a/Jed >fue;8

,.....,

Performance: List B

The Song of Twilight

Yoshinao Nakada

About In performance
Yoshinao Nakada (1923-2000) was a Japanese In this tranquil, undulating work, the pulsating left
composer. Born in Tokyo, he began playing the piano hand chords should support the spacious right hand
and composing as a young boy. Nakada studied the melody. The theme will need a very connected, legato
piano .with Nobori Kaneko and Noboru Toyomasu finger touch, whilst the left hand chords should be
at the Tokyo Music School. After a short period in soft and light.
the ariny at the end of World War Two, he became a In order to grasp the rhythmic shape and four bar
composer, joining the group Shinsei Kai in 1946. structure, as well as keep a steady pulse, it can be
In 1948 he made his debut as a pianist, playing helpful to subdivide the beat; start with a semiquaver
his own pieces, and, in 1949, his Piano Sonata won beat. Aim to count every semiquaver within each
second prize at the National Music Competition. beat; the metronome can be useful if you are able
After a period writing piano music and songs, to play along to every tick, or it can be beneficial to
he focused on choral works, children's songs and count out loud. Once you have done this at a slow
incidental scores for radio and television. The speed, gradually raise the tempo, counting in quavers,
lyricism of his songs and his successful handling of and, finally, in crotchet beats. By doing this, the
Japanese texts made them very popular in Japan. crotchet beats containing semiquavers in the right
A Song of Twilight comes from a collection of hand part (for example, at bar 1-3) will remain evenly
seventeen pieces entitled Japanese Festival. First placed and rhythmical, and the crotchet and minim
published in 1956, these works demonstrate an beats will be assigned their full value.
interesting juxtaposition of Eastern and Western Whilst soft tonal colours work well for the first
flavours, combined with a pervading lyricism which four bars, you might consider a crescendo, graduating
runs throughout Nakada's compositional style. through each four bar phrase; for example, bars 1-4
are piano (p) as written, bar 5-8, mezzo piano (mp),
and bars 9-12, might be a mezzo forte (mf), for the
first time bar but a more muted sonority would be
effective for the repeat; try a restrained pianissimo
over the final four bars, sloping off into the twilight
at the end.
Melanie Spanswick

22
 Performance: list B

The Song of Twilight

from Japanese Festival
Yoshinao
(1923-2000)

Tranquillo J = 60

I
2

�------'-----''------� �--- sim.

I I I
l I
3
5
2
4 2
3 2
5
5 4
7 1. 5

I I
2 3
5 5

I
3
5 _A__f\.__A__J

N.B. The repeat should be performed.

© Copyright 1976 by ONGAKU NO TOMO SHA CORP., Tokyo, Japan. All rights reserved.

23
afJed >fU0/8
 Performance: List B

Fallende Blatter
from Furs junge Volk Op. 183
Edmund Parlow
(1855-1944)

Andantino J = 96
4
2

�- 2 * 3

- �-
14

* 3 �- *
21

t
4

2
4 �- *
© 2021 University of West London, LCM Publications.

28
a/Jed )fue;g
afJed )fUB/8
Performance: List C

'
s alki
..
Eu r II
�

I C

In performance
Eugenie Rocherolle, Louisiana born composer, Several factors contribute to the music's jazz
songwriter, pianist and teacher, studied in post war character. Firstly, its one-bar left hand 'walking bass'
Paris with Nadia Boulanger. As a child growing up in ostinato, key of F, enjoying both a rhythmic and
a culturally liberated family, she was 'smitten' with harmonic function. Secondly, the 'swing' directive -
Chopin, Schumann, Grieg, Debussy and Gershwin. the fourth-beat quaver pairs stretched and shortened
In New Orleans, a colourful, carefree place of 'unique into long/short couplets, suggesting a lazy crotchet/
ambiance and fantastic musical scene', she 'soaked quaver triplet rhythm, a style of playing relevant
up' Dixieland jazz, gospel, spirituals and rhythm and also to the right hand quaver groupings. Thirdly,
blues. the melodic emphasis on major (A) and minor (A�)
Easy Walkin' is the third of six 'blues originals', thirds plus flattened sevenths (m) - conveying the
Swing in' the Blues, published in 2007. characteristic 'blues' mood of the Deep South, and all
coming together in the closing two bars. In playing
i
this piece remember that a firm, unhurried pulse
is wanted. You'll notice the left hand crotchets at
the start are marked staccato but with a slur across
them. The composer calls this articulation mezzo
staccato - detached but not too short should be the
aim. In bars 11-16 and 27-32 make the most of the
contrasts in register - the left hand an octave lower
than written, the right in a higher, brighter region
of the instrument. At the same time don't forget that
the dynamics are not the same. First time around we
have forte, growing out of a crescendo; second time
it's quieter, coming from a diminuendo. Throughout
watch the right hand slurs and phrasing marks. The
tenuto signs under the last two quaver chords would
be a nice detail to attempt.
Ate!f Orga

35
 Performance: List C

Easy Walkin'
from Swingin' the Blues
Eugenie Rocherolle
(born 1936)

Unhurried, swing .J = 100

1 2 ,,---

5 sim.

soo--------------------------------------------
5 �
3/ 2 n

2
C8L ________________________________________________________________________________ ____ ·1_J

© 2015 by HAL LEONARD CORPORATION. International copyright secured All rights reserved. Printed by permission of Hal Leonard Europe Ltd.

36
afJed >fU8/8
j]MOIJ
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