Dream and Variations, by Dorothy Rudd Moore
Dream and Variations is a substantial work for solo piano written by D. Moore in September 1974. Twenty-one pages long, the piece is graded as advanced level. It consists of an introduction, a theme, and six variations. Unlike Moore’s “Dream Variation” from the song cycle From the Dark Tower, the piece has nothing to do with Langston Hughe’s poem “Dream Variation.” According to the separate program notes provided by the composer, this piece brings a darker, even nightmarish interpretation to the dream idea. Extremely atonal in nature, the variations are built on two characters: dreamy and mischievous. Full of octaves and dense chords, this piece requires a pianist who has good stamina, well-mastered pianistic skills, big hands, and ability to produce big sound. Some other difficulties are jumps, changing key signatures, chromaticism, and changing tempo markings within each variation. Additionally, it requires a performer to have an exceptional interpretative vision to highlight thematic connection between variations, which is not easily distinguished.
Dorothy Rudd Moore (b. 1940) is an African-American composer and educator. Originally from Wilmington, Delaware, Moore began her musical path with studying piano and clarinet, singing in a school choir, and aspiring to be a composer. Her parents fully supported such aspiration, and so Moore ended up studying Composition at Howard University with Mark Flex, in France with Nadia Boulanger, and in New York with Chou Wen Chung. She wrote numerous works which include symphonic works, chamber music, song cycles, one opera, and some piano pieces. Her works are available through the American Composers Alliance. In 1968 she became a co-founder of the Society of Black Composers in New York City. Moore is considered to be one of the leading composers of color that began their musical career in the XX century.
The score is available for purchase at the American Composers Alliance website.
Sources
“Dorothy Rudd Moore.” American Composers Alliance, August 17, 2019.
“Dorothy Rudd Moore.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, October 29, 2019.
Walker-Hill, Helen. From Spirituals to Symphonies: African-American Women Composers and Their Music. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2007.