In the Big Free & Easy

In the Big Free & Easy is an introspective jazz-influenced piano solo in two related sections. The first subtitled Delancey and the second Mercer is a development of a single short motive. Inspired by one of Schoenberg’s books which focused on the study of harmony, Schoenberg’s idea of “continuous variation” heavily influenced this piece expanding on the subject of the twelve-tone method, though neither work actually uses the twelve-tone-row technique. This experimental procedure, however, allows the piece to take on more formal flexibility and a greater emotional range than previously written works using jazz-inspired, Copland-esque, and blues-inflections in relatively small mannerisms, harmonic progressions, and melodic lines. As the style of the piece evolves organically, the material unfurls outwardly and expansively stretching evermore towards the goal of writing a more popularly accessible work using folk sources.