NOTES — Op. 1 for solo piano was composed in a period of vociferous musical study and apprenticeship. Berio’s Brin, Messiaen’s Catalogue d’Oiseaux, Schoenberg’s Op.11 and Op.19, as well as Takemitsu’s Uninterrupted Rests served as compositional directions, thus vaguely inhabiting the surface of the music. Post factum, a similarity with Takemitsu’s three pieces can be discerned: The limited technical palette at my disposal and the impossibility of an effortlessly exteriorized inner expression resulted in music of a melancholic autobiographical dimension.

The three pieces exhibit forms not unlike that of older Asian poetry; Each piece is comprised of three long phrases: The first two phrases share similar qualities / the second abruptly ends in a formal “cut” / the third functions independently and concludes the piece.