FOLIO / COMPACT DISC REVIEW

By

Jack Rummel

Ragtime Compositions, Volume Three

Bernie Pardon LoFaso, composer

(No label; no number)

A Life Of Ragtime / Colors Of Ragtime / Conversation In Ragtime / Country Rag Conversion / Food For Thought Rag / Her Ragtime Moves / She Wrote The Golden Rag / Something Borrowed Rag / Syncopated Minor Mood Waltz / To Know Terra Verde / Waltz@TerraVerde.com / Yesterday and Today’s Ragtime.

     This is the third group of rags to emerge from the fertile mind of Bernie Pardon LoFaso – 12 rags in 12 months!  As did her first two folios, number three contains full piano scores plus lead sheets and a midi CD to clarify chord analysis and other issues that might arise.  This dozen, however, abandons the sharped key signatures found in volumes one and two, exploring the flatted sounds of F, Bb, Eb and Ab instead.

      In these compositions, Lo Faso continues her unique approach to ragtime.  Eschewing the traditional 16-measure sections and A-A-B-B-A-C-C-D-D structure, her rags focus instead on 8-measure sections with no indicated repeats.  Taking as an example the first rag, A Life Of Ragtime, there are ten distinct 8-measure sections, each flowing on to the next with only caesuras (//) at the ends of most sections to indicate brief, silent pauses.  For those pianists that are used to the long-established structural pattern found in classic rags, this concept may take some getting used to.

      Her time signatures are 4/4 (or 3/4 for the waltzes) and the recommended tempos range from 68 to 78 for a quarter-note.  All compositions are within the skill level of the early intermediate pianist.  In her introduction, she encourages “sensitive interpretation” and that these scores “need not be played exactly,” which may open the door to performing the melodies in a more traditional pattern such as combining sections and adding repeats if desired.  She adds, “Each performer is urged to decide how to make a piece of music sound like their own.”

      This folio with its accompanying midi CD (regular) is $20.  An attractively packaged CD with improved midi sound can be ordered separately for $12.  These two items can be combined into a single order for $30.  All prices are postpaid.  Order from Bernie Pardon LoFaso, P.O. Box 8521 , Chico , CA 95927 .