Preludes for piano (1977)
11 short movements
15 minutes
The Preludes were written during the year I was doing my masters degree at Eastman (except for one, which I actually wrote during my senior year in high school). Since the masters degree felt like a milestone, I decided to write a piece which reflected the influences of composers important to me. The overall concept is of course based on Chopin, and the first movement is an explicit derivative of his first Prelude. Other movements were inspired by Scarlatti, Schumann, Bartok, and Ives. Also drawn from Chopin, Bach, and others was the idea of a different tonal center for each movement (except for the tenth, which has two sections covering two tonal centers). The approach to tonality is generally free and chromatic.
11 short movements
15 minutes
The Preludes were written during the year I was doing my masters degree at Eastman (except for one, which I actually wrote during my senior year in high school). Since the masters degree felt like a milestone, I decided to write a piece which reflected the influences of composers important to me. The overall concept is of course based on Chopin, and the first movement is an explicit derivative of his first Prelude. Other movements were inspired by Scarlatti, Schumann, Bartok, and Ives. Also drawn from Chopin, Bach, and others was the idea of a different tonal center for each movement (except for the tenth, which has two sections covering two tonal centers). The approach to tonality is generally free and chromatic.