Sonata 1957 - Cast

Sonata 1957 (2011)
53 min | Documentary

Sonata 1957 (2011)

53 min | Documentary

During the summer of 2000, just after I graduated from college, I was invited to perform a solo recital at the Festival of the Hamptons on Long Island, NY. The festival's director, Lukas Foss (1922-2009), prefaced the invitation with the ...See moreDuring the summer of 2000, just after I graduated from college, I was invited to perform a solo recital at the Festival of the Hamptons on Long Island, NY. The festival's director, Lukas Foss (1922-2009), prefaced the invitation with the condition that I play a piano sonata by Donald Harris (born 1931), his friend and colleague. I did, and then met Harris immediately following the recital. Although I had finally met Harris in person, I had first discovered him through this music, his first professional composition finished in Paris in 1957. This Sonata is Harris' first independently composed work, completed after he left Nadia Boulanger's studio and before he began working with Max Deutsch. In Harris' own words, he loved every note; he caressed every note, and he felt liberated to compose freely in a style of his own choosing after an unremarkable start with Boulanger. Since that first performance, I have played the Sonata many times, and have even written analyses detailing the music's intricate structures. More importantly, I have grown to love the piece. This film was born out of the desire to make intimate and understandable a music whose aesthetic is complex and whose language is atonal. I wished for the film not only to explain what circumstances lead Harris to compose the Sonata, but also to expose an audience to the work's intellectual vigor and subtle emotional beauty. In effect, I hoped to make clear why this difficult and intricate music so captivated me. In these ways, the film is also an unfolding composition, one in which its uncommon protagonist, the Sonata itself, is assembled gradually from fragments into a complete, meaningful, and freshly interpreted performance. Written by Daniel Beliavsky See less

Contacts

+ Add

Become a member to see contact information for Sonata 1957.

Cast	+ Add Cast
4 cast members

Name	Known for
Daniel Beliavsky Self - Pianist Self - Pianist See fewer	Secret Music (2018)
Donald Harris Self - Composer Self - Composer See fewer	Sonata 1957 (2011)
Gunther Schuller Self - Composer / Self - Conductor Self - Composer / Self - Conductor See fewer	Naprawde wczoraj (1963)
Veronica Jochum von Moltke Self - Pianist Self - Pianist See fewer	Selbstversuch (1990)

There was an issue loading this tab.

MOVIEmeter

Members only

Become a member to access additional data

Ratings Breakdown

Something went wrong. Try entering your rating again

1 external review & 3 more links

Contacts

Cast

MOVIEmeter

Ratings Breakdown

MAIN MENU

YOUR TOOLS

YOUR ACCOUNT

IMDbPro

Get rich industry data with IMDbPro

Contacts

Cast

MOVIEmeter

Ratings Breakdown

MAIN MENU

YOUR TOOLS

YOUR ACCOUNT

IMDbPro