Sonata Form

This work is © 2000 by Jesse Schooff. You may not distribute it without the explicit written permission of the author. It will remain the personal property of the composer and are NOT in the public domain.

Rondontino - (zipped file, 2.42 MB)
Rondontino, January 2000
This is a contemporary musical work for Trombone and Piano. Rondontino is a word I made up which means "little rondo" (akin to Sonatina as "little sonata"). A rondo is a piece that plays a theme, then plays something new, then the theme again, alternating throughout the work.

This work is in the Scherzo style. Scherzo is an Italian musical term which means "jokingly". This is both a very jesting and very dark work.

Pathetique - (zipped file, 3.66 MB)
Pathétique, October 1998
This is a jazz-pop instramental that I wrote a few years ago. The idea was to create something sad, and to experiment with my new techniques for using the rythem section (percussion and bass).

Interview with Sonata Form
By Honey Fox
HF: Do you have a homepage? if so, what's the URL *L* if you want to give it to me that is.
Sonata: Well... I don't have one. I put my energy into OTF exclusively these days.
HF: What type of music do you like most?
Sonata: Should I just say "Classical"? *L* j/k I like a lot of different "Classical Music", but my favorite right now is some of the Russian composers of the 20th century. Hmm...
HF: Any specific reason why you like them?
Sonata: Well, I used to be a big fan of broque music and Mozart... but composers like Shostakovich and Prokofiev have a much richer sound, wilder harmonies, and their music is very passionate and full of turmoil.
HF: Sounds interesting :) How long have you studied music?
Sonata: Wow... *L* a long time now I think. I've been in music at the college level for 3 years now. I was in band programs at high schools for 6 years. If you consider them all, nine years total. Next year, I'll be going to UBC (University of British Columbia) for composition major.
HF: Wow :) That's great!
Sonata: *G*
HF: Have you always had a musical talent? like when you were young?
Sonata: *L* NO.... When I was a kid, my mom wanted me to take piano lessons, but all my friends would tell me how mean they were, so I refused. I REALLY regret that now, 'cause my piano skills are horrible, especially for a composer. However, mom and dad DID play a HUGE range of music for me. I got to listen to everything from Bach to Debussy, from the Beatles to 60's fold. It really developed my ear strongly.
HF: Could you explain the "ear" thing, I know that most musicians always have a sorta.. special ability? *L*
Sonata: When we say "ear" it refers to a lot of things. Your ability to remember a melody and sing it back, being able to sing on key or match a pitch, and being able to hear things in music that can tell you who the composer was and what era they were from (assuming you know the style of that era/composer). Does that help? :}
HF: Yes, thank you. :) Where are you from?
Sonata: Originally?
HF: *L* Yep
Sonata: I was born in "North York" which is really an outskirt of Toronto, in Ontario, Canada. I currently live in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia (an outskirt of Vancouver). I have for the past 10 years.
HF: Where do you work? or what do you do?
Sonata: *L* Well, during the summers (aka, right now) I work at the same place my dad does. It's called ASI plastics, and it's pretty boring work. :} *L*
HF: What do you do there
Sonata: Um... we do plastics fabrication. We build things out of acrlics like display cases and candy dispensers. Fiberglass... *S*
HF: What is your instrument of choice?
Sonata: Trombone. Valve Trombone. I used to play tuba in high school, and when the jazz band needed another trombone, my teacher stuck me on the valve trombone, since it has the same fingerings. Trombone was my major in collage.
HF: Did you want to play in symphonies or just create your own?
Sonata: *nods* An important question... I'm a GOOD player, but I'm not great. In the performance industry, things are really competitive. There always someone who can play faster, higher, louder, softer. You have to be willing to practice for hours upon hours a day, or you won't make the cut. It's like being an Olympic Athlete.
HF: Yeah that's really tough.
Sonata: I realized in collage that not only was I going to be a smidgen behind the great pack, but I didn't love playing as much as I loved writing.
HF: Well, that's how a lot of famous composers got their start :)
Sonata: *nods* Yeah... but if there's one thing you can't dwell on as a composer, it's who's in your past. Mozart was writing symphonies and concertos when he wasn't ever ten. If you try to compare yourself to the old masters, you won't measure up. You have to focus on YOUR life, or you'll always be in dispair about your "progress".
HF: *L* That sounds a lot like painting
Sonata: *nods* All art...
HF: How many instruments have you played?
Sonata: Well, just played or actually learned to play fairly well? *S*
HF: Learned to play fairly well.
Sonata: I've learned to play a lot fo instruments just for basic level. But the ones I really know are trombone, tuba, and piano (which is a requirement). I've also sung in choir, so voice as well, though I'm no expert. *S*
HF: Who inspires you?
Sonata: A fairly broad question... would you like the list or do you want to narrow that down? *EG*
HF: Who inspires you to create music? or who inspires you to create music? or who inspires you most?
Sonata: Still broad, but I'll be brief...*S* ;-)

