Poem, by Jonathan Howard Katz – PDF

POEM (2023) by Jonathan Howard Katz

for solo piano

11 pages (PDF score)

Program note:

Poem was written at the invitation of a colleague who was looking for music that evoked Scriabin. Given the vast changes in Scriabin’s musical language over his lifetime, I aimed not so much to imitate a style (except perhaps in a very general and imperfect sense) but rather to find some sense of the mystery, excitability, and emotional excess that characterize some of my favorite works of his. The title is a nod to Scriabin’s many piano works titled Poem, but not a reference to any one in particular. The time constraints on this creative process were unusual. I wrote the piece over about three days, practiced it for another two days, and gave a moderately accurate premiere on May 5, 2023, in New York City. Subsequent edits to prepare a serviceable score proved to require very few revisions, so the work largely remains the product of that three-day composition process.

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ISMN 979-0-800356-03-2