Piano Rhapsody

Hi Mark,

I don't know about "mobs of people loving this." But the potential audience is surely more than "just a few folk." It fits into the clan which includes Gershwin and Ravel, Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev, Stravinsky and George Shearing, and quite a few others. So I don't imagine I am anywhere near alone in finding the piece compelling.

Perhaps the most striking feature is the profusion of melody. The moodiness is interesting--agitation, contemplation, even gloom, but never a break-out of joy. That, of course, is subjective.

The possibilities for orchestral/piano interplay seem plentiful. It would be very interesting to hear this, or parts of it maybe, developed, although if two hearings aren't enough to see it clearly, I get a sense of a structural unity that makes it complete, as is. The build up to the ending reminds me greatly of the climaxes of Tchaikovsky's Bb Minor, Prokofiev's 3rd, a couple of Rachmaninoffs, Grieg's and Schumann's piano concerti. I wonder if you intended the "Romantic" ending.

I hope you can make more time for things such as this.

all best,
mgj