Sonata Concertante (1952)

The SONATA CONCERTANTE is a true dialogue, with moments of sympathetic agreement offset by almost battlelike passages of strenuous opposition.

With the SONATA CONCERTANTE, Kirchner seems to enter a broader, more mature stage of his career. This work is a superb example of Kirchner's ability to draw together a wide variety of styles and dramatic devices into a single, cohesive voice...revealing stark atonality alternating with lyrical tonal passages, as well as equally jarring dynamic contrasts. And yet the music is conveyed with an overall directness and power that glues together all of the varied elements.