crayola lectern

A feat of some daring this time, possibly foolhardiness, not musically perhaps but let me set the scene.

It is 8.15pm on Wednesday; I have to snatch precious moments to play the piano at the best of times but on the evening in question I am home with sleeping eleven week old daughter whilst my better half (and milk provider for said infant) hastaken the train over to Brighton for Rona’s birthday drinks at The Albert.

No milk has been expressed and the piano backs onto the wall of the room containing sleeping baby. I can’t not play something though, sitting here after a day at work alone with the piano - the temptation is unendurable and so I do a quick risk assessment of the situation and decide to go ahead and play something which will hopefully not awake the child.

Hence today’s more tranquil offering. Every note played aimed to soothe and not to disrupt a sleep. There’s hesitancy there for sure and a little fear but no dissonance. Mary doesn’t do dissonance yet, unlike her brother who, at that age, was happily nodding off to Faust IV in his carry cot.

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Last week I read the sad news of Lux Interior’s passing - I loved The Cramps and they were a significant influence in much of the music I’ve made here and there (actually not here!)

60 isn’t so old. This news was in my head when I played the piece below. For me it charts a life starting with innocence, marching through adolescence and towards middle age (which hits around 4′ 40″). After this there is a period of realisation which eventually blends into death.

I don’t believe in heaven or hell but I like to think there is a spirit within us. The spirit departs the body in the last minute or so of the music.

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Another winter-themed improvisation of a piano and voice; Icicles is an apt title for a song today as the last two days have seen snow across much of England which has come over all the way from Russia. This piece is of some interest to me because listening back I can visualize the outline of a song and start to hear other instruments and harmonies.

As with most of my improvisations there are bits which could be improved, whittled down or extended were I to turn them into bonafide songs. The piece consists of three obvious sections, the first illustrating the crystalline features of ice followed by a repeated motif which builds its way into the robust final section with the tremulous voice of a man who is bloody freezing.

The title and theme were not intended at the time of playing but are created retrospectively.

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Fantasias of yore were free musical compositions which were structured according to the composer’s fancy and tended to be wonderful sprawling journeys, less organised than symphonic or concertato forms. Possibly an early version of what much later became known as (whisper it) prog.

My piece below is similarly in the Fantasia (non)-style. Recorded onto a minidisc recorder in my lounge, played spontaneously on a Kemble minx piano in the winter. One of the few other pieces of any note which I often play by heart is Mozart’s Fantasia in D minor and my ears can hear places where Queen might have found some inspiration back in the day.

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