This short piece was written as a twenty-first birthday present for clarinetist Esther Smaill. The melodic fragment heard at the outset soon skitters over its own unstable surface, mutates into fanfare-like repetitions, is spliced with momentary cantabile inserts, is interrupted by slow motion signposts, and blows itself out in a final burst of energy.
The Violin Sonatina and the later orchestrated version, the Concertino, was composed over many years from 1962 to 1984. The piece is a favorite of the composer’s. It explores the wonderfully expressive nature of the violin.