Composer’s Note:

These five pieces, dedicated to duo piano team Amy Williams and Helena Bugallo, were written over the five year period 1995-2000. The first movement is rooted in Domenico Scarlatti’s “Sonata in G, L.232,” which is presented in its entirety, including repeats, but is accompanied, interrupted, and expanded upon. Principle among the interruptions are mysterious atonal chords that recur throughout the other five pieces in the set. The second is based on the “Spiritual” from my Four Jazz Preludes (1980), the third on the “Waltz” from my Episodes for cello and piano (1994), the fourth suggests ritualistic bells and is a meditation on the mysterious chords, and the fifth is a headlong, jazz perpetuum mobile lasting eight minutes.