Springtime Rag is an early advance level solo piano rag in the Scott Joplin tradition. The large leaps in the left hand alternating between the bass notes and three or four note chords provide the challenge of a steady tempo against a linear right hand melody.
Looking for a prelude for your next concert? Brief episodic passages flow together like a gentle rain falling from clouds as the listener is transported to a picturesque scene only they can imagine. Slight blurring of melodic lines and trills passing between the hands while the performer engages the damper pedal, along with rolling chords moving in thirds, adds an air of mystery to this late intermediate prelude centered around F# dorian mode. Gentle Rain can also be found in the advance works of the Jane Hergo Concert Series book Atmospheric Sketches.
Known for her works for young performers, Jane Hergo expresses in the book Fantasies her contemporary classical voice. The concert series advanced solo piano collection includes the following titles: Spring Fantasy, Winter Fantasy, and Fantasy Flight. Fantasy Flight is dedicated to the memory of Orville and Wilbur Wright, and it was a winning selection in the Ohio Federation of Music Club Adult Composition Category in 2019. The book is 38 pages and spiral coil bound.
A positive review of this book can be found in the June/July 2024 Amercian Music Teacher Magazine (pp. 59-60).
The Mexicano Suite includes intermediate piano solos entitled Siesta Song, Chili Peppers, Mañana, and ¡Sí! ¡Sí! ¡Sí! The charming suite movements can be played in their entirety or as individual pieces at your next recital.
Siesta Song, in the key of C, starting off the suite, will lull the listener into a relaxed state with an ostinato bass line using the Habanera rhythm. The ostinato accompanies a melody in thirds which is broken up with a short B section melody harmonized in first inversion triads and played in octaves between the hands. Changes in tempo and clefs lead to exploration of different registers of the piano along with occasional melodic grace note figures.
Chili Peppers which follows is finally being released in its solo version for the first time. Already a student and crowd pleasing duet for decades, this mid tempo version of this title can now be enjoyed by the solo artist. Detailed articulation along with a few clef changes and numerous 8va indications will have the soloist moving all over the piano.
Next up, with the continuation of the key F major, is Mañana with its relaxed tempo of 84 BPM. Pedaling indications require an eye for detail for the occasional phrasing in the right hand that extends over breaks in pedaling. A more lively section follows with the melody harmonized in thirds contrasting nicely to the opening theme mostly in sixths, at 108 BPM. This section concludes with a white key glissando before a D.C. al fine returns to the opening theme.
The suite rounds out in the key of C major with the energetic ¡Sí! ¡Sí! ¡Sí! This piece is in ABA form with the B section modulating to the key of D major. The final A comes from a D.C. which is followed by a short coda. The two parts of the theme is divided between pedaled half note descending sixths and quicker moving staccato and slurred thirds performed without the pedal against an oom-pah style left hand accompaniment.