List of Works || Swing Time

Weinzweig showed no evidence of slowing down in his late 80s, even composing four piano works between 2000 and 2002. One of these late piano works, Swing Time, was commissioned by the Canadian Music Centre and the Alliance for the Creation of New Music Projects, with support from the Canada Council and Ontario Arts Council. The influence of swing music is ubiquitous in Weinzweig’s output, and often made explicit with such title references as Swing a Fugue (1949), Swing Out (1995), and Swing Time. Swing Time has no indication of the typical “swing eighths” associated with swing, but rather conveys an easy-going rhythmic sway in the pervasive rocking figures.

Weinzweig composed five movements, which alternate fast and moderate tempos. A note in the score, though, indicates the freedom to perform only three movements, as long as an overall fast-moderate-fast structure is maintained. The first movement opens aggressively, with homorhythmic fortissimo accents. Weinzweig slowly fills in the rhythmic activity until the right hand plays a constant eighth-note pattern. This process of contrasting half-note or quarter-note patterns with constant eighth-note patterns occurs throughout the work. The second movement (“Moderate”) contrasts between a call-and-response texture and homorhythm. Rocking figures and limited pitch content create unity, with changing metres (4/4, 3/4, 5/4, 6/4) adding interest.

The third movement (“Fast”) alternates between a syncopated rocking pattern in 5/4 and a straight quarter-note pattern in 4/4. The pitch content is restricted to two crunch chords, with detailed dynamic indications creating contrast. The fourth movement (“Moderate”) is homophonic, with a right hand melody alternating measures of swaying quarter notes with measures of eighth notes. Weinzweig briefly interrupts the homophony for a call-and-response conversation. When the homophonic texture returns, the patterns are modified with syncopation.

The final movement (“Fast”) opens like the first, with the fortissimo accents and swaying gestures. This movement is not merely a recollection of the previous movements, though, as Weinzweig includes a new lively pianissimo staccato eighth-note passage. Near the ending, Weinzweig recalls the alternating patterns of the third movement, heard here in three exact repetitions. He then includes three exact repetitions of a call-and-response texture reminiscent of the slower movements. The movement drives towards the ending with an intensified rhythmic diminution used throughout the work.

The vibrancy of Swing Time lies in the changes of texture, dynamics, and articulations within a limited number of patterns.

Written by Alexa Woloshyn