This simple piece was written in 2015 as a birthday present for the composerÂ's wife, poet and fellow bird lover Nanine Valen, and is a distant sequel to Canons and Chorale, which he wrote for her in 1969. The ornithological character is an affectionate tribute as well to his teacher Olivier Messiaen. The titular birds are a highly stylized chicchickadee and two song sparrows. Dur.: 4'30"

Written in honor of the Béla Bartók centennial, Musiques Nocturnes is inspired by one of his most characteristic and original works, the fourth piece (by the same title), from the suite Out of Doors. Both pieces feature overlapping Â"night musicsÂ" Â- atmospheric cluster figures, sharply contrasting motifs suggesting nocturnal bird, frog, or insect sounds, and an element of human, folksong-like melody as Levinson alludes to the authentic Hungarian folksong, Â"Tiszán innen, Dunán túl.Â" Dur.: 4'30"

RAGAMALIKA (meaning "garland of ragas") is a virtuosic practice in North Indian classical music, reflected most directly in the second of these pieces. The soloist departs from one principal raga (melodic mode) and whirls through a series of others. An influence of Balinese gamelan may be heard as well in the bell-like resonances and flowing textures of the first and fourth pieces, while the third, a study in opposed sonorities, is an homage to Debussy. The work was commissioned by pianist Marcantonio Barone, who has recorded RAGAMALIKA on the Albany label.