Sonata romantica (Hommage a Schubert)

Manuel Ponce's Sonata romantica (1928), subtitled Hommage a Schubert, is one of the most important guitar sonatas of the 20th century, written at Andres Segovia's request during Ponce's years in Paris studying with Paul Dukas. Ponce was the first major composer to write substantial original concert works specifically for Segovia's revival of the classical guitar, and this four-movement sonata demonstrates his ability to inhabit a Schubertian Romantic style while writing idiomatically for the instrument. The warm lyricism of the first movement, the song-like Andante espressivo, the delicate Minuet, and the energetic finale all draw on Schubert's melodic world filtered through Ponce's Mexican sensibility.