Album Notes

Impromptus Volume 1 is a solo piano CD of timeless pieces ranging from a mix of classical to contemporary sounds. Songs range from picturesque soundscapes, to pieces that are colorful, unpredictable, and unstructured. The CD as a whole, is full of color and rich in textures with an array of different musical ideas spurring from the mind of Thad over a full year of writing and improvising.

By definition an impromptu is a musical composition or performance with little or no previous preparation, such as an improvisation. Although there is generally no form or structure associated with an impromptu, it did in the 19th Century become a term used for compositions with clear-cut forms, such as ternary and rondo. Pieces such as Four Impromptus, Op. post. 142 (D. 935) by Schubert, and impromptus by Chopin and Liszt, often used some form or structure. Thad’s impromptus typically have very little to no form or structure, and are created by simply hearing or briefly playing a melody or musical idea, then improvising through the piece while beginning the recording process. Each piece is then completed primarily with little or no preparation. Thad typically spends several hours a week practicing improvisation, and recording his sessions as he practices, which in-turn have produced the impromptus created so far.