This Piano Sonata was written in the winter of 1983 and was premiered at the University of Michigan on April 29, 1985 by Scott Warner. The relatively brief movements, played continuously, are fantasies that evoke the spirit of the music of various composers – rather than mimic their styles – although certain of their pianistic techniques or extensions of those techniques are employed at times.
Those who know the late piano works of Debussy will recognize in I. After Debussy (which follows a brief, slow Introduction) certain pianistic devices. After Debussy also evokes the spirit of French piano music written by the generations following Debussy, but under his influence. Those familiar with the late piano works of Scriabin will recognize in II. After Scriabin extensions of certain of those works' harmonic and gestural characteristics. In III. After Beethoven, the spirit of Beethoven's most obsessive scherzi is evoked, and Movement IV (untitled) presents a collage of the materials of the previous movements placed over extended bass pedal points. Finally, in the harmonically static Coda – After Chopin, certain florid techniques of Chopin are recalled, framed by a recurring pair of notes, one at each end of the keyboard.
– Steve Rouse