Piano Sonata #18 in G major - China Variations: Wuhan Replications
The pandemic of 2020 was an unmitigated disaster for music and musicians everywhere. The "Piano Sonata #18 in G major" by James Domine is a musical onomatopoeia put together somewhat surreptitiously as an act of civil disobedience in the quarantined lock-down environs of Los Angeles beginning in March of 2020. This sonata is the natural, even inevitable result of the viral pandemic that seized the entire world in its grip. Subtitled "China Variations - Wuhan Replications," the sonata is conceived as a logical metaphorical representation of elements that are integral to the entire experience of the pandemic from its origins in a Chinese laboratory through the social upheaval and dislocation it has caused. The principal theme is a pentatonic melody that creates the atmosphere of a Chinese folk song.
This theme undergoes a sequential progression of motivic transformations that duplicate the melody at successive pitch levels with each individual repetition re-harmonized accordingly. In this way, the harmonic sequence is a tonal metaphor for the replications of a virus. This peaceful opening section creates a tranquil atmosphere of pastoral serenity that is abruptly juxtaposed in sharp contrast against a harmonic kaleidoscope representing the social, economic and political turmoil of events that have recently transpired in the wake of the viral pandemic. The sonata is an anthem serving as a musical testament that chronicles the severity and solitude of the Silent Spring and Summer of 2020.
The pandemic of 2020 was an unmitigated disaster for music and musicians everywhere. The "Piano Sonata #18 in G major" by James Domine is a musical onomatopoeia put together somewhat surreptitiously as an act of civil disobedience in the quarantined lock-down environs of Los Angeles beginning in March of 2020. This sonata is the natural, even inevitable result of the viral pandemic that seized the entire world in its grip. Subtitled "China Variations - Wuhan Replications," the sonata is conceived as a logical metaphorical representation of elements that are integral to the entire experience of the pandemic from its origins in a Chinese laboratory through the social upheaval and dislocation it has caused. The principal theme is a pentatonic melody that creates the atmosphere of a Chinese folk song.
This theme undergoes a sequential progression of motivic transformations that duplicate the melody at successive pitch levels with each individual repetition re-harmonized accordingly. In this way, the harmonic sequence is a tonal metaphor for the replications of a virus. This peaceful opening section creates a tranquil atmosphere of pastoral serenity that is abruptly juxtaposed in sharp contrast against a harmonic kaleidoscope representing the social, economic and political turmoil of events that have recently transpired in the wake of the viral pandemic. The sonata is an anthem serving as a musical testament that chronicles the severity and solitude of the Silent Spring and Summer of 2020.
The pandemic of 2020 was an unmitigated disaster for music and musicians everywhere. The "Piano Sonata #18 in G major" by James Domine is a musical onomatopoeia put together somewhat surreptitiously as an act of civil disobedience in the quarantined lock-down environs of Los Angeles beginning in March of 2020. This sonata is the natural, even inevitable result of the viral pandemic that seized the entire world in its grip. Subtitled "China Variations - Wuhan Replications," the sonata is conceived as a logical metaphorical representation of elements that are integral to the entire experience of the pandemic from its origins in a Chinese laboratory through the social upheaval and dislocation it has caused. The principal theme is a pentatonic melody that creates the atmosphere of a Chinese folk song.
This theme undergoes a sequential progression of motivic transformations that duplicate the melody at successive pitch levels with each individual repetition re-harmonized accordingly. In this way, the harmonic sequence is a tonal metaphor for the replications of a virus. This peaceful opening section creates a tranquil atmosphere of pastoral serenity that is abruptly juxtaposed in sharp contrast against a harmonic kaleidoscope representing the social, economic and political turmoil of events that have recently transpired in the wake of the viral pandemic. The sonata is an anthem serving as a musical testament that chronicles the severity and solitude of the Silent Spring and Summer of 2020.