| Listen | Score | Title | Scoring | Dur. | Year |
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Lake Baikal Hoedown | solo violin | 3’35 | 1998 |
| Order This» | Excerpted from The Last Poet’s Farewell, the next-to-last variation as a lively encore with concert ending. | ||||
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The Last Poet’s Farewell | solo violin | 22′ | 1998 |
| Order This» | Written at the request of Rodion Zamourouev, Moscow, in sympathy with the plight of post-Stalinist Russia. Dances and tunes of powerless compassion. Chained suite of small vignettes across the society and the vast landscape, expressed by the last, bitter “poet — the violinist. Modest movement elements, offstage/ onstage. (Vignettes for ind. mvts. in Notes) | Notes» | |||
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Sonata for Solo Harp | solo harp | 14′ | 1999 | |
| Order This» | Written for my friend Maria Casale. A serious solo sonata for a fine artist. Darker than typical harp music. | Notes» | |||
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I. Legend | 8′ | |||
| Extensive modified developmental sonata form, more contrapuntal than chordal, modal d minor. Much ostinato accompaniment, themes like folk stories, long development, strong recap building tension to a stern, proud ending. | |||||
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II. Meditation | 4′ | |||
| Pensive, solemn, dignified meditation, in alternating oriental modes. Impressionistic middle episode (glissandi, tremolo), serious return, simple poignant ending. Dedicated to the memory of my paternal grandfather Aaron Avshalomoff. | |||||
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III. Danza | 2′ | |||
| Quick, dancy bagatelle on changing polymeters over a covert blues harmonic scheme. Quick microvariations on the opening tune, cheery surprise ending. | |||||
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Variations on a Beethoven Theme | solo cello | 12′ | 1989 | |
| Order This» | Tonal variations on the opening tune from Opus 59 No. 1 F major string quartet, from simple to virtuosic, cheery to moody. Showy ending. | ||||
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Winter Mood | solo piano | 2′ | 1964 |
| Order This» | Dreamy sketch, slow and wistful, euphonious, easy to play. Tonal/impressionist harmonies suggesting snow on mountains. Also scored for wind quintet as part of Around the Year. | ||||
| ACCOMPANIED | |||||
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Concertino for Oboe | solo oboe, strings, harp | 15′ | 2002/2009 | |
| Order This» | Charming, inventive orchestration of the Sonata Breve (see below) as a lyrical, light/dark, short concerto. Commissioned by Aaron and Amelia Neustadt. See ORCHESTRA. | ||||
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Concerto con Timpani (Battaglia) | timpani soli (6-7), strings, harpsichord. continuo | 14′ | 1992 | |
| Order This» | Concerto, early 18th-century concertato style. May use hand-tuned drums. Fun to play and hear. Available in a style-edited version and “Urtext” version with Baroque performance guidelines. See ORCHESTRA for sound samples. | Notes» | |||
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Elegy (solo vn) | solo violin, piano | 8′ | 1990 | |
| Order This» | Arrangement of string orchestra Elegy | ||||
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Meditation (Alto Sax) | 4′ | 1997 | ||
| Order This» | (solo part) | Transcription of the slow movement from the Sonata for Violoncello, for Eb Alto Saxophone | alto saxophone, piano | 310-480-9525 | 310-480-9525 |
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Meditation (viola) | 4′ | 1997 | |
| Order This» | (solo part) | Transcription of the slow movement from the Sonata for Violoncello, for viola | viola, piano | ||
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Sonata Breve for Oboe | oboe, piano | 15′ | 2002 | |
| Order This» | Lyrical, light/dark, short sonatine, commissioned by my friends Aaron Neustadt and Amelia Russo Neustad, oboist; and dedicated to the memory of Amelia’s father. | Notes» | |||
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I. Shifting Masks | 6’15 | |||
| Developmental, varied sonata form with strongly contrasting themes and moods, now sunny, now dramatic and gloomy, now lyrical, now rhythmic and restless. | |||||
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II. Lament | 5’40 | |||
| Elegiac slow movement. Song form with lyrical folk-like melodies. Central sharp, passionate outburst of grief in a short, wild oboe cadenza; gentle varied reprise with short coda. | |||||
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III. Hushabye | 4’40 | |||
| Simple, playful, childlike rondo in lyrical American folk vein; finally fades away to a safe, reassuring mood, like a lullaby on a child’s music box. | |||||
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Sonata for Flute | flute, piano | 28′ | 2000 | |
