(October 10, 2015) This piece also has a bit of a checkered past, but I am pleased with the results. It began in D minor, a key I tend to overuse when I am feeling contemplative. I also discovered that the middle section was "self-quoted" (a device that worked well when Francis Poulenc did it, but Senator, I'm no Francis Poulenc..) and was basically a rewrite in 3/4 time of the middle section in "Dreamer's Nightfall".
I recast it in C minor and rewrote the middle section. And to me it sounded a bit "Pathetique". (Like many other people with "absolute pitch", I associate certain tonalities with certain emotions.) Then I tried recasting it again, this time in B minor - and to me the piece sounds plaintive, but not too over-the-top sad. And B minor it became.
I shared the video and got some good remarks from my friends. Among them was pianist David De Lucia, who recorded my Romance in D Flat, the first commercial recording of any of my music. David is an opinionated person, and when he likes something he likes it - but when it doesn't light his fire, he will let you know. SO... other attempts to dedicate a piece to him in the past have hit a dead end.
Not this one. He replied "Remarkably beautiful. This could pass as a sketch for a rediscovered Faure Nocturne!" Perhaps a touch effusive, a trait we are both "guilty of", but I'll take it. My original dedicatee, who never knew the piece was coming, will have to "get another piece" in the future, and this became my "thanks offering".
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And here is a performance from a "Meet the Composer" workshop on November 21, 2015 on the campus of Jacksonville State University, sponsored by the Northeast Alabama Music Teachers Association. This is the first time, believe it or not, that I have played it on a nine-foot grand, and my first performance at JSU since 1984.
You can find my Piano Pronto titles through this link.
My titles at Sheet Music Plus can be found at the link below.
My titles at Sheet Music Plus can be found at the link below.
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