A small shift in the Little Waltzes

As I more or less hinted last week — or was it the week before? — my dissatisfaction with “10. Grandly” finally resolved itself: I’ve moved it to #9 and renamed it “Passionately.” Here’s why.

Part of my strategy of composing is to listen obsessively to works in progress, listening for when the harmony goes off the rails, or a phrase needs tweaking, etc. Recently, as I listened to the whole suite, trying to hear if I wanted them in the current order, that kind of thing, I found myself envisioning some shinyperfect choreography.

Could Ten Little Waltzes work as a ballet? I always thought of “5. Cheekily” as a solo for some impish male dancer, clearly showing off his bouncy skills, grinning at the audience, and ending with a grand jeté offstage. How about the rest of it?

More about that idea later, maybe after I’ve finished the suite, but it was enough for me to hear that “Grandly” wasn’t exactly what I would want as the last piece of this (putative) ballet; it was barely making me happy as the last piece of a piano suite. For a ballet, that last piece needs to be a lot more Nutcracker than not.

So after a friend commented that “Grandly” sounded a bit angry to her — and she still liked the piece — I decided to rename it and move it to slot number 9.

That leaves slot number 10 open for the already-titled “Finale.” And that will be a wrap on Ten Little Waltzes.

The suspense is terrible. I hope it will last.