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A Sonata for When Time Stands Still

  • Instrumentationoboe and piano
  • Length14'
  • Year2020
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Original version premiered by: Steven Banks (soprano saxophone), Xak Bjerken (piano)

Venue: Kaufman Center for the Performing Arts, New York

Commissioned by: Young Concert Artists, Inc.

Program note

This sonata for oboe and piano unfolds in three movements: I. Largo, II. Vivace, and III. Pesante. The piece follows a Western formal structure while drawing on gestures and performance practices from Arabic musical traditions. Writing for the oboe posed a unique challenge, as the instrument is not traditionally associated with Middle Eastern music. That distance, however, became a creative advantage, allowing me to reinterpret these expressive gestures through a more personal and contemporary lens.

“…a wonderful combination of grinding dissonance and just slightly off-kilter consonance…”

Cleveland Classical

“Haddad combines an improvisation on the ney… with arpeggios from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1… alternatively mysterious and exuberant… a haunting, lyrical dialogue…”

Seen and Heard International

Programming A Sonata for When Time Stands Still?Version B

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