About the creation

The Sonata a Quatro Mani is dedicated to the memory of my mentor and teacher Alexander Uriah Boskovich.

Uri – as he was known to his students and friends – by far surpassed his role as a teacher. As well as a guide he was a friend. A senior friend who instructed and encouraged his younger colleagues making their first steps in the fine art of musical composition. Such a man was Uri for me when I started on my way.

The last movement of the sonata begins with a tune composed by Boskovich: a naked, arid tune, almost ascetic in its gravity. The extreme simplicity of this tune hides a complexity in a deeper sense. Boskovich has composed quite a few tunes that are more beautiful and more exciting, such as Dudu and Behold Thou Art Fair. My reason for choosing this arid tune as a theme for variations is that for many years I saw in it a mystery calling for interpretation. The variations are my attempts at understanding this mystery.

As an afterthought I find that, beyond the theme that serves as a basis for the variations, the whole piece is permeated by the spirit of my teacher Boskovich and by the spirit of his time. It shows through in its transparency and in the modal character of the melodies.

The piece was first performed by Miriam Boskovich and Hemda Raz.

Yehezkel Braun