Second Door on the Left

The piece was written when Elena Kats-Chernin’s youngest son Nick asked that, after all the family and friends, she should write a piece for him. The title refers to Nick’s room in their home house, through the walls of which he always heard his mother composing at the piano. Elena Kats-Chernin then improvised until her son was satisfied with her musical ‘offers’. With its constantly changing harmony built around a repeated rhythmic pattern, Second Door on the Left uses one of the composer’s favourite techniques.