Piano Works, 1913-1990

This original anthology brings to print for the first time in one volume the work of American avant-garde composer Leo Ornstein. Its contents span eight decades and demonstrate a remarkable diversity of styles, from lyrical to atonal. Sixteen pieces include Three Moods, Impressions of the Thames, Wild Men's Dance, Chinatown, A Long Remembered Sorrow, Morning in the Woods, and more.

Leo Ornstein (1893–2002) was a leading American experimental composer and pianist who walked away from his fame in the mid-1920s. He continued writing music in obscurity for another half-century, and his works were rediscovered in the mid-1970s. At the age of 97, Ornstein completed his eighth and final piano sonata.

Foreword by Severo Ornstein Introduction by Michael Broyles and Denise Von Glahn Suicide by an Airplane (ca. 1913) Three Moods (1913) Wild Men's Dance (ca. 1913) Impressions of Chinatown (before 1918) Piano Sonata No. 4 (1918) Impressions of the Thames (1920) Impromptu No. 1 (ca. 1950s) Fantasy Piece No. 3 (1961) Tarantelle (ca. 1963) A Long Remembered Sorrow (1964) Meaphor No. 3 (1964) Waltz No. 5 (1966) A Morning in the Woods (1971) Waltz No. 12 (1979) Waltz No. 9 (1980) Piano Sonata No. 8 (1990)