You're asking me who my best friend is musically, which I don't want to commit to for fear of reprisal...*L*

My friends who inspire me a lot. Most of them, while they know music, aren't REALLY well educated, so while my music is modern, it's always accessible too.

My girlfriend (she knows who she is, as do my friends). Who gives me hope and love in my life.

Many composers of the past, which might lead you to another question... *s*
HF: LOL Which composers?
Sonata: As aformentioned. Shostakovich and Prokofiev, who lived and suffered under soviet rule. Their music is truly a model (at least their more serious works) for comtemporary music.

Gustav Mahler, and incredible symphonist, truly mystical and passionate.

JS Bach, the master of counterpoint.

There are more, but those are the main ones. *S*
HF: Can you tell me something something about you? ... Your hopes, dreams, aspriations, your commitments for your craft?
Sonata: *nods*

I really would like to be a great composer, in a new sort of way. The common person has REALLY become seperated from great art and culture, it's even somthing that is the butt of jokes these days and something almost taboo. Pop culture has sort of moved in and taken over, I think it leaves us empty and commercialized.

I want to bring contemport music back to the masses, make something that is artisitically complex and yet accessible to the common person with little musical education. At the same time, I hope schools start to do a better job of educating the population culturally.
HF: Yeah, that's true.
Sonata: I'd hate to see the western musical tradition die out because of lack of audience. People also have to understand that if they don't foster and support the musical revolutionaries of toay, there won't be any tomorrow. Beethoven, Shostakovich, Mahler: they were all persecuted in their time for being "too modern" "not accessible enough". We look back on that sort of thing today and laugh. "Beethoven, not accessible?!" Times change...
HF: Yeah, (like most artists) some didn't become really famous until their time was over.
Sonata: *nods* I suppose it will always be that way...
HF: Would like to add anything else?
Sonata: I could go on for hours. I just hope that people read this and take it to heart. *S*
HF: Yeah, some people today don't realize how important the arts are.

Are there any particular music websites that you like?
Sonata: There's a great place called "The Classical MIDI Archives". Not particularly great "performances", but still very valuable. www.prs.net
HF: What is a favorite quote or saying of yours that you would like to impart on the MG audience? *L*
Sonata: Hmm... *S* There are so many good ones... but the darn thing that keeps springing to my mind is a Latin one you've probably heard: "In Vinum Veritas".
HF: I've heard it, but right now I cant remember what it means *L*
Sonata: It means, "In wine, truth". :}

I've always been trying to figure out, when you drink, you're a lot more blunt, much more likely to engage in *ahem* romantic activities impromptu, and sometimes more likely to think your life is a failure. Is it simple impairment, or is it the truth about how we think of ourselves and how we want to act and are constantly trying to deny? Not terribly classy, but... *S*
HF: It has a very good meaning *L* very deep *L*
Sonata: Thanks :)
HF: Do you have a closing, like an inspiration to others to seek this field or encouragement to persue their dreams?
Sonata: Seek the balance, the compromise, always. Politically, life-wise, socially. There are almost always two extremes for everything. People always think of good being one way and bad being in the other. But there are two bads in either direction. Politically, we have Hitler on one end and Stalin and Mao on the other. Good is in the middle, for most things.
HF: Is ther anything else that you would like to add or say, or add to? *L*
Sonata: Can't say that I do. I think I've said my piece. *S*
HF: Ok *L* :) Thanks for the interview and for all your help and for letting us display your wonderful music! :) *hugs*
Sonata: NP :-) *hugs* Read you later!