| Description |
Pieces of Eight is a work for solo piano designed to capture the musical experience of all aspects of the Golden Age of Piracy (1650s to the 1730s).
The work begins in the very flat key of Eb minor with a slow, lamenting passage representative of the mourning of a lost comrade. This transitions into the main theme, a sprightly 6/8 romp beginning in the left hand in bar 68. The theme is presented numerous times throughout the piece in various different keys and forms.
In bar 126, a new theme representing sailing on the rolling oceans is introduced. The lack of stable ground is represented in the time signature of 5/4 (which at various points shifts into 4/4, 6/8 and 3/4 for further instability). This theme subsides back into the mourning theme, this time much faster than before, and the piece ends with a triumphant presentation of the main piracy theme.
The piece was written to be both fun and challenging to perform, and every effort has been put into these two aspects of the work. |