Mark Anthony Cruz

Sonatina No. 1

In September of 2018, guitarist, Toby McWilliams commissioned Cruz to write a three-movement guitar solo after hearing his Five Pieces in C on the internationally syndicated radio show, Classical Guitar Alive. McWilliams requested the first movement to be in sonata-allegro form followed by two other pieces that reflect the tempo choices of a typical three-movement sonatina. As is the case with most of Cruz’s music, this Sonatina was completed as music written for music’s sake. However, in his quest to find titles other than tempo markings, Cruz plucked three words from the correspondence between himself and McWilliams that together, add a personal touch to the collection while suggesting a progression of an imaginary day’s events. A point of interest in the first movement, A theme: Cruz begins on the IV chord and intentionally avoids using a proper I chord throughout. While the B section does begin in the dominant key, it moves quickly towards a D major tonal center. Festival (3rd movement) uses a bitonal opening theme: E major in the top voice while the bass line uses E minor.