Split (composition)

Reviewing the world premiere, George Grella of the New York Classical Review called the piece "a stellar work" and a worthy companion to Norman's 2013 symphony Play, adding, "Split is less manic than playful, and by repeating material that, if stitched together in linear form would make a long, connected line, the piece coheres through an accumulating collection of events."

This is music that showcases smarts as much as chops and the performance made every detail of composition and orchestration clear, even as things happened fast and furiously.

He remarked:Norman wrote Split for the pianist Jeffrey Kahane, and treated his effervescent personality as a musical ingredient, sprinkling it throughout the score.

Immediately, the piano sounds both assertive and comically lost, strumming a swaggering high-register chord, then plinking it out again and again, each time slower and more tentative.

In addition to praising the performance, Tommasini nevertheless added:Mr. Kahane, true to form, played the daunting piano part with impish command and rich colors.