Five Snapshots
by John Carbon
Piano Solo - Digital Sheet Music

Composed in 2017-2018 and inspired by five photos of my father, Five Snapshots captures

my feelings and memories about the informal, grainy black and white photos themselves as

well as what others have told me about their origins. The first photo and the opening prelude

"Introspection" capture a moment in time at a boating club. My father, high-school age, is

seen in portrait mode working on a sailboat. Even though marked "tenderly" there is

something resolute about the mood. Taken about the same time, the second photo shows

Dad on a sailboat moving out onto a lake with a friend. The title of the second piece,

"Illiana," refers to the name and location of the lake (between Illinois and Indiana). This

piece captures the optimistic and adventuresome mood that sailing suggests. The music has a

decidedly impressionistic tinge, reflecting the sounds and colors of water, weather and

motion. The third photo, taken a bit later than the others, shows Dad as a young parent in his

own house, lounging on a chair, with a can of beer in hand, listening to the stereo. He

listened to a lot of Jazz. The middle section of "Beer Bop,"expresses my childhood impression

of the music he was listening to (and playing on his sax). The fourth photo shows my father

holding a large chess trophy that he won, with his young son and daughter standing in front

of him. The title "Lake County Immortal," refers to the fact that I based the music on a

combination of Kasparov's "Immortal Game" moves (Kasparov vs. Topalov 1999) and what

my father told me about the game that earned him the Lake County, Illinois championship

trophy that he holds in the photo. His opponent was so frustrated by the outcome that he

cried at the end of the game. The fifth photo shows my father at the piano during a break

away from college at his parents' house. On the music rack there is a carton of Lucky Strike

cigarettes and a Chopin Scherzo along with two other pieces of music. The notes are just too

faint to make out, but you can make out a section in C# minor that suggests several pieces in

that key. One is the often-played Rachmaninoff Prelude in C# Minor, the other is a Chopin

Polonaise in C# Minor (with a descending walking bass ostinato). These tunes are

manipulated in "Lucky Rach" as found artifacts in collage fashion. Included is a very oblique

suggestion of the Lucky Strike commercial theme song (circa 1950) and a snippet of the

Chopin B Flat Minor Scherzo, another piece my father often played during that time.

John Carbon