Petition

The last time I published music here was in December, 2018; I finally have something new to post and I hope you like it.

Petition



Copyright © 2020, dwpianomusic.com

Here is a poem I saw recently on a blog I follow that captures some of the emotion I feel when playing this piece. I’ve taken it from here: https://poets.org/poem/memoriam-ring-out-wild-bells

In Memoriam, [Ring out, wild bells]
Alfred Lord Tennyson – 1809-1892

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

This poem is in the public domain.

Grace and peace to you…

dw

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I posted earlier about my goal to record an EP this year and make it available on Bandcamp, etc.: that is now a goal for 2019.

I worked on it…I really did. And I learned a few things:

  1. Playing ‘live’ on a Steinway grand at the cancer center and playing in my studio on a digital keyboard (albeit a good one) are two really different experiences. It’s almost as though I lose the meaning of the music when I’m recording.
  2. I’m not a sound engineer, but I know I’m not quite satisfied with the final sound quality I’m getting so far. I want to take some time to try a few different approaches.
  3. I want a more solid theme for the EP/album – not a ‘variety pack’.
  4. I’m letting perfection get in the way of good. I record countless takes and am not fully satisfied with any of them. I have to accept that my technique is only so good, that it’s okay for my recordings to reflect me, where I am, how I play.

Thank you for listening this year – I can’t begin to tell you how much that encourages me!  And grace and peace to you in 2019!

dw

p.s.  I’m always open to your thoughts about how I could make this site better for you – don’t hesitate to let me know.

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Study in Silence

I’m very happy, after a very long hiatus, to post new music again today. This piece is a side-effect of a collaboration with my friend Ehsan to write a new Sanctus (which we will share once we have a good recording). The recurring motif is from the hymn “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”.  I hope you enjoy it.

Grace and peace to you…

dw

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