The Third Sonata for the Piano was written between the months of October and November of 1995. The titles of its four movements --Apathy, Delusions, Reflections, Astray-- refer to the general mood of each piece. Like many of my previous works, the Sonata is a work of synthesis. It incorporates various techniques that reflect tradition. However, these techniques appear in new and unexpected settings. The piece makes extensive references to tonality, and in the background, it has been conceived in the key of F# minor. However, the highly chromatic language obscures the gravitational force of F# minor. The result is constant turmoil that endows the piece with its intense and charged character.

The first movement , Apathy, is episodic, small events succeed one another in a contrasting rather than developmental fashion. The first measure immediately introduces a readily recognizable "Musical Object" that plays an important role throughout the Sonata.

The second movement , Delusions, washes away the static atmosphere of the previous movement. With whirlwind like virtuosic gestures a development is promised that ultimately evaporates before it can materialize.

In the third movement , Reflections, the uncertainty expressed in the preceding movements is finally counterbalanced with a sense of peace and direction, even resignation. At times, the music seems to yearn for a tempting past, which, as the music makes clear, can never substitute the present and holds no promise for the future. Thus in the end uncertainty sneaks back in; gently at first, it explodes violently in the last movement , Astray, which follows the third without a pause. Material from the first movement returns in an aggressive, metrically rapidly modulating environment. In relentless tempo the work rushes toward a climactic restatement of the main idea. An enigmatic last rush concludes the piece.