FOLIO REVIEW
By
Jack Rummel

Piano Rags Vol. 1 & 2
Brandon Byrne
Maple Valley Music

No One Knows (A Lonely Rag) / Daffodil Bud Rag / Epitaph (A Ragtime Elegy) / …(A Ragtime Epilogue) / A View from the Cross (A Ragtime Meditation) / Two Michigan Rags: On the Lakeshore; The Lighthouse (A Ragtime Reflection) / October Moon (A Nocturnal Rag) / February Fields (A Kansas Prayer) / Blue Chicory Rag.

     Brandon Byrne’s compositional catalogue has now reached 10 pieces and he has chosen to collect them into a single folio that possesses a high quality of notation, paper and binding.  Of the 10, three are brand new (A Ragtime Epilogue, February Fields, Blue Chicory Rag), three have been heavily revised (No One Knows, Daffodil Bud Rag, October Moon)  and the remaining four were re-notated with minor revisions.
     Byrne’s background in Christian music is in evidence in his compositions.  The pianist is generally instructed to play them slowly and softly.   As he says in the folio’s introduction, they are his attempt “…to venture beyond the normative expressive boundaries of ragtime in order to vividly and honestly portray genuine human emotion.”  They could aptly be described as “tone poems” or “works of introspection.”  They are also short: indeed, three are only 16 measures long (“raglets?”) and the longest is 80 measures.
     In an audience that seems to prefer their ragtime fast and somewhat boisterous, Brandon Byrne is to be admired for blazing a trail that is typically less traveled.  His works are carefully crafted, occasionally inserting emotionally jarring chords into passages that are otherwise sweet and sublime, but always eliciting contemplation.  There is a select crowd out there that will appreciate this folio; perhaps you are part of it.
     Available for $15.00 from Brandon Byrne, 8234 Maple Valley Road, Brown City, MI 48416.  He may also be reached at <brandonbyrnemvm@gmail.com>.