sonata ‘f-a-i-r-p-l-a-y’ (II extended)

The 2009 sonata ‘f-a-i-r-p-l-a-y’ (II extended) is, as the subtitle by Reddy suggests, a longer version of his sonata ‘f-a-i-r-p-l-a-y’ [I] (2007). Reddy partly uses the new piece to change – and in many ways improve upon – the notation of the earlier piece, and partly uses it to extend passages or fill in the texture. In terms of length, sonata I reaches the recap (tempo primo) at bar 607 while sonata II reaches it at bar 667, for example. From about bar 730 onwards in sonata II there is much more additional material, including the introduction of Beethoven’s Spring Sonata for violin at bar 811 and an mbaqanga passage at bar 898, by which time sonata I (837 bars) had long finished, although material from the end of sonata I is then used for a while until Reddy brings in the ‘Praeludio’ from Bach’s third partita. This is subject to increasingly frenetic variations until the build up towards the very long final section, which bears no resemblance to sonata I. The new version extends to 1276 bars.

Reddy left seven Sibelius files, the last dated 8 August 2009. The work is titled ‘Sonata “f-a-i-r-p-l-a-y”‘ on the score, and subtitled ‘for violin and piano on equal terms’, and it is dedicated to violinist and great friend of Reddy’s, Michael Wiener, as was sonata I. The ACE score presents the work with no change except reformatting to make some notation and annotations more legible, although it is obvious that Reddy learned from the experience of notating sonata I and far fewer edits were needed in order to prepare sonata II for publication. Reddy made an mp3 file from the final Sibelius score, which is given below.