Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 03/10/2010, uploaded on 07/27/2010

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

First Ballade (2008)                                       Judd Greenstein

Judd Greenstein is a New York native, whose works have been premiered by The New York Youth Symphony, the NOW Ensemble, the Da Capo Chamber players, and at the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music.  The composer writes:

The piano has always been at the center of my compositional life. Its sounds and possibilities, and its spacings and feel, were what brought me into the world of classical music, and they are very much present in every piece that I write to this day. To actually write a solo piano piece, then, is to confront the almost forbidden pleasure of "the thing itself"; if you buy that explanation of the experience, then it explains why I haven't written a solo piano work since I was 17 years old.  Whatever the reason, First Ballade brings many of my favorite piano composers to the table: J.S. Bach, Maurice Ravel, McCoy Tyner, Nicky Hopkins, and (of course) Frederic Chopin. There are no quotes, but it has a "quotational" feel, like it's telling a story. I hesitate to say that it's the story of my life with, and love for, the piano, but I can imagine that being said by someone else. In any case, it's a Ballade in the Chopin sense, written for the magnificent Michael Mizrahi.

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.