Hersch: Lyric Piece

Commissioned by violinist Sharan Leventhal for the Gramercy Trio in 2004, this is a single-movement work whose title is an uncomplicated description of what to expect: the mood is reflected right from the beginning with the direction 'Warm and flowing'. Very melodic, with chords that are lush, with a jazzy texture. In 9/8 time, the left hand of the piano has running eighth notes (broken chord style with some reaching-over stepwise motion, reminiscent of Chopin). The pianist must be able to handle chords with 10ths in the left hand and 9ths in the right, and the violinist has a brief high-note section.