6 Vignettes Op. 105 - 1. Floating Andante

(Movement I is 0:00-4:00)

In this movement, the composer uses changing meter and rhythmic groupings, combined with free-flowing melodies to create the sense of floating through air.

Ostinato: The composer begins with an ostinato in the left hand, creating fluidity by shifting between duple and triple rhythmic groupings. The second note of the ostinato (quarter note) has a longer duration, that adds a feeling of momentary suspension in air! Then the steady eighth-notes return to keep us moving again. The right-hand sixteenth-note triplets float in and out in an improvisatory manner. 

In the middle section, the piece has a ⅞ time signature, maintaining the duple, triple rhythmic groupings from the first section. The right-hand of the piano introduces trills that continue the forward motion of the melodic line.

Form: (See Notable Passages Below)
A - 00:00-01:45
B- 01:46-03:04
A- 03:05-4:00

Suggested Activity: 

• Using paper (landscape orientation) and pencil, ask students to draw a leaf or feather on the left hand margin of the paper. 
• While listening to the opening of the movement, ask students to draw a contour line that shows how the object would move or float through air, if it followed the contour and rhythm of the opening ostinato. 
• The teacher can introduce students to a spiral line shape to be used in their contour lines, if desired. 
• Once the contour lines are completed, ask students to use their finger to trace the contour line in time with the opening section of the piece.