Wernicks music often exhibits subtle wit underlying a serious exterior, sometimes with warming references to past musical heritage. The title SONATINA evokes works of Clementi and Kuhlau, typically concise three-movement pieces intended for piano students as stepping stones toward more advanced repertoire. Wernicks SONATINA was composed for his former student James Primosch, a virtuoso pianist as well as his successor as composition professor at University of Pennsylvania using the 18th-century student sonatina reference for subtle irony in this advanced work.