Sonata 1

Sonata 1 for violin and piano was written in 1964 for Lane’s friend, Isabelle Wegmann (1907-1997), renowned concert violinist and violin pedagogue. Lane and Wegmann were life-long friends and musical collaborators. Like Lane, Wegmann also studied at the Eastman School of Music, although much earlier than him, and she eventually transferred to The Juilliard School, from where she ultimately graduated. Wegmann was an active soloist, chamber, orchestral musician and successful violin pedagogue.

In total, Lane composed eleven pieces for solo violin, covering the pedagogical, community and professional levels. Four pieces were composed for the pedagogical level: Waltz (1972); A Song for Sally (1975); Serenade (1985) and Summer Song (2004), followed by his only community level piece, A Klezmer Tune (??), and six pieces for violin at professional level, beginning with one of his earlier pieces, This Particular Spring (1956), which was followed by Suite (1960), Sonata 1-3 (1964,1979, 2003), and Elegy (1989).

Demosthenes Dimitrakoulakos