
Terrence Niska
Composer • Arranger
Still, Still, Still
Composer Notes
I don’t recall when I first heard this Austrian carol, but I immediately fell in love with it and knew that it must be a part of this collection. Written in the somewhat unusual meter of 5/4, (before shifting over to 6/4), this prelude is one of the less technically demanding pieces in the set, though it does make use of much of the piano’s vast range. The simple chordal treatment of the melody over arpeggiated chords imparts an air of tranquility that is maintained throughout the first verse. When it transitions to 6/4 for the second verse, the use of the low octaves in the left hand give an even greater sense of gravity to the prelude and the off-beats in the right hand must be played with an almost clock-like precision to create the impression of stillness and the vastness of eternity. The closing chordal progression is one of my favorite moments in all of these pieces as I tried to capture the uncertainty, yet inevitability of time.