I wrote my original solo piano piece Autumn: A Nocturne in homage to Ravel’s String Quartet in F major. Autumn: A Nocturne explores characteristics of the lush colors and textures of autumnal landscapes through musical imagery. For example, the expansive scale at measure 24 represents a gust of wind blowing through rattling leaves on an autumn day. I also took inspiration from Chopin, most notably his Nocturne in C Sharp Minor Op. Posthumous. I feel that much of Chopin's music reflects the complex observations of beauty and melancholy I associate with the fall season.

I hope that this piece provides a source of comfort, a moment of reflection, and a memorialization of the beauty of autumn.

Notes copyright Theodore Tavi Hein 2026, All Rights Reserved