Maurice Journeau composed four sonatinas for piano, not at all on purpose but coming back from time to time to that attractive pianistic form.
The Troisième Sonatine (tr: third sonatina) Op. 12 dates from December 1928 when the composer had to live in Nice on the french Riviera. He was then just thirty years old and was very happy there with his young wife, the dedicatee.
The work was finished only on February 1931. Yet it remained until the end full of intimate bliss among the beautiful landscapes of the coast, evoked later in the suite Aux Rivages Méditerranéens (tr: along the Mediterranean shores).
The sonata's first performance took place in Paris on 14th January 1933 at the "Société Nationale de Musique" with Monique Haas, an avant-garde lady pianist then, much involved in contemporary music.
Translation: Chantal Virlet
Nota: The accurate particulars in French about the three movements of the sonatina are those specified by the composer. Their translation into Italian (between brackets) is intended only for the practical guidance of foreign pianists.
