Donald Martino: Three Sad Songs

Three Sad Songs was commissioned in 1998 for Samuel Rhodes by the Koussevitzky Foundation, and was premiered at Coolidge Auditorium in the Library of Congress that same year. The Washington Post described the premiere in an article entitled “ ‘Sad Songs’ Say So Much:”

“The first piece, ‘Processional,’ conveys the viola’s yearning cry over pointillistic chords from the piano line both whimsically and touchingly set against the plaintive viola. As the assertiveness of their statements grows, so does the interplay between the parts. The viola solo that starts ‘Soliloquy and Cavatina’ dies away but is soon joined by distant, lambent chimes from the piano. [This is] emotional and lyrical yet highly abstracted music.”