Richard Cumming- Piano Prelude #1

The most essential part of this short piece is the rhythm and meter. In a piece with only 11 measures the meter changes 6 times, alternating between 5/4, 3/4, and 4/4. Each meter has a sort of rhythmic motive that comes back in some form whenever in the related meter. The piece begins in 5/4, stating the first rhythmic motive in both hands in the first phrase. The rhythmic motive is again repeated in the RH, this time with more density, less volume, and different texture (more chordal) and notes in the LH, and then in a 3/4, a fragment of it is presented. Then it changes to 4/4, with a new rhythmic motive that is similar to the first. Then the next measure goes to 3/4 and again presents a new but similar rhythmic motive, starting out the same and then going to a scale of 3rds. It continues in 3/4 for 3 measures, with the first 2 using nearly identical motives and the last more unconventional. Then it returns to 4/4 and its motive, then to 3/4 and it’s motive, and the piece ends on 4/4. This ending ends with a great climax, gradually increasing the volume up to fortissimo, and uses similar material o the ¾ motive, but with a longer and higher scale of 3rds. So, it is the rhythmic motives from which this piece is built, and it is the elements outside of this that vary and shape the structure of the piece.