Divertimentino #1 — A Whimsical yet Listless 1-Minute Piano Piece

Background

The requirement arose for a keyboard piece of about one minute in 

duration, one that would have visual appeal to watch being played, and 

with a varied, contrasting feel to it.  Accordingly, this short piano piece 

features crossing of hands, arpeggiated flourishes, use of the full range 

of the keyboard, and some fast and tricky passages.

Technique

The overall form is roughly ABA′, with A,A′ being of romantic era 
tonal harmony and B akin to jazz or blues. 
The opening and closing bars employ a Chopinesque use of 6th 
chords to perpetuate a complex harmonic tension — one which carries a 
rich scope for modulation and one which is only ever relaxed at macro- 
structural cadences.  Jazz/blues harmony emerges as an extension of this 
tonality. 

Orthogonal and complementary to this scope for harmonic freedom, 
the metrical subtlety offered by the compound 6/8 time allows a natural 
transition from classical triplets to jazz swing. 
While the opening and closing passages make use of lyrical runs of 
scales and arpeggios, contrast is achieved by the use of dissonant 
chordal jumps in the mid section. 

The opening bar lays down a pattern of harmonic tension and, via 
parallelism, opens space for the melody to fill in the third and sixth 
quaver beats of subsequent bars.  Although the piece aims to pack a 
range of motifs quite densely, overall coherence is maintained by the 
metre, by the overarching harmonic structure, and by the parallelism of 
the left hand pattern and the right hand melodic contour.


Mood

A hesitant, listless opening turns into a forthright, impetuous blues 
shuffle.  As the familiar chord cycle approaches its end, dissipation 
encroaches.  The melody continues searchingly and restlessly, almost as if 
to ward off a looming peripheral sense of dissipation, perhaps in a bid 
to avert the return of the initial listlessness.  Tension played out, the final 
cadence lays the piece to rest.