Robert Helps, Pop tour
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?
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