Composed the year after the Toccata Concertante for orchestra, the Partita shares with that work crispness, buoyancy, and a neo-Baroque clarity of form. Fine's inventiveness, sense of proportion, and attention to detail yield a delightfully imaginative work, widely hailed as one of the best American contributions to the genre. The opening "Introduction and Theme" is balanced by a more active "Variation" movement in binary form. Close on the heels of a delicate "Interlude," the lively "Gigue" features remarkable timbral variety. An ornamented but meditative "Coda" provides a suitable finish. Virgil Thomson said the Partita has "fluency in the counterpoint, imagination in the harmony, excellent tunes, and a real personal poetry."
Reproduction Rights
This programme note can be reproduced free of charge in concert programmes with a credit to Boosey & Hawkes/McCord.
