Préludes Book 7

The seventh book of piano préludes was begun in October, 2016 and finished in January, 2017. In this book, every title is the name of a color.

Maroon (#61) is about repeated notes exploding into chords. Here is the crapfest MIDI.

 

Ivory (#62) is about scales and arpeggios just goin' up and down.

Azure (#63) is layered on top of an ostinato offbeat repeated note. Here is the crapfest MIDI.

 

Sepia (#64) is a study on a rising funk lick. This is Holly Roadfeldt's premiere of it in January, 2021.

Holly Roadfeldt, pianist · David Rakowski: Prelude #64 "Sepia" (2016)

 
Periwinkle (#65) is about upbeat rising arpeggio figures decorating a tune in slow notes.

Slate (#66) is a study on two-note warbling figures that diminish in volume. Here is Steve Gosling's premiere of it.



Cerulean (#67) is about another R&B lick and the sixteenth notes that swallow it whole. Here is Holly Roadfeldt's excellent premiere.

Holly Roadfeldt, pianist · David Rakowski: Prelude #67 "Cerulean" (2017), World Premiere Recording

Canary (#68) is a fractured madcap waltz that sounds suspiciously Second Viennese. Here is Maria Paola Parrini's premiere of it in Cleveland.

Emerald (#69) is the obligatory prélude-Davy-can-play, and is a slow one (duh) based on a left-hand ostinato.

Bronze (#70), being numbered a multiple of 14, is music ripped from the first movement of my second piano concerto. With practice, I could probably play this one, too.