George Walker: Prelude and Caprice

Nathan Cheung plays George Walker's Prelude (1945) and Caprice (1941).

These are among the earliest compositions of George Walker and feature a trait that would characterize his later output: an extreme versatility to form and style. The Prelude is the more traditional of the two in its four-part harmony, colorful yet stable tonal language, and ABA form like that of many 19th century character pieces.

The Caprice, however, is indeed much more capricious in all those respects. To me, the Caprice is the more interesting of the two in its shifting meters, contrasts of diatonic and chromatic harmony, and overall evasion of expectations. Hardly anything else sounds like this piece to me, which is precisely what enticed me learn it and want to delve deeper into George Walker's musical sense.

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Recorded on July 23, 2021 by Eugene Bisdikian in Kilbourn Recital Hall at the Eastman School of Music.