Performances
Award-winning Compositions & Performances
As a classical pianist who grew up in the Middle East, my musical world was infused with versatile inputs. On one hand, practicing and refining for hours pieces by Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, etc. while on the other, as a young child, listening to my grandmother sing Ladino romanceros and Turkish folk songs and hearing Arabic music on the radio. As a composer, I am interested in exploring the possible integration or fusion of those diverse musical worlds.
“A painter paints pictures on canvas.
But musicians paint their pictures on silence”
- Leopold Stokowski
'Mirage' for Piano Solo,
Performed at the Petit Trianon in San Jose, California
2004 MTAC Composers Today State Contest, Division 8: First Prize
Composed in 2003 during the onset of the second war in Iraq, this essentially monothematic piece starts in a somber mood, yet at a seemingly peaceful pace of half notes in the left hand. The right hand melody couples the harmonic foundation with its air of eeriness.
Gradually, the basic rhythmical values start to diminish through eighths, sixteenths and then sixteenth triplets to produce an ever increasing flow and while at first, a quasi-Romantic melody ensues, it quickly gives way to a
Mirage
jarring, syncopated disjunct version of the slow paced beginning chords. Further transformation of the pianistic texture leads to an “explosive” dotted rhythm climax reiterating repeatedly and violently the “peaceful” harmonic progression of the beginning. Eventually the storm subsides and a “bitter calm” achieved with warping of the initial harmonies is restored…
"'Mirage' is stirring and exhilarating.
I was riveted at how it unfolded with evocative images and rhythms.
Its expansive, compelling phrases are written brilliantly for the piano.
Nurit Barlev’s playing is passionate, jazzy, and smart."
- Jessica Krash, composer-pianist
Dorian Toccata for Piano Solo [Excerpt]
Performed at the MTAC Convention in Sacramento, California
2005 MTAC Composers Today State Contest, Division 8: First Prize
Composed in 2004, in this composition I set out to experiment with the low register of the piano and a feel of perpetual motion using seemingly shifting bar lines, irregular meters and varying phrase lengths.
It is based on but not limited to the use of the Dorian mode. The contrasting middle section is a respite from the forceful drive of the Toccata with lyrical quasi- improvisatory melodies hinting of the main Toccata motive in a ‘perdendosi’ (getting lost) manner until its final
Dorian Toccata
disintegration leading into the reprise of the rapid perpetual motion section. After getting increasingly entangled and climactic, the music resolves back into a short lyrical and peaceful ending.
Listen to the full piece here:
Eastern Fantasy for Flute and Piano
2009 MTAC Composers Today State Contest, Division 8: First Prize
Performed by Leslie Zieren, Flute; and Nurit Barlev, Piano
Composed in 2003, Eastern Fantasy is a composition in free form mirroring a cycle of life. The initial flute solo, “sprouts” from a fermata on the flute’s lowest note, Middle ‘C’ and a cadenza- like (unmetered) rising melody ends the introduction on yet another fermata. On the basis of unstable shifting meters and hemiolas, a dialogue between the piano and flute follows with themes associatively leading one into the next and with additional flute cadenzas interspersed within metered sections. Both the flute and the piano parts become increasingly virtuosic, leading to a climactic outburst after which both recede back to the point of origin.
”Nurit Barlev’s “Eastern Fantasy” for flute and piano, performed by Leslie Zieren, flute, and the composer at the piano, is a beautifully conceived composition which paints a colorful journey into the musical languages of the Middle Eastern/Western experience. A flute monologue opens and closes this work. Its beautiful tone is heard in most every register imaginable. There is thematic interplay with the piano and use of characteristic intervals of the Eastern scale as the music intensifies. This five and a half minute “Fantasy” affords the listener the opportunity to meditate and envision aspects of the human experience. There is solace in soothing “water falls”, tension, and a sense of acceptance in this engaging musical and technical journey."
- Sherry Kloss, "Triangle" Quarterly Publication, Fall 2006
Rhythms of a Promised Land for Violin and Piano
2007 MTAC Composers Today State Contest: Second Prize
Performed by Mary-Hellen Weinstein, Violin; and Nurit Barlev, Piano
Composed in 2004, is based on Yemenite dance rhythm. The maintheme is stated as a dialogue between the piano and the violin in a variety of registers based on open fifths and quartal harmonies withpervasive syncopation. It then gives way to a slow middle section featuring a soulful Eastern song melody. A cadenza-like transition leads into the fast-paced coda in which the energetic dance theme alternates with ”vengeful quotations” from the lyrical song all building up into a fiery conclusion.
Ostinato No. 11 for Piano Solo
2003 MTAC Composers Today State Contest, Division 7: Second Prize
Composed in 2002, this piece germinated as a melodic exploration based on an ostinato - a repeated pattern in the left hand part. The resulting texture is predominantly contrapuntal and there is pervasive use of quartal harmonic language along with strong hints of a Japanese mode. A feeling of perpetual motion builds up to the climax of the piece.
Song Cycle on Poems by Edgar Ellen Poe for Soprano and Piano
2007 MTAC Composers Today State Contest: Second Prize
Performed by Kathleen Nitz Kasdorf, Soprano Vocals; and Nurit Barlev, Piano
Composed in 2005, I set to music four poems by Edgar Allen Poe revealing different aspects of the poet’s tormented existence.
“A Dream within a Dream” laments the ephemeral nature of life questioning the reality of it all. This song seeks to create a surreal atmosphere with a sprawling melody, use of whole tone scale harmony and fluid homogeneous figurations in the piano part.
“The Happiest Day, The Happiest Hour” deals with the dichotomy of life’s happy and sad moments and conveys the embitterment caused by the elusiveness of happiness and pride. The bold, often detached melody of the Soprano is accompanied by a repetitive chordal texture in shifting irregular meters.
“To One in Paradise” (2006 Diana Barnhart American Song Competition: Cum Laude) is mourning the loss of a loved one and may allegorically be construed as the loss of one’s purpose in life. Here the melody is constantly dislodged shifting from one tonal center to another and the harmony follows the text’s mood from bright when reminiscing about past tender love to somber and ominous when coming to grips with the reality of loss.
“The Bells” establishes a succession of emotional states from merriment and excitement (Silver sledge bells), to celebration and joy (Golden wedding bells) to alarm and horror (Brazen alarm bells) and finally death (Iron funeral bells). This poem too is often interpreted as an allegory about the progression of stages in human existence. Likewise the music follows along these four different moods starting with light texture in the upper register of the piano and a staccato pentatonic melody in the Soprano part. Gradually the register used by the piano becomes lower, a thicker texture develops with increasing dissonance and pervasive use of augmented chords as the harmonic basis. This leads to a suddenly fast-paced and freakishly cheerful section depicting the dance of the Ghouls’ King to the” tolling, moaning and groaning of the bells”
Spring Quartet (Excerpt)
Composed in 2005, and written in a somewhat free rondo form alternating an energetic, cheerful and jumpy theme with two slower and lyrical ones. It seeks to depict Nature teeming with life after the long winter hiatus.
A Humorous Bouquet of Happy Birthdays