The meadow, at dawn

for piano, four hands

A lyrical, Impressionist soundscape blossoms into wildly exuberant birdsong.

Excerpt (studio recording):

Complete (studio recording):

Duration: 5:30
Difficulty: Advanced. Suitable for conservatory students and professionals.

The dim, misty light of a new day breaks gently over a lush meadow.  Creatures and flowers begin to waken and shake off the dew.  A stream bubbles a twisty path through the meadow.  The ever-surprising call of the Bobolink fills the air with chirps and warbles, twitters and buzzes.  All these elements combine into a rich and vibrant celebration of life.

The meadow, at dawn was written during the dawn hours of the summertime.  The various musical evocations of Nature provide inspiration and contrast between sections, while the piece is unified by a simple five-note motive, moving up and down by steps, circling around the main note.  Audiences familiar with Messiaen, Debussy, Sorabji and Keith Jarrett will find certain echoes of their music here and there, but no quotations.  Audiences familiar with the Bobolink will recognize this perpetually-excited-sounding American bird in the middle section of the piece.  Early 20th-century naturalist F. Schuyler Mathews had this to say about its call:

“A mad, reckless song fantasia, an outbreak of pentup irrepressible glee.  The difficulty in either describing or putting upon paper such music is insurmountable.”

Performances: 11/11/18 – Vincent Yang & Chappell Kingsland — Boulder, Colorado

6/18/21 – Bryan Chuan & Chappell Kingsland — Denver, Colorado

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