The Gardenia

Musical Terms (7)

• con brio Italian
  With vigour, with brilliance. Indicates an energetic, spirited character.
  In Bolcom's most virtuosic rag and etude writing, con brio means rhythmic precision and tonal projection together — bright tone, decisive articulation, and clear phrase direction.
• freely English
  With rhythmic freedom; at the performer's discretion regarding tempo and pacing.
  Bolcom uses this to open up improvisatory space, particularly in transitional passages. Use it to breathe between sections or to extend a resonant chord — but return to strict tempo decisively.
• ghostly English
  Light, ethereal, slightly eerie. Used in the Graceful Ghost Rag to evoke something delicate and otherworldly.
  Play with a very light touch and minimal pedal. The Graceful Ghost should feel like something that barely makes a sound — transparent tone, soft dynamics, and a sense of floating.
• jazzy English
  Infused with jazz idiom — relaxed rhythmic feel, blues-influenced harmony, improvisatory flavour.
  In Bolcom's etudes that draw on jazz, allow slight rhythmic flexibility and voicing freedom. Inner voices can be brought out selectively, as a jazz pianist would voice chords.
• minimalistic English
  Spare, reduced to essentials, with repetitive or static elements typical of Minimalist style.
  In Bolcom's Minimalist-influenced etudes, resist the temptation to add expressive shaping. Let the repetition and process speak clearly; subtle dynamic variation is enough.
• ragged English
  In ragtime style — syncopated, rhythmically lively, with the characteristic off-beat accents of the rag tradition.
  The left-hand bass should be steady and metronomic, providing the rhythmic foundation against which the right-hand syncopations play freely. Avoid swinging the eighth notes; ragtime is straight.
• with swagger English
  A Bolcom direction calling for confident, slightly strutting rhythmic energy — relaxed but assured.
  Think of a natural physical swagger: the pulse is steady but the body moves with it. Don't rush; let the groove settle. A slight emphasis on the off-beat notes gives the style its character.