While a good deal of my music tends on some level to be programmatic, I wanted this sonata, like my earlier one for viola and piano, to express whatever it had to say in purely musical terms, finding in this approach a refreshing challenge. To my ear, the common thread across the sonata’s three contrasting movements is an exploration of rhythm. In the first (Breathless, dramatic), the layering of conflicting metres, unified by a quick pulse, along with fragmentation, variation and imitation of thematic material, suggest the psychological state of a mind racing when confronted with a big decision. A dance-like central section, and the coda’s shift to the tonic major, offer limited relief. The second movement (Adagio espressivo), a lyrical outpouring punctuated by agitated outbursts (recollections of past troubles?), includes nonmetred passages and, in the reprise, continually varying rhythmic figuration in the accompaniment. I had the most fun writing the concise and zany finale (Lively, playful), a percussive scherzo whose mischievous phrasing and rhetoric is underscored by strumming and pizzicato. Subtle motivic connections among movements abound. The work’s stormy introduction outlines an ascending pentatonic minor scale; the finale’s principal theme, mirror-like, traces a descending pentatonic major scale. The insistent, rising minor third that characterizes the slow movement’s emotive explosions recalls the first movement’s passionate theme (introduced by the cello), itself derived from the pentatonic minor scale’s incipit. The interval of a third likewise plays an important role in the finale. The cellist Denise Djokic gave the world premieres of two of my early chamber works, including the Piano Trio, in consecutive years at Ottawa Chamberfest (2004-05). Only recently did we contemplate another collaboration, the fruit of which is this sonata she and her longtime duo partner, the pianist David Jalbert, commissioned with the generous support of Scotia Festival of Music. This marvelous musical duo—on their several recordings Jalbert complements Djokic’s purity of tone, smoldering intensity and precision, with warmth, fluidity and lucidity—was a source of inspiration. –R.R.