This congenial sonata for carillon (or keyboard(s), harp, et al.) combines the Ash Grove, a secular folk tune from Wales, with a 19th−Century hymn tune composed by Arthur Henry Messiter (b. 1834 in Somersetshire, England; d. 1897 in New York City), and named for the composer’s wife, Marion. Both tunes are interwoven and presented in the form of an abbreviated single-movement sonata format. The setting is appropriate for performance by one or two players.

     Following a brief introduction, The Ash Grove offers a first thematic subject, then yields to Messiter’s hymn tune. The setting digresses into an extended developmental section based on the second theme in its minor mode. A spirited recapitulation of the Ash Grove (in its original home key) is followed by an abbreviated restatement of the second theme and closing codetta.

  

Sonata on

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