Andrey Stoyanov - Sonatina for Piano
Composer: Andrey Stoyanov (23 March 1890 -- 29 September 1969)
Performer: Rujka Charakchieva
Year of recording: 2012 (?)
Sonatina for Piano / Sonatina Concertante, written around 1955.
00:00 - I. Allegretto
04:16 - II. Andante sostenuto
07:29 - III. Allegretto giocoso
Bulgarian composer Andrey Stoyanov was the brother to the perhaps more famous Vesselin Stoyanov. He was among the founding members of the Contemporary Music Society (which later became the Union of Bulgarian Composers in 1933). He graduated from the Robert College in Instanbul majoring in piano with Sikac. From 1910 to 1914 he studied piano with Prohazka and music theory with Gredner and Mandichevski at the Music Academy in Vienna. Upon his return to Bulgaria, he taught at the State Music School and from 1922 to 1958 he was Professor at the State Academy of Music in Sofia. In 1950 Stoyanov was elected Chairman of the Piano Department - he is considered one of the founders of the Bulgarian piano school. In 1953 he became Head of the Music Pedagogy Department of the Institute of Music at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He composed piano music; a few chamber works; solo and choral songs.
This piano sonatina is among the relatively more often played pieces by Stoyanov, there is clearly inspiration from the rich Bulgarian folk music present and it is certainly playable by an amateur pianist.
The first movement features a bittersweet melody in the theme,
the second movement sounds like a slow lament, and almost sounds like something that could have been written by Rachmaninov.
The uplifting third movement is really Bulgarian sounding, especially because of the 7/16 meter which is as common in Bulgarian music as for example the 3/4 meter is in Western music.
Nowadays there is a "Andrei Stoyanov Community and Music Center" and a "Andrei Stoyanov - International Piano competition" in Sofia, Bulgaria, so at least in his homeland he is not forgotten.