DANIEL ASIA’S PIANO MUSIC AND HIS ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT WITH A FOCUS ON WHY (?) JACOB FOR SOLO PIANO

The purpose of this study is to offer an overview of Daniel Asia’s piano music written before 2020, with an emphasis on his character piece for solo piano, Why (?) Jacob. The work has been performed by the writer in Tennessee (2015), Oklahoma (2020), and Taiwan (2021).

Having been commissioned by seven American symphonies, Asia has received numerous accolades for his wide-ranging and substantial catalog of solo, chamber, vocal, orchestral works, and opera. Serving as an original study of Asia’s piano compositions, this document is intended to generate public awareness and deeper appreciation of both technical and spiritual aspects of his musical works.

Chapter one includes an introduction that provides a contextual outline of Asia as a composer, his output to date, and his stylistic evolution. This is followed by the need for, purpose, scope, methodology, and and design of the study, as well as related literature. Chapter two comprises a more complete biographical sketch, including Asia’s educational background and professional career. Chapter three traces Asia’s artistic development through three stages of his piano works: Early (1970s), Exploratory (1980s), and American (1990s and beyond). This is followed by the discussion of his connection with Judaism and involvement with Musical Elements, a New York-based contemporary ensemble he co-founded. Chapter four presents an in-depth analysis of the solo piano work Why (?) Jacob. Chapter five summarizes the findings of the study and makes suggestions for further study with a reflection section. Following the bibliography, three appendices include Asia’s complete listing of compositions by category, a full discography of the works analyzed and a link to the writer’s recorded performance of Why (?) Jacob for solo piano, and electronic correspondence with the composer.