Alan Hovhaness' Sonata No. 2 for guitar, composed in the same year as his first sonata, is a brief work in two movements. Like many of this composer's works, the Sonata No. 2 seems more intent on establishing and maintaining a certain mood than developing musical ideas. The first movement, an "Allegretto," clearly owes a debt to Spanish guitar playing, with its minor-key atmosphere and its imitation of an improvisatory style. The guitar seems to be telling a story in this first movement, as the music consists almost entirely of quick, unaccompanied passagework that comes to rest on emphatic strummed chords. Beginning with a lights dance, the second movement moves into a section featuring quick repeated notes, again punctuated by strummed chords. The movement ends abruptly, and without any further reference to the opening dance. Hovhaness' invention in this work is not especially interesting, but it succeeds as a piece of mood music.



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