About the creation

Every spring, Jerusalem gets crazy. Why?

Is it because of something in the air? Something in the people? Or maybe it is just me? These are the questions I was thinking of, four years ago, while waiting for the light train in Jerusalem. Then I decided that the next piece I will compose will be called Spring Illusions, no matter what. About a year after, I got a commission from The Israel Camerata Jerusalem Orchestra and started working on the piece.

Spring Illusions gave me the freedom to create whatever was on my mind. I didn’t want to stick to any musical rules or limitations, and I tried to compose as spontaneously as I could, thinking of the emotions and ideas I had, more than planning the final work.

The composing process was very intuitive and immediate, as if the notes were writing themselves on the staves, turning conscious into unconscious, hallucination into reality, dreams – into a real live score.

The piece contains two movements that should be played continuously. The motives are written one after each other without any formal structure. Sometimes they come back repetitively with a variant. Sometimes, they just disappear as if they never existed. All of them make the piece unified and become a whole and homogeneous thought - the one-off ordering the chaos of the spring illusions.

I also used monologues and dialogues between the instruments, to humanize them to be able to convey emotions to the audience.

The conclusion is that we shouldn’t try to find any logic, in the piece and in our dreams. We all should accept having illusions or living with them in peace.

The piece is dedicated to my beloved nephew, Harel, who was born the day I finished the piece.