Lunde, Lawson - Sonata
This popular 1959 work is similar in some respects to the Creston Sonata though doesn't quite have the same technical difficulties. The opening movement has a triumphant and julibant mood buoyed along by a busy piano part. There are brief moments of slight chromatic tension, but they are resolved quite quickly and the overall thrust of the movement is optimistic. The second movement has a slight nod to the chorale, and is similar to David Maslanka's approach at times. Simple imitation between the piano and saxophone is here established and later emulated in the final movement. There are certainly some pleasant harmonies here with a faux-jazz language exhibiting itself at times. Some of the material sounds a little like Copland, though not so profound. The final movement has a great energy propelled principally by the piano tremelo and semi quavers in the melody. I can't help but feel there are moments in the Sonata as a whole which sound like abandoned fanfares. It's a convincing piece and there's a feeling of joy that pervades much of it. There are corrections to the score available here from Steven Mauk: https://faculty.ithaca.edu/mauk/docs/lunde.pdf