Prelude and Fugue in C major - (2011)
for piano
for Babs Gotter
Having come to love counterpoint and especially the fugue form, I thought to begin another set of twenty-four pieces for piano. The Swingtime and Fugue set in all the keys was a delight to dream, and the twenty-four Preludes and Fugues for organ were also a pleasure to compose. As man is a creature motivated by pain and pleasure, the great pleasure of playing with counterpoint simply suggests to me another set, of which this becomes the "head."
The 12/8 reminds of the Swingtime pieces, though this is less strict than them in that style, and is filled with chromatic gestures routed against and in the tonic major. The form is a small rondo, with episodes breaking from the opening gambit, only to return.
The fugue, by contrast, is resolutely major, and moves to the dominant for its answer, before breaking away for snippets in other tonal regions.
5 pages, circa 3' 20" - an MP3 demo is here:
The score is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this piano score.
Prelude and Fugue in C major