Hi Mark,
Hmmm, interesting questions. I didn't try to analyze Picky as I did it. There wasn't really time--the doing took only a couple of hours. I started with a general idea for the first theme, a sense that I wanted a theme that could be played with slightly different emphasis giving a somewhat different sense of the melody, a thoughtful section, and a Picky triumphant ending.

As to the harmony, there are some clashes, as in measures 18 and 19. I would describe these as incidental, mostly because it's easier than saying that the RH is in Eb (the section starting with a IV chord, like the first) and the LH plays a Caug chord against it. The idea here (this section I viewed as a kind of variation on the first theme, which appears only the once) is that I am moving from a section pretty solidly in G to one in Eb through a C aug chord so the transition is not blatently chromatic. I'm not sure it works as well as I wanted, but I tried flatting the Es in the LH, and think the "clash" is better.

There were some mistakes, for example the B4 in the LH should have been and is now Bb. So now the harmony in measures 9-15 could be seen as I I Vmin7 V I Idim V Vmin7 IV Idim Vmin Vmaj7 I6 IV6. Basically, I IV V, but intentionally partial harmony. Anyway, I think that's probably similar to what I had in mind, at least the back of, when I did it.

Also changes in 104,5--moving the C# down to C in the LH. I wanted this section to sound pretty traditional, and even had a hard time convincing myself that some of the passing tones ought to be left.

The final section is pretty traditional, with I, IV and V chords, with a II thrown in a couple of times. 137 starts an ascending whole tone oriented few measures, with a chromatic downward tug on the second beat. This is Picky jumping--he could go up, straight up, and touch a broom held at shoulder height. These few measures are the only part I really thought out as I did the piece. I wanted a kind of triple build up to the end. This was to be the first of them, and the whole tone, switching between the black and white note systems, seemed the natural choice.

The mysterious final G is intentional to the point that I deleted several measures, including another whole tone build up ending with D,C, F# (basically a D7) leading to a D to a G--it was a pretty strong V I cadence. You could still get that sense, even in the truncated version, I think, by moving the A3 starting measure 153 to a D3/D4
octave.

But Picky was cut off in his prime. He was nearly 20 when he dislocated his jaw and couldn't eat; otherwise he looked and acted as he did when he was 5 or 6. That G is, if one wanted to see it that way, a comment on a universe that could be a lot more perfect than it is. It could be, also, a sense that Picky somewhere is at the momemt the piece ends, merely between jumps.

It could also be, and partly is, I'm sure, a taste I've developed for ending on a II or a IV, and trying to find a way to get the listener to accept it as the end. (I do this in the second movement of a symphony I'll post some time before Christmas, as it uses Christmas music as it's thematic material.) You might want to move that octave up to a C and see how that sounds. Originally, that's what I had, which resulted in a V, I, IV cadence, but a very hanging one since the E of the C triad was left implied....

It gets too complicated. Anyhow, I settled on the G. So, I've not said that's the way I heard it. I just had the idea that it should be final (long held) and somehow anticipatory of more, and the G was the choice, after trying several alternatives.

I think there may still be some corrections needed. But for now--

<center><table border=1><tr><td>Picky again
Picky REV Oct 27.not (183.5 k)</td></tr></table></center>

best,
mgj