House on 16 1/2 Place

House on 16 1/2 Place was one of the very first pieces composed specifically for solo piano that marked the beginnings of a long succession of composing, springing from the idea to write several works for piano and explore various styles, forms, and genres and discover what kinds of idiomatic styles come naturally and sound like after writing a large portfolio of works. Because Nathan’s native instrument is the piano, writing for the instrument came naturally and easily, and pieces began to take shape for pieces as short as 1-minute to a half hour. As the title suggests, this house was of particular significance as it was not only the place where compositions first began but where Nathan lived when beginning to work for 16-time Grammy-winner David Foster, who also encouraged him to compose more music, as it was “his gift.” A series of studies for piano reflected, in these early works, musical influences, techniques, cultures, and intuition first began to assert itself with more and more familiarity with the art of composing music that exists for music’s sake. In this piece, a main theme of the same reiterated melody repeats itself with modal inflections but retains a spirit of southern harmony in its directness.