Midnight Shuffle (score & parts) - 4BSN

by Kent Hurd - American composer

From the composer:

The inspiration for this piece came from watching one of my old dogs walk casually across the room one evening. She loped along with a casually paced swagger, and I noticed that he front and back legs gradually went in and out of sync with each other. Casual pace. Swagger. In and out of sync. Those ideas became the basis for Midnight Shuffle.

The piece is at a somewhat casual tempo, and is organized in a very simple form. It has two alternating themes that are repeated throughout, with settings that vary with each statement. The idea of going in and out of sync starts to sneak into the middle of the pieces when a 3/4 motive begins playing agains the 4/4/ time of the piece.These dueling motives being building against each other, almost completely obscuring the downbeat, until everything comes suddenly back into sync and the pieces finished in a swaggering waltz. 

The texture gets quite thick from bars 103-113, though there is always one part that should be emphasized. Pay special attention to the dynamics here, which will bring out the important line that is passed around the quartet. 

And try to remember the carefree swagger of an old dog.