This is the continuation of my series of posts which tries to give some insights into how I came to my first piano composition "When We Were Young".
For an introduction and the full audio/video recording of this piece, see:
Insight into a Piano Composition - Part 1
I decided to try various chords on the piano.
I had settled on a minor key because I wanted the piece to have some nostalgic element to it.
Initially I was inclined to use C minor.
I tried various chord progressions in that key and found particular sequences which I liked. However these sequences had a quite intense and definite ending to them and I decided to keep them for the conclusion of the piece.
In a strange way, this composition started with the end part... :-)
I though that maybe I could use a variation of this ending to create an introduction.
The introduction and the conclusion had to be reminiscent of each other but also somewhat different as I didn't want a full repetition.
I dabbled with some transpositions and eventually settled on the key of G minor.
The idea was that the piece would be split into three parts: an introduction (in G minor), a main theme (also in G minor) and an ending (in C minor) which would somewhat mirror the introduction.
This actually fitted the story behind the piece which was to be about an old couple remembering their early years together.
So the introduction would be about that old couple together, the main theme would be livelier and about their youth, and the conclusion would bring back the piece to the present.
The introduction is 18 bars long and consists of simple series of full chords which are then arpeggiated to lead to the next full chord. It ends on a tension chords to lead the listener to the main theme.
The main theme will be the subject of the next post in this series.
The full music sheet is available for free on Musescore:
Full Score
Next post in this series will be about the main theme.
All the best,
@irelandscape