Quasis For Piano - Avi Schönfeld

Discover Quasis

Piano Solo: Edition HH
Composition Year: 2016

Quasis is a kaleidoscope of cultures and moods.

Quasis is a kaleidoscope of cultures and moods, where three seemingly unrelated dances merge into one unified, modern voice.

At first glance, the pieces seem to have little in common — yet nothing could be further from the truth. Drawing on dances and song–dances from Poland, Austria, and America, composer Avi Schönfeld fuses them into a single artistic statement through his own distinctive, contemporary language.

He sets striking contrasts in motion: song–dance versus dance–song, an intimate mazurka against a sweeping waltz, and moments of free improvisation beside precise, structured writing. In doing so, he captures a full range of human temperaments — tender, exuberant, reflective, and bold.

The final piece, Quasi Blues, isn’t a traditional blues number. Instead, Schönfeld uses the rhythmic pulse and expressive phrasing of the blues to connect its essence with his own compositional voice.

The result is a cycle that feels both familiar and fresh — a modern conversation between cultures, eras, and emotions, all united by the piano’s expressive power.

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The Music

I. Quasi Mazurka

The opening movement pays homage to the Polish dance tradition but through Schönfeld’s unmistakably modern lens. Its rhythm sways with the gentle asymmetry of a true mazurka — elastic, slightly off-balance, always alive. Beneath the dance pulse lies a lyrical, almost nostalgic undercurrent, coloured by sudden harmonic shifts and fleeting flashes of brilliance in the upper register. The texture breathes with rubato and nuance: what seems lighthearted at first reveals emotional depth, like a smile with memory behind it.

II. Quasi Waltz

Here the composer expands the familiar Viennese waltz into something grander and more symphonic. The music unfolds in sweeping arcs, full of contrast and energy, alternating between tender introspection and brilliant, almost orchestral sonorities. Its harmonic language stretches tonality to its limits, evoking late-Romantic warmth tinged with modern dissonance. The rhythm keeps its characteristic triple meter but feels elastic and expressive — less ballroom, more psychological landscape.

III. Quasi Blues

The final movement moves westward, drawing inspiration from American blues but never falling into imitation. Instead, Schönfeld extracts the essence of the blues — its sighing intervals, expressive bends, rhythmic swing — and filters it through his own compositional idiom. Sparse, syncopated motifs alternate with rich, jazz-inflected harmonies, creating a dialogue between melancholy and playfulness. The piece closes the cycle with a sense of liberation: a quiet acknowledgment that all music, regardless of origin, speaks the same human language when filtered through a poet’s ear.