David Winkler: Chamber Music (Piano Quintet, Cello Sonata, Light Sonatina for Piano)

David Winkler’s works on the CD were composed at important moments in his stylistic development. The oldest work is the Cello Sonata from 2010, requested by cellist Andrey Tchekmazov. The sonata is a one-movement work with continuous melodic development and where the contrasting “movements” are contained within a single form. The Light Sonatina, commissioned by pianist Gabriele Baldocci in 2020, is a short work composed during Beethoven’s 250th Anniversary year as a tribute to the great master. The work “suggests” some of Beethoven’s well-known motivic and stylistic traits for the piano but within a completely original context. The Piano Quintet with Double Bass, commissioned by the Martha Argerich Festival (Lugano), was completed and premiered in 2013. In this work, the “story”, the “narrative” in the music comes about through its thematic profile and the ongoing development of “line”. Overall, Winkler’s style possesses unique characteristics, and Martha Argerich has remarked that he is “one of the greatest composers of our time”. The works on the CD demonstrate the ongoing development of Winkler’s style through thematic profile and the ongoing development of “line,” producing the work’s architecture and its particular harmonic and vertical dimensions.