1. 1. A gift of paper – Moderato
2. 2. Secret meetings – Allegro moderato

Interludes is a short work in two movements for solo piano written in Sydney during the latter half of 2015. It was written for Antony Gray who gave its first performance in London in 2015. The work is the second pair of pieces of an intended series of short piano works – Prelude and Postscript (opus 100, no. 1) is the first in the series and was also composed in 2015.

Interludes are based on an earlier work for voices and chamber ensemble, I am writing in this book, a song cycle composed in 2011. That work is a setting of five texts from the tenth century The Pillow Book by Japanese courtesan and writer, Sei Shonagon. In the original song cycle the first piece, ‘A gift of paper,’ explains how the precious gift of paper from the Empress inspired her to start writing. The second song gently recounts the mystery and romance around a secret assignation with a lover.

© Andrew Schultz, 2015