Joyful Play is an adaptation of the lively first movement of Children On the Playground for Solo Violin and Strings for two pianists sharing the same piano (called four hands). It portrays an eight-year-old alpha kid leading a mini-mob of friends. They conjure up something grand and vivid on a schoolyard or in a park somewhere, imaginations sparked and inspired into epic megalomaniacal glory so typical of kids. A short cadenza brings them back down to reality, and the fun continues. I felt the traditional sonata form suited this story nicely. It was premiered by the superb mother-daughter duo Rose Shlyam Grace and Eda Shlyam on July 5th, 2015 at the Timucua White House and later recorded for release.
Joyful Play will be performed a second time at Timucua, at another CF2 event on October 1st, 2021 by Rose Grace and Barry Snyder. Come, join us, and hear the music live!
Click here to learn more about these excellent artists.
This tricky Four-Hands piano adaptation of the concerto was selected to be included in Timucua Arts Foundation’s first official publication Piano Anthology No. 1, an anthology of eleven piano compositions from the Central Florida Composers Forum. The works featured span the last 25 years, with seven of the eleven works composed in the last decade. Curated and edited by composer and Artistic Director Benoit Glazer, this anthology is both a testament to the talent of Central Florida composers, and a pack of musical possibilities waiting to be explored by adventurous pianists everywhere.