| Order This» | Another serious sonata written for a talented artist-my friend Ellen Burr. Projects both melodic beauty and rhythmic vitality; exploits the wide timbral range of the flute. Chromatic-tonal mid-20th century pre-modern. Darker than most flute solos. The piano is a full partner. | Notes» | |||
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I. Myth | 8’30 | |||
| Like a mythical story. Mysterious quasi-modernist prologue, series of brooding melodies, wild rhythmic middle, slow denouement. | |||||
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II. It Ain’t Necessarily Jazz | 6’45 | |||
| Candy-cane jazz waltz in varied-rondo-sonata structure with flute improv passages over harmonic changes, and wry Gershwin quotes. (May add bass and light drumset/brushes to perform separately.) | |||||
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III. Star Fire | 5′ | |||
| Dedicated to the memory of our first cat Sadie. Slow music to mourn her in the mountains under a midnight sky bursting with stars. Begins in low murky gloom, then a chain of pure melodies in oriental modes, a hysterical high climax, and a full elegiac reprise. | |||||
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IV. Quarrel | 7’15 | |||
| Dramatic chromatic dialog playing out an increasing nasty domestic quarrel, with yelling and tears at the end. Bitter limp ending. | |||||
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Sonata for Violoncello | cello, piano | 28′ | 1997 | |
| Order This» | Elegant, formal sonata reflecting Russian and East European art-music influences. Heroic writing for the cello. Written for Howard Colf of the LA Philharmonic. | Notes» | |||
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I. Andante | 9’20 | |||
| Tight sonata form with varied reprise and strongly contrasting thematic sections, romantic/rhapsodic overall. | |||||
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II. Lento | 4′ | |||
| Prayerful meditation in simple slow one-theme song form. Melody in cello, over a low bell-like descending piano ostinato with tinkling rising punctuations. Sweet end. Also versions for Viola, Eb Alto Sax. | |||||
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III. Finale (Ghost Riders) | 13’45 | |||
| Driven, extended, mock-heroic finale with Soviet-modern flavor. Offhand ending. | |||||
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TORN CURTAIN suite | viola, piano | 32′ | 1991 |
| Order Score/Set» | Written for my brother Dan in resonance with Eastern Europe and Russia 1989-90. Suite on original tunes that sound Roumanian, Hungarian, Russian, Czech, songs of empathy and powerless compassion — from a stranger. Heroic writing for the viola, the piano a substantial partner. (Accompanying descriptive vignettes.) RECORDING: Albany CD “Three Generations” (Avshalomov/Pyle) | Notes» | |||
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I. The Old Tunes | 7’40 | |||
| Dramatic sonata form, fresh new melodies replacing development, varied returns replacing the recapitulation. A lopsided arch: ABCDEFED_BA, crowned by a free, passionate, whirling duo-cadenza. Blunt, stoic ending. | |||||
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II. Menuetto | 3′ | |||
| Crude old-fashioned minuet/trio (baroque shapes in an Oriental mode, ornamented repeats). High viola harmonics in the trio like tears of trapped children. Fattened return, the cadence pure resignation. | |||||
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III. Ballade | 4’10 | |||
| Clear ABA’ form. The viola offers dry, solemn, phrases in baroque-dance rhythm; the piano gives bittersweet answers. The viola gives a high, sad, old-fashioned romantic love tune, the pianist pounds to the climax, winds down, they repeat the starting dance. Gentle ending. | |||||
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IV. Incident (in the Town Square) | Santa Monica | 1’45 | ||
| Sneaky little scherzo, over before you know it. Fast meters of 5, 7, and 9 establish a busy theme built on repeating cells, interrupted and resumed. Things get violent; the viola emits squeals over crashing clusters in the piano. | |||||
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V. Night Prayer (in the Web) | 9′ | |||
| Anguished nocturne, tracing pain, worry, prayer, release, resignation, with a glimmer of hope at the end. (ABA form) High bells, a writhing melody over a plodding bass line, the open space of a sanctuary, a quiet priestly intonation, then huge bells and “choir,” releasing intertwined spinning anxieties. Return to high bells and a final lullaby with a bitter-sweet cadence giving rest. | |||||
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VI. Dance it Away | 6’30 | |||
| Varied rondo of rustic dance tunes, with quasi-virtuosic touches, like a klezmer or gypsy band; rarely lets up. Jewish-sounding extension hits the top and spins into a fast, crazed coda (reprise of the start of movement I) with a wild-eyed, splashy end. | |||||
Contemporary classical works for solo instrument – a collection of modern solo pieces by composer David Avshalomov, including sound files and scores.