Alexander Rosenblatt's Piano Sonata No. 2 and Its Influences: The Blending of Classical Techniques and Jazz Elements

Abstract

Alexander Rosenblatt (b. 1956), a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, is an outstanding contemporary composer. He has composed more than forty works in diverse genres, with almost half of his output devoted to piano compositions, including piano solo, duets, concerti, and chamber music. In this study, I discuss Rosenblatt's background as a musician and composer and provide an analysis of his compositional styles as found in Piano Sonata No. 2 (1988). Rosenblatt's music integrates classical form with a variety of other influences creating a style that brings together diverse elements from those of precedent composers, such as Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev and their compositional techniques, to the stylistic trends of jazz, including quartal harmony, syncopation, suspended chords, swing, and improvisational style. With his fusion of classical and jazz compositional techniques, Rosenblatt occupies an important place in contemporary piano literature. My research sheds light on Rosenblatt's compositional techniques, contributing to the scholarship on contemporary piano literature in general and providing insight for performers and scholars with specific interest in Rosenblatt. It is my hope that my work will stimulate further research on Rosenblatt and his contemporaries, and that his compositions may assume a prominent place in the standard repertory.