Oviedo

Oviedo is a low register piano solo terse in its roots and ardent in its subtle emotion. The opening material sets the ostinato left hand in a mournful, decaying expressive chromatic section which sifts through permutations in mainly one harmonic center. The clangorous, bell-like music slows and melts into a lethargic opening theme once more. The boldly affirming key of B minor is the key of the ternary work through a more diatonically panning harmonic language than it is chromatic, this obvious B open fifth of B and F# is heard frequently despite a wide range of right hand shifting to other centers, performance tempos, and dynamic punctuations. The effect is nevertheless imposing and exciting. A rubato culminates the contrasting second section before the furious recapitulation of the main motives using dense, heavy-handed full chords in both hands require the pianist to finally end the piece back in a firmly established B minor world of a repeating succession of open fifths and filled in chord tones that answer in echoing dissipating whispers.