Date of Composition: 2009-19

Duration: 11 Minutes

Commissioner: in Dedication to Brendan White

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Program Notes: Composition of the Fantasy Nocturne began in 2009 as a work for solo marimba. As the size and scope of the piece grew, it was no longer suitable for the instrument in which it was intended, so it was completed as a solo piano piece and was subsequently revised in 2012 and again in 2014. Nocturne begins with hushed tremolo chords over a harmonically stable ostinato before ushering in an exotic theme that quickly grows to a climax and into a re-iteration of the theme in a more dramatic guise.  A lively animato section swoops in with a series of variations and deviations on a chromatic harmonic pattern that gets more exciting with each pass until reaching a peak and crashing back into the introductions’ hushed tremolo. An ornamented twist of the opening tune is quickly whisked away and interrupted by music from the animato section but this too quickly diminishes into a slow and ethereal atmosphere. The opening exotic theme re-enters in a faster, chromatically sinuous state while maintaining an air of elegance and charm and repeats with a dramatic intensity before transforming into a section to be played ecstatically. A short poly-tonal slow passage erupts to a volcanic and virtuosic statement of the theme and culminates in a muted echo in the upper register of the piano with the familiar tremolo from the introduction. While seemingly dying down as the whispers get further away, the music gives one final and thrilling coda based on the harmony of the animato material and concludes with a four-part chorale declaration of the theme, conclusively confirming the nocturnal journey.

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Performance History:

-March 30th, 2014; Stratigou Recital; An-Art Artistry; Athens, Greece - 8PM

-July 26th, 2014; Senekeremian in Recital; Church of Our Savior; San Gabriel, California - 8PM

-August 23rd, 2014; Solo Recital; Steinway Gallery; Pasadena, California - 4PM

-August 27th, 2014; Music at MiMoDa – Paper or Plastik Cafe; West Los Angeles, California – 8PM

-November 2nd, 2014; Senekeremian in Recital; St. Mark's Episcopal Church; Glendale, California - 8PM

-January 30th, 2019; Music at MiMoDa – Paper or Plastik Cafe; West Los Angeles, California – 8PM

-July 21st, 2019; Recital; St. Marks Episcopal Church; Glendale, California – 7:30PM

-July 28th, 2019; Alhambra Performing Artist Center presents Brendan White in Recital; Sage Granada Park United Methodist Church; Alhambra, California – 7:00PM

-September 14th, 2019; Stan’s Music Parlor; Los Angeles, California – 7:30PM

-November 10th, 2019; Silicon Beach Monthly Series; St. Paul’s Lutheran Church; Santa Monica, CA – 4PM