(October 24, 2015) Although I have dedicated
pieces to people who were not my students, this is the first piece that I have
written that was intended, from the beginning, for a person who is not my
student.This was written for Amy West,
whose older brother Ryan studied with me his last four years of high school,
and whose sensitive playing of Mompou’s “Pajaro triste” resulted in lots of
YouTube fan mail.
During a break in lessons I heard her practicing
across the hall, and was impressed with her musical growth, and decided to
write something for her.She studies with
my colleague Sally Traylor, who likes to pass her gifted students to me when
they reach a certain performance level.And she teaches young beginners in a way that I envy.
I asked Amy if she wanted something melodic and reflective, or a little bit flashy. I began work on a piece titled "Allegro Burlesco", but then this happened.
This is one of five or six Christmas carol arrangements I did sometime in the mid-nineties. I'm not sure of the year, but there was a video made at First Baptist Church on the Square in LaGrange, GA, of what I recall to be the first performance of this arrangement. I have played this one more than any of the others through the years, and it works quite well on an electronic keyboard, as the video below demonstrates. It is a Casio Privia PX-160, purchased November 7, 2015 at Sam Ash Music in Atlanta.
(September 5, 2015) This simple piece is based on a pattern similar to "Guitar Serenade", but simpler. Five-finger positions move stepwise down the keyboard, with some basic harmonic and melodic interval work. It is dedicated to my student Haylee Ward, who started lessons with me in the summer of 2015. She is currently studying the piece, and I hope to make a video of her playing it soon.
(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".
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.
(July 9,
1996) "Cut" time, F major. Composed in one
sitting during a thirty-minute break between lessons. Lots of sophisticated jazz-like harmonies and some simple double-note work.
Dedicated to Elizabeth Collins, who gave the first performance in the
winter of 1997. I have used this piece many times as a church offertory, and I must confess that it has grown on me through the years.
The day of this posting, October 24, 2015, is Elizabeth Collins's 31st birthday. Happy Birthday, Elizabeth! Do you still play this?
(1997-2012)This started as a French valse for the
left hand alone in D major, and in my opinion was a very strong work. The original dedicatee, Tiffany Oliver, did not
like the work and would not perform it, because she felt it had too many
leaps. I transposed it to D-flat major
and recast it for two hands as Valse lente.
As it shares some motivic shape with the Sonatine first movement, I
added a coda and recast it as the second movement of the Sonatine. This piece has had a longer "gestation period" than any of my pieces, until when - or if - that first movement of the Sonatine ever comes to light,
When I decided not to release the Sonatine
as a three-movement work, I reverted to the “Valse lente” title for a brief
time. In its most recent and most
drastic makeover (2012) I recast it in 6/8 time, tidied up the middle section,
removed an obvious Ravelian flourish in the coda, retitled it “Autrefois” (In Olden Days) and dedicated it to Angelyn
Traylor.
Not only has this work given me a huge amount of "composition" trouble, I have frankly had a mental block in performing it to my satisfaction! The following video will simply have to do until I grab the bull by the horns and make a better one - or perhaps I can sweet-talk a colleague who lacks the "baggage" that I have with it. Lucy Wenger? Chase Kimball?
(July 28, 2015) One day I arrived a little early for my first lesson, and told the church music department secretary "I think I'll go on upstairs and try to write something." I did, and this is the result. It is dedicated to that secretary, Barbara Grantham,
I was aiming at an intermediate-level etude in broken-chord passage work, with a more climactic middle section. I posted a "scratch video" to Facebook and got positive comments from friends. A few adjustments here and there, and I am now happy with the result.
