Deuxiéme Sonata by Benjamin Godard (1849-1895) Classical Guitar - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.914747

Benjamin Godard (1849-1895) was a French  violinist and composer of Jewish heritage. He wrote hundreds of works, including  symphonies, operas, concertos, chamber and solo pieces, and songs. Today he is  most remembered for his five symphonies and the Berceuse from his opera,  Jocelyn. In style, Godard's music is reminiscent of the early Romantic  period rather than the more grandiose style of Wagner. Godard wrote two sonatas for solo violin. The first dates from the 1870s. The  second was composed in the 1890s and published after his death. Both sonatas contain four movements and employ baroque dance forms. The Deuxiéme (second) Sonata,  arranged here for guitar solo, opens with a Sarabande in A minor, marked "molto  moderato e pompasamente" (very moderately and pompously). The following Rigodon in C major is quick and convivial, although a contrasting section in C  minor tempers the mood. The third movement, Adagio non ma troppo, begins in a  tranquil F major. The texture soon thickens and makes striking use of the  instrument’s lower register. A sudden modulation to F minor provides the  sonata's most introspective moment. The piece returns to A minor and ends in a dramatic  cliffhanger on the dominant. The rhythmic Bourrée serves as a true  finale and includes a frenetic contrapuntal section recalling the violin  sonatas of J. S. Bach.