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Programme Note

Richard Rodney Bennett’s interest in the Soprano Saxophone, evident in the key roles given to the instrument in his film and TV scores, most notably Tender is the Night and The Charmer led naturally to this Sonata of 1986. The third of the work’s four movements is based on a theme of Harold Arlen’s ‘Once I had a Sweetheart’ and the Finale is a rondo in which the episodes refer to the previous movements in sequence.

The Sonata is dedicated to John Harle who commissioned the work with funds from Greater London Arts, and gave the first performance with John Lenehan at the Purcell Room in November 1988.