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Programme Note

Piano Sonata, No. 1 "Classical" is the first piece I wrote as a student of Josef Bardanashvili at the Music Academy in Tel-Aviv. The piece is "neo-classical" in the sense that it pays homage to classical music as well as to other genres: classic rock, Broadway tunes and other twentieth-century classics. The opening theme was inspired by the sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti although the original naïveté of his music quickly gives way to a more contemporary sound. The second movement begins with what sounds like a pop ballad, but its development is inspired by Beethoven’s late piano sonatas. The final movement is comprised of a theme and set of humoristic and virtuosic variations that explore various rhythmic illusions and polytonalities.