Ricky Ian Gordon (b. 1956) is often pegged as a composer whose musical style navigates the divide between popular and classical music. He is best known for his music for voice, whether for the theater (five musicals), the opera house (seven staged works, either for chamber groups or as full productions), or solo voice (half a dozen song cycles and numerous independent songs). His piano music, performed stunningly in this recording by John Nauman, captures more than the lyricism of a gifted songwriter. It reveals Gordon as both a crossover artist and a musical chameleon, a composer comfortable both with mixing styles and staying within the bounds of a genre.

Calling himself a “musical trashcan,”Footnote ¹ Gordon's style receives inspiration from jazz, rock, dance, and art music, the last with hints or paraphrases of a number of composers, some of whom Gordon himself notes as influential.Footnote ² Although influences abound, Gordon's musical voice clearly speaks on its own terms. It is lyrical and idiomatically suited to instruments or voice. His harmonic language is mostly tonal, with harmonies often colored by seconds or ninths which show a proclivity to expanding the octave, sometimes giving his music a sentimental, pop sound while at other times stretching harmonic boundaries with coarse dissonance. Frequent scalar rushes into new phrases propel his music continually forward. For pianists, his keyboard writing fits well in the hands, intimating the improvisatory origins of many works. Textural layering is common.

Gordon's published piano music consists of two sets of pieces (Five Dances and The Caste System), a rag, and two other solo works. Many pieces, according to Gordon, originated in shows he was writing.Footnote ³ His lyrical gift shines in many pieces, and his interplay of themes and motives in more advanced works complements the expressive directness that defines many of his songs. Some of his piano pieces, especially those works highlighted below, would be welcome additions to the teaching and performing repertoire.

Five Dances for Solo Piano (1997) is a collection of works of various origins, not a unified compositional set. The two most successful movements of the five are “Waltz,” which was inspired, according to Gordon, by his love for French film, and “Barcarolle,” which Gordon wrote when his partner was ill with HIV.Footnote ⁴ The former has a transparent texture and an unevenly rocking left hand reminiscent of Satie's “Gymnopédie No. 1.” The latter, a very affecting piece with hints of Ravel, has a forlorn character that carries a sense of regret. The set also includes a cabaret-inspired tango and a primitivistic “Bear Dance.” “Joy,” the fifth and final work, is a bravura rendition of the song of the same name. Composed for Nauman, the jubilant arrangement regretfully erodes into self-indulgence. The final three pages, subtitled “Fireworks,” are a grab bag of pyrotechnics reminiscent of Chopin, Liszt, and Ravel which sound like pianistic inside jokes. A blatant reference to Chopin's “Black Key” Etude, Opus 10, Number 5, closes the piece. With the ebullience of the song lost in pianistic bombast, this final section does not work. Such writing may be fun to play (as well as fiendishly difficult), but it is not musically satisfying. Even assisted by Nauman's nuanced performance, the final section is not one of Gordon's compositional highpoints.

In a popular vein, “Desire Rag” (1998) is a delicious piece. Originating during an evening gathering of friends,Footnote ⁵ its lazy pulse and salty, bluesy melody capture the comfortable, relaxed exhaustion of a late-night soirée. “They Dance,” from Orpheus and Euridice (2001), subtitled by Gordon as a “song cycle in two acts,” is mostly lighthearted and, with its more whimsical character, less memorable than his other works. “Ring-A-Ding-Ding” (1998), the duet that closes the recording, is a joyous, infectious, rock ’n’ roll–inspired frolic.

The improvisational roots of Gordon's compositions sometimes lead to banality. Gordon will decorate sustained chords with short, sometimes filigree-like gestures that fill a space that may have been fine if left alone or filled with motivic working out of earlier material. Some of these figures sound meaningless, even distracting. Regretfully, these momentary gestures, such as the scalar gestures in measures 55 and 56 in the “Barcarolle” that go nowhere, or the cheap-sounding tremolo octaves in measure 45 of “Desire Rag,” lessen his very appealing ideas. Both of these examples ring of the spontaneity of improvisation. As in “Joy,” these pieces would be stronger had these self-indulgent sections been reconsidered or even excised between inspiration and publication.

Gordon's most successful composition, and his most abstract, is Caste System, a three-movement work commissioned by the Battery Dance Company in 1982. Its musical sophistication is not unique to this style; one hears such writing in some of his theatrical works as well, such as in Green Sneakers (2008). Instead of his characteristic lyricism, this work is organized mostly around fragmentary motives, which contributes to an orientation more instrumental than vocal. It is a work deserving more attention than it has received.

Caste System is harmonically progressive with shifts between sharp dissonances, bitonal, atonal, and barely tonal writing. It is clearly conceived as a three-movement set, with motivic gestures from the first movement and the repeating sonority of the second movement returning in the third. Motivic development and foreshadowing help create a highly organic piece. The first movement is framed in loose sonata form with a complex polyphonic texture and metric shifts reminiscent of Stravinsky. The second, slow movement explores one sonority, a rising gesture of varying intervals spanning an octave and a minor seventh. The movement is reflective and improvisatory, creating a sense of time suspended. The third movement, marked “mechanically,” is hard jamming with driving rhythms of clashing chords in bitonal opposition supporting syncopated octaves.

Gordon could not have asked for a better interpreter than pianist John Nauman. His is magical playing. It is supple and fluid, subtle and dramatic, and always delivered with panache. Textural interplay is transparently lucid throughout, and the pulse varies instinctively from a driving beat to a graceful rubato. Nauman's adulatory notes accompanying the compact disc affirm his affection for Gordon's music.

Although becoming truly familiar with Gordon's music requires delving into his songs (which is not hard to do, with nineteen published volumes, thirty compact discs that either include his songs or feature them exclusively, iTunes downloads, the Ricky Ian Gordon Store at Amazon.com, and a healthy number of YouTube postings, some featuring Gordon himself), this recording of his piano music provides a satisfying overview of this very creative artist. It is a welcome addition to Gordon's discography and fills out our understanding of his compositional breadth. Even though some of his works could be strengthened with some editing, the occasional disappointments do not diminish the overall value or appeal of his piano oeuvre.