Finishing touches

Well, we're in the final stretch before the recital, and I've decided that I'm going to finish this piece, one way or another, tonight.

I can see a number of ways to progress from the last spot in the song that I've written. I was originally planning to return to the style of the livelier earlier sections of the song, do some variations on this material, and then take it towards a concluding section, but I don't believe I'll be doing that now.

You see, the song sounds like it's reaching a natural conclusion at the point where it's at already. If I were to depart from that into new (or even old) material, I think I would need to spend a fair bit of time with this material before returning to a final conclusion. I think that a briefer section would risk feeling rushed, since the break would make it feel like the beginning of a new section that was aborted before it really got off the ground. "Ok, we're ending... and we're starting again, and... oh wait, we're actually ending after all."

Since there really isn't enough time to write a fuller section, and I don't consider a shorter reprise of the early material an option, I'm going to try to end it in the next few bars. In the end, it may not be quite as I would like it, but it's a practical solution that I think I can still write in a way that feels like a satisfying conclusion. And this way, I don't have to give the performers new material on the day of the recital.... There's always the possibility of extending it after the course is over, and perhaps actually being able to incorporate some of the material from my first attempt at this assignment.