[rodgersorgan] Re: Challenging keys


Speaking as a composer who has a reputation for
occasionally wandering into keys most sensible folks
avoid, I have developed the following policy: When the
work in question is an a cappella choral work, then I
place it where I feel it will lie best for the voices
(regardless of the perceived difficulty of the key
signature) and let the rehearsal accompanist earn his
pay. When I'm writing a keyboard work I try to avoid
exotic keys EXCEPT WHERE THAT ACTUALLY MAKES THINGS
EASIER. Case in point: my Toccata Brevis features an
inordinate number of sharps, but that serves to keep
both hands and feet up on the black keys, rendering
the piece easier, not harder, to play. Also, I will
occasionally wander through a prickly tonal center on
my way to something else, but try not to dwell there
forever and ever.

Speaking as a player I've learned to be reasonably
comfortable in all the keys with sharps and in
anything with flats that doesn't have a C-flat. That
one never seems to get entered into my default
processing, so I actually have to practice such
passages! Yikes!

Dan Gawthrop

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