This is my third album of improvisational piano works. The tracks were recorded on two consecutive nights in December 2020: theme 18 variations on Dec 16th, and theme 19 variations on Dec 17th. They're presented here largely in the order recorded, though variation 1 of theme 18 went accidentally unrecorded, and the performance of variation 4 didn't hold together and I abandoned it mid-flight.

Usually I only expect one or two variations to live on past the original performance, but after several listens of all of the variations, they grew on me, and I thought they just might all hang together as an album. Theme 18 involved two separate chordal ideas at first, but only variation 2 kept both of them. As I was recording the subsequent variations, the two ideas didn't sound like they fit together and I just decided to stay focused on the first one. But after hearing variations 3 through 7 numerous times, I liked how the 2nd added something new, and somehow grounded everything in a nice finish.

Theme 19 has a bit more energy to it, and the variations wander fairly far from it at times. Variations 4, 5, and 6 in particular all have unique elements to them. The 4th sounds like it’s drawing to a close with a series of descending glissandos that mirror its opening, but shifts into ruminant descending chords underlying lighter right hand melodies, before abruptly ending with an echo of the theme’s harmonies. Variation 5 also dances around the theme’s harmonies and dissonances before leveling out into a cautious and then happy exploration of a more common descending bass line down to a minor 4 chord, while still insisting on a bittersweet major 3rd. Finally, it too returns to the theme’s harmonies before concluding. The 6th departs right away from the theme, pushing the descending bass line further than the 5th in largely a major themed direction, while still blending in harmonic dissensions.

The titles for the tracks all came after the fact, and, as usual, were the hardest part of the project. I hit upon the idea for "two skies" as an album title first, and then worked backwards from there, listening the to pieces searching for words and concepts to match what the pieces evoke in me. Theme 18 felt more stationary to me, and so the titles attempt to reflect a peaceful, winter night. But theme 19’s energy and variety prompted titles describing a journey into its sky.

This was a rather impromptu album, and I've enjoyed working it through. I hope you enjoy it as well.