(Opus 10, Composed December 2006)
This started as a quick, rather disposable little improv in Db (for the A strain) — just put my hands on the keys and it came out (though it’s a bit more bouncy in real life, as sequencing music tends to remove just a little of that lovely rubato). Anyway, I’d almost written this tune off as an odd little curiosity, but then I was out cleaning the garage and an idea for a B strain hit me. Clearly, this was evolving into a decent rag. But, no trio came readily to mind. However, after a little thought, I finally decided to build off of the 10ths in the left hand at the end of the A strain repeat, so I downshifted keys & threw in some rather kitchy (but still amusing) exotic scale references. For the D section, I was coming up empty again. However, after so many Bb notes in the trio, I decided to change keys again to Bb and reprise the A theme, though modified quite extensively. It ends with a flourish of 64ths that I probably play just as fast but not as precisely timed. All in all, a fun little jaunt.
ps The “cover” shown here features a courtesan painted by Edouard Manet.
pps The D theme is also interesting (to me) in that I purposely lost a beat near the end (see measure 100, which has just 3 8ths instead of 4). Odd, yes, but I like it this way.