— Helps’ final work for piano sends his musical friends a glimpse of his two favorite cities, those in which he spent the majority of his life. “San Francisco in the fog” is more than a welcome cliché, it transforms Helps’ beloved near-ostinati into an impressionist vignette of great tenderness. “Friday Night in Greenwich Village” is a hilarious romp, an unusually rare sampling of Helps’ immortal sense of humor in music.
Total duration: 6 minutes
Hectic fun: opening of “Friday Night in Greenwich Village”
The Two Postcards were written to commemorate the 80th birthday of Andrew Imbrie
The Two Postcards are pending publication.
Robert Helps on a fogless San Francisco afternoon, 1998