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Elena Sokolovski

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The work by Elena Sokolovski “Sonatina for Two Clarinets and Two Bassoons”, composed in 2017, is a quartet of three parts for two clarinets (A) and two bassoons. In terms of volume, it can be called a microsonata cycle – the whole work lasts about six minutes, and in terms of character – music for a cartoon about toy soldiers and various other figures.

Sonatina themes are extremely vividly associated with lively, funny, and sometimes somewhat sad scenes from various Disney and other cartoons, and will surely cause joyful surprise and cheerful laughter from the listeners. The sonatina is dedicated by the author to the French composer Francis Poulenc.

The first part of the sonatina, built in sonata form, consists of two main themes and is preceded by a short two-bar introduction by the clarinets. These two measures determine the genre-tempo character of the whole movement: as if some characters are preparing for the appearance of the initial theme of the scherzo and the second one following it.

The main theme sounds clear and energetic in the bassoons, and then the “screams” and “jumps” of the clarinets and the unexpectedly flickering sounds of some funny march give it comic features.

In the second theme, which begins slowly and “solidly”, fast passages and “leaps” of clarinets suddenly reappear, adding to the comic effect.

Throughout the movement, the two-bar opening theme appears four times at section boundaries. Such repeated appearance of a small refrain gives the main musical form of the entire first movement certain features of the rondo: here, in sonata form, there is no development section, but this section is not needed, it is compensated by the general character of the scherzo, which is already full of movement, fuss and surprises.

And this two-bar refrain, as it were, partially stops the movement and “puts things in order” in the scherzo. It begins and ends with the first movement of the sonata.

After the bright, fast first part, the next one evokes a completely different mood – here, in the second part of the cycle, lyrics with a touch of sadness reign. Imagine a gray August day, a narrow forest path and maybe a little rain… Calm, discreet nature is also very beautiful and, contemplating it, we feel sad, because summer is ending, and autumn is ahead.

Uniform, quiet movement, not stopping for a minute, serves as a background for melodious melodies of a thoughtful nature, sounding slightly muffled and unhurried. The author sometimes enlivens this quiet movement with a light dotted line, which gives the rhythmic figures a noticeable grace, and the Phrygian mode exacerbates the minor color of the music.

Clarinet trills are heard from somewhere far away and maintain a calm contemplative mood in this charming music.

And so we return to a joyful and sunny world. Loud calls for general fun are heard, dance melodies sound here and there, song motifs are heard, interspersed with passages and various humorous scenes, figures are flashing running back and forth. And again – a call to dance, to a fun hustle.

The recurring sound of the rapidly soaring intonations of the call determines the rondo-like musical form of the movement. The atmosphere of a holiday and even, perhaps, a carnival, creates some kind of circulation, new episodes appear and at the same time we often encounter the same carnival masks, meet familiar and unfamiliar characters.

In its scherzo character and on the basis of the musical form of the rondo, this third movement of the sonata resembles its first movement. The general structure of the entire work – the sonatina as a whole – is built as a relief of a three-part form: the extreme fast and cheerful parts surround slow, sad lyrical and poetic middle part.

It is safe to say that this “Sonatina for Two Clarinets and Two Bassoons” is one of Elena Sokolovsky's rather successful works.