Please let me share with you a piece titled “Checkerboard.”

Why “Checkerboard” ?

If you’ve read my book, “How Music Means,” then you know my notion that music stirs us because it presents and then reconciles contrasting musical elements. Like the black and white squares of a checkerboard.

Consider the humble checkerboard, how it offers a pattern of contrasting squares of white and black, aligned with precision. Taking its cue from this, my piece titled “Checkerboard,” offers two starkly contrasting musical STYLES: that of the Baroque and that of Ragtime. In other words, that of J.S. Bach and that of Scott Joplin.

The movement begins with music that is reminiscent of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos. Once this is well established, the style changes, without any preparation or transition, to one characterized by a Ragtime-style syncopation.

Similarly, there is no transition on a checkboard between white and black. The two opposing colored squares sit cheek-by-jowl and the line separating them is never blurred.

After the Ragtime section, the music returns to a Baroque style, then back to Ragtime and so on. The alternating sections become more and more brief until only two measures of each style are offered before the music leaps to its stylistic opponent.

An audience will, of course, hear it only once … but I know already that they will love it, even if they find it puzzling. In fact, the puzzling character is what makes it lovable. If the music was consistently in a Baroque style all the way through, it would be pointless — because we already have Bach, Telemann, etc. HOWEVER, to compose in a Baroque style that alternates with Ragtime is something original, fresh and unexpected.

Too, in case it has not already occurred to you, consider that Bach was a white European composer while Joplin was a Black African-American composer. White alternating with Black, as on a checkerboard, you see?

Today, you may hear and see “Checkerboard” performed at my church, Mt. Auburn Presbyterian.

After clicking the link below, begin at 56:04 where you will see me introducing the piece to the congregation, followed by the performance by oboist Yo Shionoya, violinist Lauren Schloemer, violist Rose Gowda and cellist Michael Ronstadt.

To see and hear the performance, copy and paste the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1eDq1F6J5w

There's also a link to a PDF of the score, above.