Searching for an Identity
Montpellier: Ragtime for the Complicated Soul, Op.2 No.38
SM-000295961
- Alternative title
- Montpellier: Ragtime pour L'âme Embrouillé
- Composer
- Antonio Martinez
- Publisher
- Antonio Martinez
- Genre
-
Jazz / Ragtime
- Instrumentation
- Piano
- Scored for
- Solo
- Type of score
- For a single performer
- Duration
- 3'54"
- Difficulty
- Very difficult
- Year of composition
- 2017
Description
This is the thirty-eighth place in the collection of the series "Ragtime at the Red Light District." This piece is set at Montpellier’s Boulevard de Strasbourg.
The main character in this piece is a 30-year old psychology professor from Louisville. This person was teaching abroad at the University of Montpellier when the spring semester had just finished. With nothing to do until autumn, the main character decide to jump start his vacation by enjoying some of the sites, while also providing education to numerous students in the city. Among some of the places the main character visited and taught included the famous landmarks: Porte de Peyrou, Saint Clement Aqueduct, Saint Pierre Cathedral, and even the city’s mikve.
After four days of lectures with students, the main character took a power walk toward Stade de la Mosson. Instead of a Ligue One match being contested there, the stadium was the venue for an exposition as Montpellier was the site of the 123rd International Congress for Memory Improvement, where the main character was a guest speaker. One of those visitors who got the chance to list to the main character happened to be a resident working at Boulevard de Strasbourg. The resident was pleased to hear the main character’s lecture, and decide to enjoy a leisurely stroll toward the red-light district.
It was there where the main character let the resident in on a secret: the main character had always had a soft spot for women, but struggled to understand the female gender most times. So the main character opened us the story about his struggles with women, and was expecting less than suitable treatment. However, the resident, keen on listening to all the word, felt interested about the complex person the main character is and decided to enjoy a night on the town. So with guided spirit, the main character and the resident danced and exchanged love during the evening.
This piece has a format of 4AABB4ACC4AA8. Dmitri Kabalevsky’s “Toccatina” and Franz Behr’s “Camp of the Gypsies” were the basis for this piece. In addition, the third section of the piece makes use of the enigmatic scale (that is a scale utilizing major, minor and even whole tone scales in an atypical way).