Walter Piston was one of the leading composers of the generation of American composers that came to prominence in the late 1920a and early 1930s. He was a little slower to develop than some others (such as the six-years-younger Copland), but it is with this work of 1930 that his presence began to be felt as an important voice on the American music scene.

Piston did not often stray from the sort of sonata exemplified in this early example: It is in three movements comprising a sonata form, an ABA slow movement, and a finale in sonata-rondo form. On the surface, it also seems that he adheres to the traditional tonic/ dominant-and-beyond/tonic tonal structure of the sonata form, but the fact that his melodies are generally modal, and that he boldly slips into an unexpected chromaticism gives new life to this model. In this case, a piano accompaniment that was based on a Schoenberg-like tone row. This first movement is very serious, even gruff, in tone.

The second movement is an adagio with rich counterpoint. It has an other-worldly quality, which is unusual for the usually down-to-earth Piston. It also has a serious mood.

Piston lightens up in the final movement, a piece that makes chromaticism seem funny. Light and witty rhythms deriving from mundane sources - tango, polka, and march - are common. This sonata has remained one of the most frequently played and recorded of American flute pieces.

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