~ Sunday, October 3, 2021 ~

After three years, I finally found this piece! I wrote this on Finale as a highschooler in 2002 sometime. I want to believe that it was in the fall of 2002. Chronologically, this would put this after "June Jazz on the Grass" (which I wrote in spring 2002) and "Marshmallows in Milk" (which I wrote in spring 2003). I say I've been looking for this piece for three years, because, in October 2018, as I was going through my archives and notating/transcribing different compositions over the years, I came across a piano reduction of a "desk drawer" piece I wrote in early 2004 titled "Sudden Realization." Long story short, "Sudden Realization" was a mashup of musical fragments from compositions I had written between 2000 and 2003. As I was notating and formatting that piece, I decided to also note where each fragment came from. In that piece, I took the first seven bars from this piece, and then to my disappointment I could not find the file for this piece. The reason was partly because it was no longer in my computer, and partly because I also had forgotten the title I had given it.

Fast-forward three years: I am organizing through my belongings, cleaning out paperwork, giving away or selling books and other items I don't need, in anticipation of a move. I want to downsize my possession footprint. I am trying to, anyway. I found a printout of this very piece (with dynamics hand-written in it!) and rejoiced. I then saw the title: "Piano Idea #1." No wonder I couldn't find it before! Moments later, my dad turned on his computer and showed me that he had this same file on his desktop, and pointed out that I could have found it on his and copied it over to mine. But I reference my second reason for not finding the composition: I couldn't remember the title, and for good reason.

So, a few hours later, with minor rearranging of notes, addition of articulations and expressions, and a few minor changes to the original dynamics, the piece is complete! ... except, it still needs a title. It has the feel of "opening" or "entrance" -- not too dissimilar from Giovanni Battista Sammartini's "Symphony in F major, J-C 32: I. Presto." (My musicology prof in college likened the opening to a call to the audience to "Quiet! The concert is beginning now.") It's also a short exploratory composition, sort of like a fantasia. As such, I have decided to name this piece "Raider Entrance Fantasia."

OK, so why "Raider Entrance Fantasia"? "Entrance" and "Fantasia" make sense, but what's up with the "Raider" part? Answer: I was in high school when I wrote this, and our school's team name was called the "Raiders."

Bon Appetit!

This track was created and mixed in GarageBand, with a simple piano patch and minimal effects.