitone (a P5th becomes a minor 6th). The same semitone used in the main modulation from a to b flat minor. The themes otherwise resemble themselves and are really one developed guise of the other. The piece is introspective and hopefully inspires thought about one’s inner self. The String Quartet No.1 is a program piece inherently connected to the paintings of Anne Delaby. Please view the paintings when listening to each movement, it will make more sense. In each of its seven movements, I have tried to harmonically represent the color pallet used by the French artist. The melodic content was chiefly inspired by their titles and I imagined a little story for each work, literally taking pictorial elements, i.e. the Egyptian mythological symbols in L’Alchemiste, and writing themes that would recall, in this case, dancing serpents in the marketplace. There are musical references to several symbols: water, matter, animals, light, birth and death. The leitmotif of the piece is the enigma that people today are being called upon to resolve in their rapport with nature. One which I found fascinating and provided a reoccurring thread to all seven of the movements. The piece is dedicated to Sir Edward Elgar and Anne Delaby. The Prelude was written for a fellow Canadian pianist whose name, when pronounced simply sounded to me like the first four notes. There are no letter relationships involved, but rather it is a very tightly wound piece entirely based on those four notes representing the syllables of the name. They are in the harmony, the motives, intertwined in countermelodies and developed throughout. I used harmonics during the middle section and ultimately these suggested that I harmonize those four notes tonally. This piece aims at combining both tonal and atonal styles in a uniform way. ENJOY! Sandro Fazzolari