Katrina Sonata | for flute and guitar by Frank A. Wallace

Notes

This piece was begun in 2004 after hearing Nick and Rachel Ciraldo perform Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata. I was totally taken by their fluidity and beauty of tone. The first movement was half done when Nick decided to go to Austin for his doctorate. I stagnated. When Nick wrote about a week after he had moved to Mississippi that he was OK and back in Austin after Hurricane Katrina hit, I knew that it was time to finish the piece.

The three movements are:

1. Boston
2. Nocturne
3. Orleans

The last movement contains a reference to When the Saints Go Marching In, for obvious reasons.

An extensive revision was done in late 2014 for the Mozqueda/Ulate Duo of Guadalajara Mexico. The first movement of Katrina should be played as if it has no barlines, so some rhythms were altered and the notation enhanced to be more clear. To achieve the full rhythmic vitality. it is essential to feel rhythms of 2 or 3 as their own units. The swing of this alternation sometimes crosses bar lines, and sometimes is independent in the two parts, but must always be maintained. It is as if you are in 6/8 for a half measure and cut time the next, each rhythm having its own integrity. The source of this concept is thoroughly Josquin Despres and his contemporaries. Tempo changes were also clarified and many articulations added in all three movements.