Piano Spectrums

This piano sonata explores my interpretation of three colors: blue, green and black.

The first movement, the “Blue Andante”, references both blues music, and the color blue itself as a cool, contemplative, but potentially icy color. In complete contrast to both outer movements, “Green Sunny Day” is truly happy and naive. Green — my favorite color — refers to nature here, and quite literally to the color my dog turns when she rolls in freshly cut grass! “The Black Finale” alludes to my idea of black as an enigmatic color, signifying vast nothingness, shutting your eyes, and silence. For me, this color — or lack of color — works perfectly as a description of an ending.

Further aspects of each movement are briefly described as follows:

I: “Blue Andante” is based on two elements: the descending left hand pattern of its first four bars, and the corresponding right hand melody comprising two phrases. The pianist is instructed to play nonchalantly, but actually this movement has an anxious undercurrent. The nonchalance of an unruffled stroll, the blue andante, is a facade. The incessant return of the left hand to its opening pattern, despite attempts to break free, imparts an uneasy sense of restraint. The right hand becomes increasingly fraught and spiky throughout the piece, with uncontrolled outbursts, as if slipping and falling. The final return to the initial theme is reluctantly resigned, with a reproachful, pointed, icicle ending chord.

II: “Green Sunny Day” (for Flora) is an unashamedly cartoonish, vintage jazz-influenced, and joyous expression of exuberance and optimism. It is both a reaction to the pure joy I feel watching my wonderful dog Flora live her life, and a description of Flora’s boundless enthusiasm and agility whilst running and jumping through green fields on a sunny day. There is no hidden subtext to Flora’s honest golden retriever world, or to this piece. The main theme intends to evoke the feeling of effortless, jubilant movement and flight, with motifs jumping nimbly from left to right hands. This reflects my “flying Flora” leaping through the woods and fields, and my mood soaring in turn as I watch her. The contrasting material has a tentative and exploratory feel, as if hesitantly but curiously encountering something new, and then making sense of the unfamiliar. Any reticence is quickly overcome as the main theme always returns triumphant, and its final rendition leads to a deliberately cliched, tongue-in-cheek ending flourish.

III: “Black Finale” takes the form of a funeral march. The left hand marches inexorably throughout the piece, while the right hand melody acts as a simple and solemn processional. Bell-like counter elements are introduced, and the agitated middle section gives way to descending chords and the introduction of the major third. This is intended to evoke a sense of calm acceptance and finality of descent into nothingness and peace.

— Tara Guram