About this work:
This is an improved version of the 1998 "Hispanic Rhapsody" listed in my Compositions.
It is the fourth in a set of ten piano pieces first posted in the last quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. The 2011 version has numerous small improvements to the score, the playback, and a few in the music itself. There are more and better fingering numbers and pedal markings. This 2012 update has a few added notes in measure 23, two deleted notes in measure 47, and one changed note in measure 51, plus a few notational improvements and a few improvements in the score. The playback has been slightly improved. And now the recording (posted 09/28/12), having been made using a Yamaha AvantGrand N2 digital piano recorded onto my computer via audio cable, has much-improved sound quality.
"Hispanic Rhapsody" was excerpted from a longer composition, modified to be a stand-alone piece, then improved and reformatted for placement in the set. One of the most complex of the ten, it opens with the robust and beautiful main theme, there being no introductory passage. Proceeding from the beginning to the ending measures, the music is variation and elaboration upon the theme, becoming more and more intense as it approaches the ending, in which new but complementary elements are brought in.
The recording is that of the computer playback of the score, thus the “performance” is rather mechanical. All of the pieces in the set sound better when played well, with human feeling and interpretation, by a live performer — the more complex the piece, the more so.
The indicated duration (2 minutes, 57 seconds) is that of the computer playback.
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The titles of the pieces in the set are:
1. Mazurka March
2. Ballad
3. First Love, in May
4. Hispanic Rhapsody (Excerpt)
5. Hymn of Consolation
6. Nocturne
7. Spanish Sonatina
8. Variations on a Game
9. Venetian Cadence
10. Rondo Refrain (designed for improvisation between the repeated “refrain” section)
If the pieces are all played on one occasion, I recommend that they be played in the given order.
To help the pianist interpret the pieces, performance recommendations and options are placed in boxes on each of the scores.