No.1 starts in C major but modulations come quickly. The general structure is A-A-B-A'. A is made of a right hand (RH) melody accompanied by the left hand (LH) playing a bass and a chord. B is written with one voice at each hand. Finally, A' is a reminiscence of the beginning theme, with a different modulation and a shorter length.

No.2 has a completely different structure. It is made up with 4 superimposed themes, played at different places of the tessiture. The various themes are introduced one after each other, providing a fugue feeling (although all themes are different). In the central part of the piece, each theme is recalled, being exposed with a waltz voicing. Then the third part comes, as a reflect of the first one (starting with 4 voices and ending with a single one). The harmonic structure is cyclic (but with a shift after each cycle), with a period of five measures. The results sounds a little like some Shostakovich pieces (not intentional, but more the result of our common reference to Bach !).

No.3 is a kind of study for the RH. It is a succession of ups and downs, supported by a bass played by the LH, as in Chopin's 1st study op. 10 (I'm not claiming it has the same merit, of course...).

No.4 (the longest one) is a theme with variations. The theme can be compared to the one of No.1, but it is more developed. A first variation emphasizes the RH, then it is the turn of LH. In the third one, I used an 'alternate' arpeggios structure between the two hands. The piece ends by a small recitative (RH alone) followed by a coda quoting the beginning of the theme.

No.5 is a fast, short, two-voice waltz. The melody at the RH is very tonal and melodic, while the LH is rather ignorant about the obvious RH harmony. The sarcastic tone can evoke some Prokofiev's pieces (still not intentional, but my love for this composer is evident here).

Francois de Larrard