Two thousand and twenty, goodness what a year its been been so far! Well hopefully my brand new album of neo-classical tracks will be a positive for all of us amidst the chaos. A calm oasis amidst the storm! It’s being released on the 4th August!
So what do I mean by the title ‘At the End of The World’. Is this music for the apocalypse? No not really. I’m just conscious that I composed these tracks in a period of momentous change and upheaval. It’s the end of an era and an age. The end of a world. In a sense it’s like we are now truly entering into the 21st century.
Now, this title isn’t meant to indicate an apocalyptic vision but simply a statement of the end of an age. A transition as the old world dies and the new begins much like the end of the soviet union.
In December 2019 I began writing a the title track that encapsulated a feeling I couldn’t quite identify. In my mind I was strange feeling of anxiety and dystopia. The only thing I could think of was that of Eastern Europe and the communist regimes so I called it Leningrad. When the Corona Virus Pandemic hit us in March and we went into lockdown, I realised that somehow prophetically I had written a classical Piano piece that captured the mood of the season we were in with its descending motif in F Minor but full of Mozartian classical restraint.
The album AT THE END OF THE WORLD therefore is the final result and I hope you like it and that it brings you hours of pleasure!
For me, each of these ten tracks has been are like children that I’ve helped bring into the world. Some were easy and behaved themselves – others had lots of tantrums and required lots of care and attention! Hopefully they will behave themselves as they find their own way in the world!
My creative process
So, how do I create? What’s the creative process? Well, I have been writing classical Piano music continuously for three years now – so I have a fair idea of how it works for me. This is in fact my fourth album and I believe its my best.
Most pieces start with a seed idea: a riff, a melody or a chord progression. Most of these ideas form when I’m improvising or playing around at the Piano. Mostly, I don’t write any of these down as I find if I remember them they tend to be good ideas. Sometimes, I will maybe record them on my iPhone or jot them down. Then I just keep working on them, often several at a time and I will get to to a place where I start to notate them. This is an iterative process and can take more than hundred hours of work. It fees like chipping away at a piece of rock and eventually a sculpture emerges!
How does a composition begin? Most begin life as an improvisation that sticks in mind and I just keep developing. Its like the tracks are already formed – I’m just discovering them until one day they are fully formed! I love think structurally and the hardest part technically is the key changing and navigating. I find classical sonata form gives me a means of writing compositions that are longer than three minutes and yet can develop and have plenty of interest for the listener. What I’m looking for is balance and beauty and that’s why I call my music classical. Music takes you on a journey just like life. It has a beginning a middle and an end. The middle section is often where the stress and instability is but we always resolve which bring emotional satisfaction.
The Album Tracks (preview)
Click on the titles below and it will take you to sound cloud clip. Please purchase the album when its released on August 4th in my shop! I won’t be releasing it on other platforms for a while.
- At the End of the World
- English Idyll
- March in E Flat
- Ascension
- Excalibur
- Capriccio in G
- Coronation
- Fantasy in A Minor
- Back to Bach
- Last Song on Earth
At the End of The World
I’ve described this piece in the introduction. I wrote it in a sonata form and its kind of Mozartian. Sonata’s have the following structure: the first theme in the tonic key, a modulating passage into the dominant key with a contrasting theme. They are like two characters say male and female. Thats the A section. The middle section is called the development and this where the composer experiments. This section is much less stable and dramatic – often with changes of key to aid that instability. It’s like the two characters are having a blazing row. In this piece I keep it simple by just varying snippets of the themes . The third section is called the recapitulation and that is often like the A section. In this piece though I use a feature that Mozart uses where-bye we start in a key a fifth below the tonic so that when it modulates as before we arrive back in the tonic key giving the piece resolution.
English Idyll
English Idyll is a piece that directly contrasts with the melancholy of At The End of The World. It’s based on the Dorian D scale which gives it a pastoral feel and consequently its title.
March in E Flat
March in Eb is another piece that didn’t make it onto my Revival Album. It was actually a piece that I played live on the streets of Winchester and is quite fun to play. It’s a track that I think captures a sense of joy freedom and even ecstasy. I think the sound world I’ve captured is maybe reminiscent of Scott Joplin and New Orleans Jazz bands?
Ascension – Impromptu in C
Ascension was a piece I started writing at the end of my 2019 album Revived. It took a long time to get right and score and to my satisfaction. It was recorded last. It has some interesting features with an impressionistic start with parallel fourths that are a kind of doorway. The Piece ascends and ends up in the key of D major after passing through several related keys – so it never returns back to earth ( C major)
The music ends with a longing passage which you might notice is how I end the album on the last track which I deliberately use and develop as the last motif that is heard in the Last Song on Earth.
Excalibur
Excalibur – is a piece that I wrote that makes me think of the knights of old, dragons and maidens in distress. Words like honour and glory. Chivalry. There is a war going on and this piece is a celebration of the victory of God over death and the forces of that great dragon – the devil.
Capriccio in G
Capriccio is a tune that I wrote while walking along Ipswich docks and fortunately I managed to write it down on a bit of paper. As I played around with it the piece grew and developed. This one took me a few goes to get right as its surprisingly fast and difficult to play with a bit of syncopation. I think this quirky tune expresses joy and fun! Its actually quite difficult to play and took me a long time to get right. The structure is simple with a middle Trio section and then when I repeat I develop it a but by using variation techniques.
Coronation
Coronation was a piece that started as a Celtic sounding melody. As I expanded the piece though it grew into quite a large and challenging piece. It’s a piece that is noble and grand even royal.
Fantasy in A Minor
This is a piece I wrote for my daughter Sarah. She’s a drama student and a bit quirky so this piece is a bit like her mysterious. In this piece I play with modes again.
Back to Bach – Etude in C Minor
Etude in C Minor is an advanced technical piece inspired by the music of J S Bach. It explores multiple keys and repetitive patterns, fast moving passages and even a section influenced by the blues. It’s the composers intention however, not for this piece to just be a technical piece with intention of improving technique but to be a thoroughly melodic and expressive neo-classical and minimalist Piano composition.
Last Song on Earth
I decided to end this album with this piece which is a really a song without words. In fact, the melody reminds me of a melody from a camp meeting or tent revival and thats why the original title was called Revival Song. I like to close the album with this hymn. Imagine you were leaving earth behind and the last melodic fragment you can hear is this piece. t is quoted in the piece ascension – see if you can spot it.
