Singing in the Sunroom by Moonlight
A Song With Just a Hint of Words
by
Eric Paul Nolte
I have just written, performed, and published another little piece of musical fluff that is now available at SheetMusicPlus, the SMP Press. It's for solo piano.
I call the piece "Singing in the Sunroom by Moonlight," an addition to the album I'm composing, called Songs With Just a Hint of Words. For those who have treasured Felix Mendelssohn's collection of Songs Without Words, my album's title may win a smile at the fond wink I give here to the ghost of Felix.
I have chosen titles for each of my album's pieces with an eye (and ear) to evoking something like a little meditation on some aspect of life, love, and the cosmos. These titles are all meant to convey moods ranging from the evocative to the whimsical.
I write these pieces with the skills of the intermediate pianist in mind. As with most of my music, my harmony can be chromatic and spiky, but it is tonal, melodic, and, all said, I strive to write intelligibly and to give you my most conscientious efforts not to make your ears bleed, or leave you baffled or suffering from musical vertigo... unlike many conservatory and university-trained composers of the last century who appear to believe that reaching the rarefied land of "serious art music" is an enterprise requiring a re-invention of the language on every page, and what Alexander Solzhenitsyn called "the relentless cult of novelty." Not me, brothers and sisters.
I love music that makes my heart sing, no matter whether it is children's songs, jazz, the counterpoint of Bach, the music of Mozart, Beethoven, Broadway shows, opera, hymns, the American songbook, and on and on. In fact, I believe the essence of “good music” is whatever makes your heart sing.
I am no musical snob. As I put it on the header to my blog, I believe that music should make us swoon and inspire awe! My aesthetics cheer Beauty and seek Uplift, wherever I can find it... but I am happy if it just tickles or gently strokes me.
I expect that I will put this latest piece of mine up on YouTube, but you can find it (and hear an audio file of it) at:
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2020.0515
Word count: 390
