York Höller

Piano Sonata No. 4

Commissioned by Radio France and premiered by the dedicatee Bertrand Chamayou in Paris at the beginning of 2023, the ten-minute work follows the Beethovenian ‘development type’. Like Höller's two preceding piano sonatas, it is a one-movement piece. At the centre is the processing of one harmonic, one rhythmic, one scale element each, as well as a ‘sound form’ as it determines Höller's entire compositional thinking. It is formed from three phrases of 6, 7 and 8, i.e. 21, tones, and ‘at times appears like a kind of cantus firmus’, according to the composer. The interplay between these very different poles unfolds in many virtuoso figurations, which are sometimes reminiscent of Debussy and which require a meticulous dose of pedaling.