Absolutely gorgeous piece. I love the guitar sound too. Great ambience. Well done Adauto :-)

This is beautiful, love the guitar sound, and of course the playing is very good as well. Love it! :)

01 - Himmelsrandt - Einklang

As Meninas

This piece for solo piano was first performed in 1976, in Talinn. It would later become a telltale representative piece for Pärt's signature genre,  tintinnabuli, alongside other pieces such as "Spiegel Im Spiegel". 

Pärt dedicated the piece to a friend's daughter, on the occasion of her moving to study abroad. 

The introspective, meditative, and ultimately mesmerising qualities of the piece are truly remarkable. There is no better example of a piece of music that on the sheet appears simple (and it is) - however, there is an enormous musical depth to the piece, from a technical standpoint. 

The dissonance that occurs between B and C#, D and E, and F# and G - is a musical query aimed at the pianist. There are ways to mask the dissonance through creative use of the pedals - but is that really the point of the piece? This is one of few pieces which cause a distinct, if not unique, sound characteristic from the piano, derived precisely from the dissonance. It is then, no wonder that it is usually played with the pedal depressed throughout the entirety of the piece.

There is also some really interesting symmetry to the piece. Firstly, the left hand's highest note is a B minor chord which is below the melody line. Secondly, there are mirrored notes - that is to say, when the melody is on an E or F#, the left hand is on a D, and when the melody is on a G, A, or B, the left hand is on an F#, and so on. 

There is also symmetry to be found when comparing the compositional structure to that of the harmonies. The whole piece only consists of whole notes and stemless black notes (whose time signature is not as rigid as the whole notes). These are arranged in a particular pattern which mirrors the structural alignment of the 15 bars that the piece consists of. 

I chose to play the piece once, as is the case traditionally. However, it is easy to imagine how the piece, in concert environments, usually is played so that it repeats; the low B octave that rings initially becomes a marker of a new play-through, and the piece can last several tens of minutes. The different play-throughs would of course yield variations, and offer a wide range of musical flexibility to the performer and variational fidelity to the audience, alike. 

illustration: Millais - 'Ophelia', 1851-1852, Tate Britain

Arvo Pärt - 'Für Alina' in B Minor

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BACH - PRELUDE IN D MINOR BWV 999

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Classical Collections The Masters, Vol. 4

Suite No 2 In B Minor

Stabat Mater D383: I. Jesus Christus Schwebt Am Kreuzel (Chor) by Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks & Wolfgang Sawallisch & Helen Donath & Josef Protschka.

Schubert - Stabat Mater D383: I. Jesus Christus Schwebt Am Kreuzel(Chor)

When i started to play piano two years ago les Trois Gymnopédie have been one of  main my goals. This is only the first one and probably is to be  fixed  somewhere sooner  or later.  In spite of this I'm happy of this first result. Some of my original dreams as a pianist are  becoming true !

Erik Satie - Gymnopédie N°1

Singer/Songwriter/guitar player
São Paulo - Brasil


As Meninas

Adauto Fernandes

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