The Journal-News 1988

three pieces related in style or mood.  The first group “Henry’s Rag,” “72nd Street Rag,” and “Mt. San Angelo Rag,” shared the familiar syncopated bounce of the ragtime piano.  The slap of the foot pedal seemed to underscore Birnbaum’s lively percussive rendition.  This and his choppy rhythms evoked the mood of a bygone era.

Parody was the common thread joining the three works entitled “Sonatine in F,” “Early One Morning,” and “Sonatine in A-flat.”  The first sounded like a student piece played as if the sharps and flats were suddenly forgotten from time to time.  The second parodied the big chords and sprawling arpeggios of a piece that wears its heart on its