About the piece
Ballade for Piano was the first piece that I wrote upon moving from Israel to New York in 2006. While I did not have a cohesive vision for the piece when I began writing, it slowly materialized on its own accord. New themes and ideas continuously arose during the creative process, resulting in the momentum of a journey. While composing, I thought of the piece like a movie, which revealed various scenes, characters, and moods. Its overall tone ended up being quite somber, likely reflecting the mixed feelings that I had about leaving my home behind and starting a new life. The piece ends with a coda that binds three melodic themes that appeared earlier. I like thinking of these reoccurring gestures as memories on a nonlinear time line; these sometimes remind the listener of something that happened earlier, while at other points seem to foreshadow an upcoming event. In my ears, it gives the piece a sense of reflection and nostalgia. In 2011 the piece won the American Liszt Society International Bicentennial Composition Contest.
Performance by Paul Barnes, who premiered the piece after it had won the American Liszt Society Bicentennial Composition Competition in 2011:
Ballade for Piano
For piano solo (2006)
Length: 11 minutes
This performance
Yuval Cohen, piano
