1. Impression
2. Aria Triste
3. Réflexion

The influences on this piece are manifold. The title references the turn-of-the-century French sonorities—such as ninth chords and shimmering textures—that served as inspiration. The entire aim of the work is simplicity of expression, achieved by a handful of textures and brief melodic ideas which progress toward clear harmonic arrivals. The first movement is constructed as an arch form (ABCBA). The heavy, climactic chords in the last half dominate the movement, however, and throw the arch off-balance while setting up a delicate, inconclusive return of the A section. The second movement, tonally rooted on D, captures the quality of a plaintive vocalise. The third movement grows out of a simple rising whole step which expands into a short scale. The instable harmonies above signal the arrival of the melody in the upper voice. When the scale returns, it is transformed into a whole-tone scale with shifting harmonies above, never returning to a previous tonal area and thus leaving the work in a state of inconclusion. Sonatine Archaïque is dedicated to John Gouwens, whose many strong aesthetic views spurred the creation of this work.

—Neil Thornock