Program note: Prelude I is the first in a series of works I’ve written for Piano Solo. The piece began with an exploration of two contrasting modal worlds. As I worked with them (shifting, blending, and reshaping the material), new gestures started to emerge, leading the music into a space I hadn’t planned but felt drawn to.

Once that initial idea took root, I introduced a contrasting section to open up the form and deepen the emotional arc. For me, this piece is about transformation and instability, a kind of searching, a longing to escape or hold onto something that’s already slipping away.

There’s a sense of motion throughout, of something just out of reach. Prelude I reflects how I often feel about time: that it moves quickly, and nothing ever stays in place for long. The piece tries to capture that fleeting, fragile beauty we sometimes notice just as it's passing.

After few performances back in 2024, this piece was recorded by my very good friend Anahita Bahadori in Saba Studio, and mixed and master by Farzan Roozbahani, Summer of 2025. 


-Mahtab Haghighattalab


Prelude I - for Solo Piano

Rooftop is a fixed media composition inspired by acrophobia, the fear of heights. The piece explores the emotional landscape of someone trapped on the edge of a rooftop, where fear intensifies and lingers. I created and manipulated a variety of sound sources including birdsong, tablet sheets, paper, and guitar strings to evoke this experience.
The narrative draws from personal reflection and sonic experimentation. My pet canary’s song played a central role in shaping the piece; I was especially influenced by certain recurring motifs in his vocalizations. As a guitarist, the instrument naturally became part of my creative language, guiding the piece’s emotional trajectory and textural development.


mahtab haghighattalab

Popular tracks