About the creation

The Trio was commissioned by Uri Vardi and funded by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It is a continuation of the works I have written in the past which combine the oud with western instruments in the context of western art music. The work develops in a free associative manner and contains, side by side, written parts as well as parts open to improvisation by one of the instruments on the basis of ostinato by the other two. In spite of the work being constructed as a mosaic which underlines the oriental influences therein, it has also melodic, harmonic, rhythmic and orchestrational motivic elements which are repeated, in transformation, throughout the piece and contribute to its unity. The character of the work is mainly gloomy and lament-like. Towards the end, however, a glimmer of hope and optimism can be felt. Menachem Wiesenberg