Préludes Book V was begun in April 2014 and finished in March 2015. The title theme is that all titles are insects or animals translated into Italian.
#41 Mosca A nervous étude with a lot of tremolos and fast licks signifying a housefly.
#42 Scoiattolo To Amy Briggs. As a prélude with a number that is a multiple of 14, it uses music from the piano concerto I wrote for Amy, this from its third movement. The title means Squirrel, and the MIDI is sure a crapfest.
#43 Riccio A literal transcription of that hedgehog jazz Vine and straightforward "jazzi" development of the materials. Here's Geoffy playing it at Symphony Space.
#44 Zanzara a fast and mercurial piece that was stolen from a song cycle that was being written at the time. The word means mosquito. This is Maria Paola Parrini's premiere of the piece in Cleveland.
#45 Moscerino a fast and high antsy piece in the manner of gnats. Crappy midi below.
#46 Alce Americano an Americana stately bichordal chorale with big chords. It means American elk, which is the only way to say moose in Italian. I wrote it at Beff's suggestion, so that in this book I could have moose and squirrel préludes. Here is Maria Paola Parrini's premiere of the piece in Cleveland.
#47 Uccello, with a lot of fast repetitive licks, bird chipping gestures, and chords whose notes are dampened one at a time, in a specifically notated rhythm.
#48 Ghepardo, in two large sections that start with pedal E's. For Sarah Bob, and named after her son's favorite animal, the cheetah. Here is Sarah's recording on Avie Records.
#49 Ragno, a left-hand only prélude for Geoffrey Burleson. It's about a spider. Here's Geoff's premiere of it at the Tribeca Music Festival (where they think it is called Rango).
#50 Gatto, a cool and slightly mercurial prélude framed by left-hand broken octaves. Here's a Finale MIDI without the swinging that is requested.
