ABSTRACT
The Sonata for Piano and Percussion was a pivotal work in Glanville-Hicks's output. In later years she referred to it as both 'an experiment' and 'a turning point in her music. The theme which opens the piece offered fertile possibilities in the new musical direction. The challenge ahead for Glanville-Hicks was to apply the concept to longer musical spans, and to slower, more lyrical thematic material. Texture, timbre and thematic content are closely inter-related in this work. Through varying the use of the instrumental resources at her disposal, Glanville-Hicks is able to sustain the musical interest without embarking upon any real thematic development. Letters from Morocco was premiered in 1953 at a concert at the Museum of Modern art, with leopold stokowski conducting and the tenor William hess singing the solo part. Stokowski's involvement was a sign of Glanville-Hicks's standing in the musical life of New York at the time.
