Six songs without words – Set Thirteen

Set Thirteen was finished at the end of June 2019.

Song no.1 in D major – Andante teneramente

Song no.2 in B minor – Allegro leggiero

Song no.3 in B♭ major – Andante con rubato

Song no. 4 in F♯ major – Ländler – pastorale: Andantino

Song no. 5 in E♭ minor – Habanera negra. Lento

Song no. 6 in D major – Allegro

The set opens with a tender and dreamy piece which is followed by a skittish and playful piece, despite its minor key. There is plenty of playfulness in Piece Three as well (though its noodling intro is deceptive). The main part of the piece is a beguine which latterly is heard in canon between the hands. Piece Four uses a rhythm characteristic of the Austrian Ländler for its outer sections, with a more stormy idea for the middle section. The following habanera (Piece Five) is largely dark and sultry, though there is a dreamier secondary idea and one powerful invocatory statement of the main habanera idea mid-way. The final piece of the set is based on a simple scurrying idea in quavers, though this is later treated to a brief fugal passage. A slower second subject returns in grand manner at the end.