Waltzing at Willow Creek (print)

Description

Waltzing at Willow Creek (2007)

Piano duet – 5′
Commissioned in celebration of the twentieth anniversary of Karla and Peter Myers, July 18, 2007
Premiere—2008 by Stephanie Wendt and the composer, St. Paul, MN.

Program Note

Peter Myers commissioned this humorous concert waltz to play with his wife, Carla. In a series of dance episodes, a festive, cheerful mood is followed by playful, then songful themes. After a pause, the partners dance tentatively in an odd meter, a evocation of the Myers’s dance at their wedding reception in which the band played a “waltz” in 4/4 meter! But development takes the pair to new heights, and the coda finds them waltzing toward the tonic, E-flat, a struggle that is ultimately—and joyfully—resolved.

The parts are of equal prominence, and contain some 2-part polyphony, but the writing is within the grasp of middle-grade players.