Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

An early work by Colin Spiers, the Sonatina of 1975 exhibits his early interest in the music of Hindemith, although there are moments (particularly in the 4th movement) where a nascent musical voice is discernible. The work was revised in 2019, which involved tightening of the work's structure and the creation of greater tonal variety by varying the keys of the second and third movements.

Work Details

Year: 1975

Instrumentation: Piano.

Duration: 10 min.

Difficulty: Advanced — The work is of about 8th grade difficulty, requiring technical agility and the ability to play clearly and expressively.

Contents note: 1. Quietly -- 2. Waltz (Lively) -- 3. Slow -- 4. Lively.

Dedication note: Dedicated to the memory of Paul Hindemith

This is an excellent piece for student pianists to study, as it will assist in the development of technical fluency in chordal, melodic and contrapuntal playing, before moving on to such pieces as the Shostakovich Preludes and Hindemith's Ludus Tonalis.

The composer cites the following styles, genres, influences, etc associated with the work:
The work stands somewhat apart from the composer's later music, in that the Hindemith influence was merely a passing phase in the development of his musical language. However, certain aspects of its basic neo-classical idiom continue in string works such as the Divertimento and Variations and Capriccio.