Rhapsody No. 2, from Three Rhapsodies for Piano, by Lettie Beckon Alston
The second Rhapsody is marked “Solemn,” and is slow- the quarter note is 60 bpm. It has a wide variety of meter, 6/4, 5/4, 4/4, 3/4, and 2/4. The third page begins with 2/4 meter and changes tempo markings to “marked with motion,” the same as the first Rhapsody. There are big leaps in the left hand that happen pretty quickly, which would be hard to play. The fourth page has straight eighth notes for a few bars in a repeating pattern, followed by rests and then two more bars of eighths, which requires good timing and direction in order to make it convincing. Towards the end, there is also an extremely slow section, where the quarter note equals 58 bpm, and there are mostly whole and half notes. The articulation in this piece is varied, and unusual for the tempo. For example, it becomes staccato, still in the slow tempo, and Alston writes that it should be played without pedal. Then the performer has to choose the duration of the staccatos so that they still sound musical and have direction, and execute it without the pedal. There are a lot of dramatic dynamic contrasts and sixths which make this piece sound rhapsodic, while the harmonic language is still distinctly Alston’s.
Lettie Beckon Alston was born in Detroit in 1953. She received her doctorate in composition from the University of Michigan. She composes for orchestra, piano, voice, strings, and other instruments as well as synthesizers and electronically produced sounds.