Piano Music by Robert Helps
In Retrospect (1977) [piano solo]
— Helps himself writes: “This set of five pieces was slated for a children’s opus but quickly got out of hand. However, an original intention of ‘nostalgia’ (hence the title) and a pervasive ‘hanging-in’ around the tonality of E minor gives the work a somewhat simple (child-like?) quality.”
The five movements of the suite: Prelude, Dance (Ravel’s “Forlane” winks slyly in the background), Song, Pastorale, and Toccata (which unites the previous four in a steady flow).
Total duration: 10 minutes
Not so simple...
Is this the childhood Helps is recalling
through the tones of In Retrospect?
View the manuscript score scanned by
Digital Commons @ University of South Florida