7. French Doll

Although a short piece, I hear many different interpretations of it. The performance indications are "Delicately, gracefully." This means "delicately" and "gracefully." The question then becomes how to achieve delicacy and grace. A common pitfall I've observed is an excessively slow tempo. While this piece is indeed in 3/4 time, a performance that emphasizes the beat too much will make the music feel vertically segmented and prevent it from flowing horizontally. Delicacy and grace emerge when the music flows smoothly horizontally. When the author performs this piece, it concludes in 0:35 seconds, indicating a relatively fast tempo.

Unless one imagines a doll many times larger than oneself, when picturing a typical small doll, the feelings evoked are not heavy or grand, but rather light and quick. When played at this faster tempo, the timing from measures 9 to 14 becomes pleasant, and the music makes sense.

The mood of the piece changes in two-measure or four-measure units. For example, measures 1-4 might convey cheerful chatter; measures 5-8, a slightly willful feeling; measures 9-10, recalling something pleasant; measures 11-12, accepting it; measures 13-14, building anticipation; and measures 15-16, displaying a big smile. Performers should expand their imagination and interpret the mood they perceive for each chord.

The composer Gillock provides remarkably detailed tempo change indications. This piece also features numerous tempo change indications as it progresses into the latter half. Please adhere to these indications precisely and naturally. Regarding the pedal markings, I believe the indicated pedaling is appropriate.