K15. Portrait of an Artist

For Solo Piano, F♯ Minor, Level 5 - Advanced

An improvisation, this piece wrote itself at the keyboard on one very dark and lonely evening in May of 1987. Seven years later it became the basis for the second movement of Fatale, my first piano concerto. While the piece is accessible to the advanced student, the drama of the rhapsodic passages will depend upon the skill of the performer.

The opening theme of a popular movie released in 1989 bears a striking resemblance to the motive of the second theme in Portrait of an Artist. I was not pleased when I first discovered this coincidence—an abject lesson in the use of simple motifs—though I do much prefer my theme and my development of the motive throughout the work. I wonder if Weber ever became aware that the opening bars of his Music of the Night duplicate an old gospel song, and whether he felt the same sinking feeling I did if and when he ever learned of it.

Having extended the music of Portrait of an Artist significantly for the piano concerto, it is difficult for me to listen to this work and not desire the expanded form found in the concerto. The version available below is the original, shorter form from 1987. Perhaps one of these days I will write a second version for solo piano to reflect the longer form.

Sheet music may be downloaded below. A PDF file containing all 4 pages is provided for separate sheet printing. Two other PDF files containing pairs of pages are provided for booklet printing. You may also contact me and ask for a free 9 x 12 inch booklet.

Printing Instructions - 9 x 12, 8.5 x 11, other

Both the PDF sheet music and the MP3 recording below may be downloaded for free personal use and shared with friends. (I reserve all copyrights on this music, and any commercial sale or redistribution of this recording or the musical composition, or any recordings based on them, is prohibited without my express written permission and appropriate royalties.)