Program Notes
When presented with the opportunity to write a solo piano work for the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium, I immediately knew I wanted to write something intense and energetic, like a flashy “encore.” The bulk of this “raucous” piece—arpeggiated figures in the bass, jagged rhythms and crunchy chords—is contrasted by a much calmer and introspective middle section, whose harmonies have a cooler “jazz” quality.
The title is a tongue-in-cheek play on words. Car keys and the internal combustion engine seem like a fitting comparison to the mechanistic beast known so ironically as the “piano,” whose 88 keys offer a myriad of choices in getting the machine “fired up.”