"Taking a cue from the Burlesque of Richard Strauss, I began with a quiet but impertinent little challenge from the timpani, requiring a response from the piano, and developing into a dialog between the two that eventually engages the entire orchestra.   The piece is written almost entirely in triple-time throughout.  There is a brief cadenza in the middle of the work… a spontaneous monologue with a free and improvisatory character, that eventually beckons the return of the triple-time.  Here some rhythmic displacements are introduced, generating a centrifugal thrust which, after a brief exchange between the timpani and the piano, drives the piece to its ending, where “el gato”, the feline protagonist in our little tale, in perfect balance… miraculously lands on his feet.
 
Many years later, the young conductor of the Albany Symphony, David Alan Miller, approached me with the suggestion of adding a slower opening movement for a performance of the Scherzo that he’d programmed with the brilliant American pianist Gloria Cheng.  I had known and worked with Gloria for many years and greatly admired her artistry, and so I was delighted to compose the more lyrical Prelude especially for her."

–John Williams

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Duration: 14 minutes
Premiere Date: 2014 (Scherzo) & 2022 (Prelude)