Notice: This is a digital rendering using Pianoteq Classical Guitars (Modartt).
Esperançoso ("Enquanto houver música, há esperança.")
Hopeful (“As long as there is music there is hope.”)
With the arrival of the brandnew virtual classic guitar by Modartt's Pianoteq, I was eager to test the sound of the available guitars. Also, we live in Portugal now and I got totally smitten with their traditional fado.
I started improvising on the keyboard a little and found myself pleasantly surprised how wonderful it sounds especially on the emotional level. Fortunately Pianoteq stores everything you play as MIDI and in Dorico I was able to edit the rough composition without loosing the effect of an improvisation.Of course, this piece could be much improved and tightened, but it is probably better to leave it as imperfect as it is. I hope you enjoy it!
Notice: This is a digital rendering until a much needed live recording becomes available.
(Sound samples: Joshua Bell Violin and Vienna Symphonic Library's Violin, Viola and Cello)
Here are the 4 movements separately:
Images from my childhood / A children's drawing
For all 7-year olds in the world, little and big.
>In 2021 my brother Ernie unearthed the 1955 "Kittens in an Apple Tree" photo from the family archives (see cover). The picture evokes a strong childhood memory, reminding me of the drawing I made at the time of those kittens in that tree.
I was 7 years old and we had just moved into a big new house with a sprawling backyard and even our own piece of forest land. I remember that pathetic, dead apple tree behind the house clearly. Picturing it I still experience the thrill of having started a new life in our own paradise as a young boy. Capturing this image in music is quite a challenge but nevertheless worth trying; redrawing the scene so to speak, this time in notes and me being ten times older now.
The first movement with its simple theme (introduced in bar 7, 8) is reminiscent of a nursery song expressing the ignorance of these furry softballs, oblivious of any peril. I titled it ironicly, Life in the apple tree is not complicated. The second movement depicts nature's challenges, the lack of shelter for the rain. The next short part (III) is a kind of interlude, reflective of my personal sentiment of moving into the new big house with a huge backyard, starting a new life. The fourth movement, The kittens have no fear at all, reflects, besides on the kittens, onto myself as well: me, that easily excited youngster at that age, not unlike all youngsters at that time, I suppose.
(This is a draft score, notation still in need of fine editing)
SCORING: Dorico 4.1 by Steinberg
INSTRUMENT SAMPLES: 1st Violin - Joshua Bell Violin by Embertone,
2nd Violin, Viola & Cello by Vienna Symphonic Library
REAL-TIME PLAYBACK: Vienna Ensemble Pro with MIR Pro 3D for spatial effects
Notice: This is a digital rendering until a live recording becomes available.
(Sound samples: Joshua Bell Violin and Vienna Symphonic Library's Viola)
This duet starts out with a classic theme in B-flat minor, - after about two minutes transitioning into the main segment: a slightly atonal and a mostly dissonant back-and-forth between the two players followed by a brief variation on the opening theme leading up to the Ennio Morricone tribute starting at around 5:50 minutes.
The beloved Italian composer Ennio Morricone wrote over 400 film scores in a vast variety of styles in addition to 100+ classical works. Most impressive and memorable for me as a young man were the soundtracks for the so-called "spaghetti-westerns" evoking so effectively and suspenseful the loneliness of the desert.
Morricone passed away July 7, 2020 and I listened to a few of his most famous compositions once again with great joy!
Notice: This is a digital rendering using Pianoteq's Petrof Grand (Modartt).
Just a short study for piano in classical style, and as the title suggests: suited for ballet.
These pieces are relatively simple and quite relatable; by no means virtuosity is required and certainly high drama does not come in play. And yes, the sixth piece Grand Jeté, the finale, is a lighthearted scherzo kind of thing.
The songs are named after terminology in choreography honoring the original idea behind suites as a series of danceable tunes. (A hint of tango in III?) The pieces can be played independently, but the order in which they appear in this suite is quite deliberate.
The six movements are loosely related and most of them (especially III, IV and V) could be played on their own outside of the suite. VI should be fun as an encore; as the finale, it is a lighthearted scherzo kind of thing. In general the pieces have a percussive feel to them and rarely venture into the realm of romanticism. Carré reminds of pop and it swings a little; the piece, Sur tes orteils ("On your toes") is a bit of an outlier and, as the title suggests, rather suited for ballet in my opinion (watch the music video on YouTube).
Inspired by Jacques Brels's "La Chanson Des Vieux Amants"
Recorded at the Corthell Hall, USM School of Music, November 26, 2019 (Thank you, Lori!)
Performers: Josie DiPhilippo, Piano and Aaron Emerson, Oboe
For this duet, in the style of the French chanson, specifically written for the gifted oboist Aaron Emerson, I borrowed three significant quotes from the song as my inspiration for, and the interpretation of the subject matter as I finally came to see it. The quotes serve as the titles of the movements.
René
I. Chambre Sans Berceau (Room without crib)
The relationship between two people-in-love is challenged and tested, causing anguish and friction, when their marriage remains childless. Blame and guilt slowly drives a wedge between them, despite attempts to hang on to their committed love.II. Éclats Des Vieilles Tempêtes (Shards of old storms)
After twenty years the echos of raging old storms are still audible and shards of broken dreams still visible in the corners of that room. But every now and then, when the taste for fighting is lost, a clear and hopeful tune can be heard ringing throughout the house.III. Je t'aime Encore, Tu Sais, Je t'aime (I still love you, you know, I love you)
Despite decades of resentment, neglect and infidelities, in the end the love survives; though un-passionate and non-exuberant, as a given it persists, pure and simple, as on the beat of a slow, never-ending three-step dance between two kindred souls.
Download the full score