Listen to the first movement on last.fm

Listen to the second movement on last.fm

I wrote my Piano Sonata No. 2 (2000) for Israeli pianist Einav Yarden. She premiered
the piece at the 2001 Aviv Competitions in Israel and won both the top piano prize
and the prize for performance of an Israeli composition. In both movements of the
piece I tried to create a sense of improvisation, even though the music is fully notated.
The first movement is of a lyrical nature. Its embellishments and exploration of
colors grows out of the melodic line. In the first movement I imagine a pianist who
begins to play a known piece but cannot remember it fully, and therefore, begins to
improvise. By contrast, the second movement is fast and rhythmically driven. Its
quasi-improvisatory sections are more similar to a Jazz pianist showing off her
technical and musical abilities over a driven rhythmic texture. The second movement
is inspired by Art Tatum’s incredible pianism, as well as by the works of Olivier
Messiaen and Conlon Nancarrow. (Ofra Yitzhaki analyzes Piano Sonata No.2 in
her Doctorate Dissertation: Israeli piano music after 1985: analysis and comparison in
historical perspective).

Piano Sonata No. 2 has been recorded by Eliran Avni for Naxos; CD 8.579001

Reviews:

Mr. Dorman’s work begins as a pianissimo, measured rumination, and quickly expands toward an assertive angularity, underpinned by lightly dissonant chords before falling back to its pianissimo origins. The movement oscillates between these extremes several times. That volatility is its attraction, but Mr. Dorman has it both ways: he closed the work with a single-mindedly direct, propulsive Presto with an almost Rachmaninoff-like muscularity and showiness. Mr. Goldstein reveled in its sharp-edged rhythms, dense chords and arching themes, and gave it an irresistible, powerhouse performance.
Allan Kozinn, New York Times, 13/01/2009