John Simpson – Sonata for Violin and Piano

This Sonata for Violin and Piano reflects the essence of John Simpson’s music. It belongs to one of the most fulfilled periods of the composers life when he was experiencing both the excitement of travelling the world as a music examiner as well as the intense happiness of being a grandparent. As such this is possibly the composers most radiant work, with a slow movement that he would most like to be remember by.

The opening movement of this work, the most extended of the four, contrasts a wistful almost elegiac section with one that is fast and dance-like. There is an extended slow passage at the end that seems to be searching for resolutions not provided until later. The second movement, a scherzo, is passionate rather than playful: it is the most joyous of the four, indicative perhaps of the elation that it is possible to feel when finding the means of being able to express ideas in a way that the composer hardly thought possible. The slow third movement, a lyrical cantilena with the violin always to the fore, is the emotional core of the work, and leads without a break into the quick dance-like finale. After modulating through a variety of keys this reaches a climax in an ecstatic waltz-time transformation of the opening of the work in the home key of D major. However, rather than ending loudly, the music drifts ever more quietly into the distance without ever slowing down, like a procession fading into memory.

Review: “Mr Simpson is influenced by the concept of yin and yang – two opposing but symbiotic principles deriving from Chinese philosophy. Yin is the dark element, corresponding to the night. Yang is the bright element, corresponding to the day. The two elements co-exist, never far from each other. It is tempting to relate the yin and yang principle to the vicissitudes of composing. The Sonata for Violin and Piano reflects this struggle – passionate, reflective, insistent with an edgy and uncertain calm and a hauntingly beautiful Andante. Mr Simpson’s music needs players of real qualify to give it birth.” – The Guide to Entertainment in the Hastings Observer following on from a July 8th 2007 performance.

Biography

Simpson, John

Born in London in 1933, John Simpson studied at the Trinity College of Music. His entire career was dedicated to music education, and in 1969 he settled with his family in Hastings when he was appointed Music Adviser to the local education authority, a position which he held until his retirement in 1992. Since then he has devoted his energies to examing worldwide for Trinity College and to composition. His large output includes four symphonies composed for the Hastings Area Youth Symphony Orchestra and an opera for children based on the Oscar Wilde story The Selfish Giant. His most recent works have been mainly for chamber combinations and include a Trio for Flute, Violin and Piano, a Piano Trio and a series of thirteen String Quartets.