Dawn [Piano Solo]

Dawn is a substantial piano solo work inspired by one of the most influential scores studied during childhood, Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloe. The piece, although not particularly French in flavor, not only chooses the subject of sunrise as the musical story for this instrumental tone poem but also is heavily reliant on orchestrally sounding pianist quickly fleeting gestures of rapid ascending arpeggios and trilling left-hand blurry patinas of color and texture. This ornamental work is more than a piano solo but also served as the basis for a large-scale orchestration of a new piece sharing the same name.

Slowly building from its firmly rooted tonal beginnings in C major, dance-like inflections of asymmetrical phrases and bombastic, jubilant fanfares are expounded upon as an ever-promising and crescendo-ing triumphant climax is unfurls and finally explodes into a firework performance of satisfying clangorous bell-like ringing chords marked fff. Conversely, interjecting sparse moments of hushed moments of thinly-veiled, blurry atmospheric tones and right-hand embellishment of a bird-song nature quickly user in awakening within long, stretto-like sequential panels of provocative and imaginative melodic linear lines and impressive, impressionistic emotional intimacy and intensity.