Three Nocturnes

14 minutes; for Solo Piano.
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The Three Nocturnes suite is an affectionate ode to the ‘night music’ solo piano works of the 19th-century. Leaning deep into his neo-romantic side, the composer blends a traditional emphasis on motive and progression with modern jazz harmonies. The result is three moving, occasionally bombastic, and always graceful compositions.
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Each movement is built with a loose palindromic structure in which melodic and harmonic motives are nested in sections (e.g., A – B – C – B – A, etc.) Small echoes of each individual movement are heard in the other two. The pieces’ accessible tonal landscape can be deceptive, hiding the technical challenge and virtuosity required to express their dense harmonic texture. 
 
Three Nocturnes was written in deliberate contrast to the large-scale orchestral work Zodiac which preceded it. This suite is one of the composer’s personal favorites of his works.