Composer: Don BanksGrafton-Greene, Michael2024-08-212024-08-21https://hdl.handle.net/1885/733715192Sonatina dates from the period just before Don Banks (1923-1980) left Australia in 1950 to study abroad. It is a student work, but fascinating as it encapsulates many of the traits of the mature composer: a fastidious craftsmanship; careful control over form; and the presence of a jazz beat lurking somewhere behind the fagade. The first movement is in a five-part form - the first two ideas of the work are in allegro and andante tempi, respectively, and are easy to identify. In the middle, the tempo speeds up into a vivace and then, via a cantabile, the first idea and tempo reappear. The second movement is a free-flowing counterpoint, suggesting solo instruments and finally strongly reminiscent of the kind of jazz piano that Banks himself played at the time. The last movement is closer to a rondo form, in that the opening idea reappears between incursions of other contrasting episodes; here classical counterpoint and jazz rub shoulders with a short venture into something approaching a Webernian sparseness. Sonatina is quite expansive and could almost be labelled a sonata in its scope. Banks, together with Richard Meale and Keith Humble, went on to become the leading Australian composers of their generation.audio/wav© 2003 Anthology of Australian Music on DiscClassical Music