iSound

I dance only privately, and in my head: thus, Private Dances. I have never been one to write suites of small pieces, but I was motivated to try to do so by the example of Bill Duckworth’s wonderful pieces in this genre. The ideas for Private Dances are all rhythmic, and “Sexy” is the simplest, an ever-further-modulating tango. “Sad” is an arrangement for live pianist of one of my Disklavier studies, Folk Dance for Henry Cowell. I had to excise some of the original 11-against-13 rhythms, but the piece is still tricky. The idea was to have a clear harmonic rhythm while thoroughly obscuring the meter. “Sentimental” plays with a messy kind of counterpoint in which the two hands rarely come together, implying different tempos. “Sultry” cycles through a series of 11 chords in a repeating rhythm of 29/4 meter - but not every chord appears in every cycle. “Saintly” starts out with a melody in virtual 4/4 over a 5/4 ostinato, but after an impassioned climax, the two hands switch meters, and ...