12 Preludes: No Rose, No Bird

Last year I set out to compose a cycle of twelve preludes for solo piano. I started this project in February 2022, but then I stopped in July after completing Prelude #8. At that point, after eight preludes, I felt that the set was complete. To continue beyond that point, either I would need to start repeating myself—I would need to start composing on autopilot—or I would have to do something crazy that would take the preludes way too far outside of the musical space that had already been defined by the first several pieces of the cycle.

But then, in late November, months after I thought my little set of preludes were already “finished,” I was suddenly inspired to write four more. It was like I had been wandering for many weeks through a mysterious old mansion and suddenly stumbled upon a secret garden. (I’m very much a fan of the film by Agnieszka Holland.) Entering that garden I found a whole new world of possibility for the cycle of preludes to continue, enabling me finally to reach the magic number twelve.

As of a week ago I had recorded only the first three preludes. Then last week I jumped ahead to record Prelude #12. I couldn’t wait to show you what I found upon entering the secret garden!