(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.
