“Just as I Am”
“Just as I am” was written for the violinist Ayano Ninomiya, whose enthusiasm for our joint recording project and her lyrical, singing violin playing inspired me. It is based on the old Southern hymn “Just as I am, without one plea.” The two-movement sonata bears a superficial resemblance to Beethoven’s Sonata for Piano, Op. 90. Here the first movement centers around G major and the second movement around E major. A fragment of the hymn is quoted Lontano, at a great distance, in a very high register at the beginning and end of the whole piece.
More Chamber Music Works
String Quartet no. 4, Epiphany, Opus 196 1
Clearing the Clouds from Our Minds, Opus 157 3
Serenade No. 4, Walk That Lonesome Valley, Opus 112 9
Serenade No. 2 for alto recorder, cello, and harpsichord, Opus 98 12
Poems for Trumpet and Piano, Opus 85 14
Two Encores: 1, Canon; 2, Lament, Opus 78 no. 2 16
Two Encores: 1, Canon; 2, Lament, Opus 78 No. 1 17
Harmonium: Eight Poems for Brass Quintet after Wallace Stevens, Opus 48 22
Mahler in Blue Light, Opus 43 23
Four Pieces in Familiar Style, Opus 41 24
What Goes Around Comes Around, Opus 38 26
Concerto for Oboe and Five Instruments, Opus 32 28
The Book of Moonlight, Opus 31 29
“Sleep Song” a children’s piece for violin and piano, Opus 18 31
Fantasia on an Imaginary Hymn, Opus 17 32
String Quartet No. 2, Opus 16 33
String Quartet No. 1, Opus 6 34