Alpine Preludes (1989) for Piano Solo 2. Allegro non troppo (1:27)
I wrote ALPINE PRELUDES in the summer of 1989 while I was performing at the Flagstaff Festival of the Arts. This turned out to be a summer of piano music for me. Along with these preludes, I also wrote Flagstaff Sketches and Four Morning Pieces at the same three-week festival. From the time I was ten years old, when my family acquired a piano, until 1980, almost all the music I composed was for the piano solo. But by 1989, I hadn't written any music for piano solo in several years, and I haven't written any since, due to the fact that I spend so much time improvising. These preludes are not only short, they are also compressed. They use short ideas and develop quickly. It is a form for which I have a real attraction; the most extreme example being the Six Miniatures (second movement) from my Three Pieces for solo double bass.
I wrote ALPINE PRELUDES in the summer of 1989 while I was performing at the Flagstaff Festival of the Arts. This turned out to be a summer of piano music for me. Along with these preludes, I also wrote Flagstaff Sketches and Four Morning Pieces at the same three-week festival.
From the time I was ten years old, when my family acquired a piano, until 1980, almost all the music I composed was for the piano solo. But by 1989, I hadn't written any music for piano solo in several years, and I haven't written any since, due to the fact that I spend so much time improvising.
These preludes are not only short, they are also compressed. They use short ideas and develop quickly. It is a form for which I have a real attraction; the most extreme example being the Six Miniatures (second movement) from my Three Pieces for solo double bass.