#1, Lentamente 3/4,
Very serene feel in this case. The piece is in AA form, in a form of a very slow waltz,
perhaps. The repeat of A is varied, with a running countermelody of downward scales over a melody mainly in
quarter notes and half notes. There is an unstable key center in the beginning, and finally, a resolution in E minor.
#2, Andante, 4/4
The mood is quite slow and mysterious. The piece is mainly ABA, falling nearly in the key of A-flat major. The B
sounds like something taken a teeny bit out of a Prokofiev piano concerto.
#3, Allegretto, 4/4
The mood here is up-tempo, falling in the key of C major at first, and ending in the
key of D minor. An ABA form here; The A part focuses on a rising pattern in 6ths in the right hand while the left
hand also goes up chromatically by half-steps; the B part has an ostinato pattern in the black
keys that would almost set up a prelude to a repeated pattern in the no. 10.
#4, Animato, 6/8
The first of the "furious" pieces. It is an angry foreplay between two themes--one that
has canonic ideals, and the other, chordal and frightening--in the keys of both C minor and F minor. Then suddenly, there is a
tempo change to più sostenuto, appeasing the piece's furious attitude in the key
of C major.
#5, Molto giocoso, 2/4
The piece sounds quite militaristic, in a style of a march. It starts on an unstable key,
and then it goes into G major with a bell-like sound that permeatesl both hands in
bichordal style (the first hand on the white keys, the second hand on the black keys)
in toccata-like 16th notes---ending with a coup-de-grace G major chord at the final
measure.