PROGRAM NOTE When Matt Haimovitz approached me about composing a solo cello work for his “Primavera” project, I instantly accepted his invitation, first because I was familiar with Matt’s superlative artistry but also because this meant another opportunity to explore what, to my mind, is the unique power of expression inherent in the cello. It…
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PROGRAM NOTE I composed Another Wedding March for my own wedding to Abraham (Avi) N. Lotan, my beloved husband. I had the good fortune of having several outstanding musicians who were dear friends travel to Chicago and perform as part of the festivities. When I asked my Chicago-based pianist friends Abraham and Arlene Stokman if…
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program note My Sonata No. 2 for Piano written in Tel Aviv, Israel, belongs to an early body of compositions I created in my teens. I performed it numerous times in Israel and the U.S. in the decade that followed and was fortunate to have had it published by the Israeli Music Institute (IMI), but…
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PROGRAM NOTE Spirit was composed in memory of Laura Flax (1952–2017), the renowned New York-based clarinetist and my cherished friend. Our musical and personal association began in 1977 when Laura invited me to compose a solo clarinet work, For an Actor: Monologue for Clarinet, in memory of her mother, Hazel Flax, whom I had known.…
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PROGRAM NOTE VERTICALS is a seventeen-minute solo piano work in one movement, which can be divided into several interlocking sections roughly suggesting an exposition / contrast / recapitulation / coda formal plan. All materials of the work, however, originate from the opening sonority—a vertical structure (chord) comprising eight notes (though containing only six of the…
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PROGRAM NOTE The process of contemplating a yet-to-be-written composition has always conjured up in my mind the image of a person embarking on a journey to a mysterious, unknown destination. All is possible, the freedom both exciting and daunting! Time and again, as I begin this process, two decisions, often determined by the external circumstances…
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PROGRAM NOTE When the American violist Melia Watras approached me about composing a solo viola piece for her, she presented an idea that added an intriguing extra dimension to this commissioning project. Her hope was to have me create a work that, in some way, alluded to, or made use of, an existing work of…
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PROGRAM NOTE FOR AN ACTOR: MONOLOGUE FOR CLARINET owes its inspiration in large part to the intensely personal ethos with which the clarinet is associated in my mind. To me, the instrument in its contemporary usage suggests an incredible gamut of gestures, dynamics and emotions. Accordingly, in MONOLOGUE, the player assumes the role of a…
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PROGRAM NOTE The word “Hyperbolae” has a double meaning: it refers to a geometric design, and is also the derivation of a Greek word meaning extravagant, or fanciful exaggeration. My work of the same name takes after both definitions. Its first few bars supply the materials for the entire composition, with each event thus being…
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