Tracks from Sharon West's latest album "Lake of Dreams"

Lake of Dreams

Meditato

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Look for a remastered version to be released on Spotify (and other streaming services) on October 25, 2024.  Spotify artist page: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6C0SntKljTLs56EFvZzvzS?si=U4MiCwnBRFGYDlRDcp4XuA

Happy Piano Day!

Impressionist piece inspired by the experience of free diving--wandering and peaceful with a tinge of anxiety in the back of the mind.

Some musical elements are borrowed from my album "Seven Dreams of the Orb Weaver" https://soundcloud.com/skai-eriksson/sets/seven-dreams-of-the-orb-weaver.

Some inspiration from Debussy may be heard in the shifting tonal center and more overtly with the pentatonic runs.

To convey the irregular undulations of the sea and the uneven activity level of freediving I fully indulged in tempo rubato--I think I ended up with tempo rubato e rotto :-)

-photograph taken by Melissa Lehman.

Freedive

Written: 2022-23
Duration: 30'
for piano trio (violin, cello, and piano) and orchestra (2-2-2-2 / 4-2-3-1 / 3 percussion, timpani, strings)
Commissioned by Neave Trio
World Premiere: Mostly Modern Orchestra with Neave Trio, JoAnn Falletta, conductor, Mostly Modern Festival, Arthur Zankel Music Center, Helen Filene Ladd Concert Hall, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, June 17, 2023.
Publisher: Bill Holab Music

As we live through a sixth mass extinction, it is not difficult to question whether we can act as good stewards of our earth. While I often feel a sense of despair — how could we have messed this up so badly? — my thoughts are often, perhaps irrationally, tempered by a sense of optimism. Maybe we can fix this, or at least that’s what I tell myself. Triple Concerto is essentially an exploration of these emotions. As a scenic point of departure, the entire work also uses three types of geographical regions as inspiration.

Triple Concerto is structured a bit differently than a traditional concerto. An introduction and three larger movements are interspersed with three small trio-centric movements that loosely function as either a prelude, interlude, or cadenza. These three smaller movements also exist as a stand-alone version for the piano trio that may be performed as a sort of “teaser” for the concerto on a chamber music concert.

The first movement, Introduction, loosely evokes a sunrise. Toward the end of the movement, bird song melodies from around the world are incorporated and performed by the winds. This leads to a movement entitled Chorale Prelude, focusing on the piano trio, leading to a joyful third movement, Bright Pastorale, filled with bright, sunlit bell-like chords and sounds reminiscent of birdsong. Moments of despair begin to appear as the movement progresses. The movement ends darkly, like an overcast sky before a storm. The fourth movement, Interlude, echoes the beginning, focusing on the trio once again and evoking a sense of longing, the sound of a more innocent time. Tundra, the fifth movement, is cold, dark, and bleak but with swaths of color. A sense of sadness and loneliness permeates this movement, at times represented by various mournful effects such as bent notes created by dipping tubular bells in water and glissandi in the strings and brass.

After the fifth movement, the trio performs a virtuosic Cadenza, full of grief and rage but with signs of hope. This leads to the final movement, entitled Summit. Ascending lines suggest climbing a mountain, both literally and figuratively. After a brief climax, eleven bell-like chords sound one after the other, symbolizing the chimes of the Doomsday Clock. The winds perform birdsong once again, perhaps of songbirds that may soon become endangered or even extinct. In a nod to Haydn’s Symphony No. 45 (his “Farewell Symphony”), the players leave the stage one by one until all that is left are the trio and conductor.

Triple Concerto was commissioned by the Neave Trio and premiered by the trio and Mostly Modern Orchestra, JoAnn Falletta, conductor, at Mostly Modern Festival in Saratoga Springs, NY.

– RP

Movements:
I. Introduction
II. Chorale Prelude
III. Bright Pastorale
IV. Interlude
V. Tundra
VI. Cadenza
VII. Summit

Triple Concerto, "Summit" for Piano Trio and Orchestra (World Premiere)

This is a Piano / Acoustic bass duet. I played the piano live into Studio One using UVI Falcon F Grand, and overdubbed with the Falcon Jazzistic Jazz Bass.Slow to moderate varied tempo. 

Even without words I think this melody is lyrical

©2023
To see the video of how this looks in the DAW, go to https://youtu.be/L5vFmIsup1o

The Little Things

7 o'clock in the morning with an ocean of tears
we should have been pretty, but reality mourned
shadows growing on the back of the door

Words hurled like daggers projecting fears
shredding eachother into million pieces
Scars of misunderstanding formed

A silent tension camouflaged a deadly minefield
Polluting our judgements of right and wrong
even the time feared to move along

still 7 o'clock hope fled the dreaded battlefield
we're craving for love, but affection is gone
we're stuck in this place for far too long

so what's the point of our constant fight
we got burned so many times
so much pressure, so much anger
we shouldn't be allowed
so farewell to the love we knew,
And the time has come to face our crimes
let me fade away
let me be another face in the crowd

severly damaged, i need a place to retreat
searching for silence to ease and calm down
figuring out why my mind has doubts

strong fears and worries of being incomplete
are drowning my soul in a sea of sadness
but is our love worth so many downs

finally found the strength to mend my heart's mistake
I broke the chain that kept my mind in minor
putting my scattered pieces back together

draining my sea of sadness before it's too late
having loved, but now we're done
it's okay to let go of each other

so what's the point of our constant fight
we got burned so many times
so much pressure, so much anger
we shouldn't be allowed
so farewell to the love we knew,
And the time has come to face our crimes
let me fade away
let me be another face in the crowd


Another Face In The Crowd (piano version)

Messy

Coming Home

Matan Arkin - No Ghost




Artwork - Carolin Junge

Out of body

19/09/2024

No Ghost

øneheart // homebound — slowed version by weareflorence.

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https://bit.ly/darkambientsoundcloud

playlist

homebound by øneheart — but it's a + slowed version.

I have scored a number of horror movies over the last 5 years.  All indications are that this next one is going to be the scariest.

Descending into a Hellscape

An Excerpted version of the October/November Theme Music for the Strong Heart Community at strongheartcommunity.com Will be on my upcoming album that I hope to release in December! 😎

Finding Gentle_Excerpt

Sharon composes and produces her own New Age, Electronic and Instrumental music (including new Classical). Thanks for stopping by and Listening! ;)

Finding Gentle_Excerpt

Dusty Dreams Music (Sharon West)