| George Walker, pianist, composer and pedagogue, composed piano sonatas in 1953, 1957, 1975 and 1984. The first three have been topics of a few dissertations in the 1970's, but these papers provided little detailed analysis or focused on the composer's gradual maturation, a term Walker considers erroneous when evaluating his compositions.;This study provides a related biography, an overview of Walker's piano compositions, a review of compositional elements found in the first three sonatas and an analysis of Walker's Sonata No. 4. Finally, the stylistic consistencies and evolutionary tendencies of George Walker's sonatas are presented in concluding remarks.;The Sonata No. 4 demonstrates the composer's continued fascination with a relaxation of traditional forms, coloristic effects of persistent interval combinations, incorporation of folk elements into his thematic material, and harmonic and rhythmic underpinnings as structural bases to the work. While his Sonatas 1 and 2 adhere to expected key relationships, are written with key and time signatures and can be analyzed within traditional forms, Walker presents musical details in a unique and consistent way. The Sonatas 3 and 4 were scored without adherence to traditional tonalities, lack time and key signatures. Walker previously admitted that his views on form had changed and that later compositions would reflect a philosophy demonstrating relaxed traditional organizational norms without any sacrifice of compositional control. Walker's Sonata No. 4, with some of the obvious, expected surface elements lacking, does project a complex and systematic approach to composition through his use of scalar materials, a variety of contrasting elements and cyclical treatment of compositional components. |
