Avner Dorman's Piano Music

Last month, I ordered the Piano Sonata No.3 - Dance Suite (Prelude, Oud and Kanun, Techno) by Avner Dorman. I had never heard his work before. I read a description of this sonata and it seemed very exotic. This morning, after successfully being able to sight-read it, I kept asking myself why I did not know about his piano music before.
I would like to share the description by the that "tickled" my curiosity:

"When Soheil asked me to compose a new piece for his March Alice Tully concert, I had already begun contemplating the writing of a suite of dances. However, instead of following the traditional form of a dance suite (i.e., a sequence of unrelated dance movements), I chose to compose a dramatic piece, one that combines the vividness of dances with the emotional content of drama.

Dramatically, Dance Suite is the journey through sound of a blind oud player. (The oud is a traditional Middle-Eastern instrument that resembles a lute or a guitar.) The piece opens with a prelude which symbolically represents the blind player’s wandering through the darkness and finding his expression through sound rather than light. The prelude is very passionate and deals with the musician’s inner conflict.

The movement that follows the prelude (Oud and Kanun) is based on a traditional Arabic maqam and incorporates several Arabic dances. A maqam is a series of notes or gestures that form the basis of most classical Arabic music. The second movement is constructed like a taqsim - an improvisatory piece that is based on a single maqam.

During the second movement, sounds from a different world begin to penetrate the classical Arabic music. These are sounds of modern street-life and include modern dances (such as techno and house). The oud player is fascinated by these new sounds and begins to follow them instinctively in his music.

The last movement begins when, unexpectedly, the serene atmosphere disappears. The modern dances take over, leading the piece into an exuberant finale. It is solely based on motives from the first two movements, combined with rhythms and gestures of modern dance styles.

Dance Suite is played continuously as one movement and is approximately 15 minutes long."(Avner Dorman)

Dorman is a young Israeli composer and onetime physicist. He got his doctorate from Juilliard where he studied composition with Corigliano.
The first American recording of his piano music was recently released by Naxos.
Eliran Avni, the pianist does a wonderful job, with impeccable technical skills and sensibility. Go to YouTube to watch him performing Dorman's Piano Concerto in A.

Schirmer has recently published the Sonatas No1*, No2**, No3, Prelude No1, Moments Musicaux, Azerbaijani Dance and more (you can hear them all on the CD by Eliran Avni).

*this neoclassic work is inspired by classic rock, classical music and Brodway music"
**it is inspired by Art Tatum, Messiaen and Nancarrow