Ewazen, Eric: Toccata

for Piano (or Harpsichord)

Although TOCCATA was originally conceived for harpsichord, the 6½-minute showpiece is notably pianistic. It is full of pedaling, surging and swelling hairpin dynamics, and dramatic effects in the extreme registers. As with baroque toccatas, Ewazen’s main theme is an energetic perpetual motion with repeated and stable “anchoring” notes. However the overall work is a dramatic argument between that central theme and opposing harmonic styles, long notes interrupting the rapid fire, and a tug-of-war between triplets and sixteenths.