Amazing Grace (Ekkhard Fluke)

Beulah Land

Be Still

Walk In The Light

When I See The Cross

Woman At The Well

I Want To See Jesus

I'll Fly Away

Amazing Grace

It Is Finished

The Hem

Hold To God's Unchanging Hand

Freedom

The only piano concerto by Grieg, and probably his most famous piano piece ever. This piece opens with a distinct intro that many people have heard but didn't know they had heard.
Unless you know this piece well, you might not be able to tell when I am playing, and when my teacher who is accompanying is playing. The intro is just me solo, and then we interweave for most of the piece except for the 3 minute cadenza where I play solo again. Basically, when there are two pianos playing, I am usually the one being showcased since I'm playing the piano solo.

There are many things about this performance that I am unhappy with and for a long time I just didn't post this on soundcloud, but I know you guys will enjoy it despite all of the ways that this could be improved. Suffice it to say, much of this performance is just too relaxed. I'm just wasn't playing edgy enough. But, I also don't know when I'll ever perform this again, so it's worth preserving.

Recorded with me on a 9' Bechstein Concert Grand and Dr. Rebecca Casey on a 7 foot Steinway.


Grieg - Concerto in A Minor - I. Allegro molto moderato

	China Gates is a short piano work composed in a somewhat minimalist style. Minimalism is characterized by almost constant repetitions that avoid a complete melodic idea, but instead focus on the progression of music through slight changes in the repeated patterns. China Gates is a series of these slight modifications to the patterns in large sections divided by quite clear changes where the mode modulates and the pattern changes significantly. These are the “gates” that the title of the piece refers to.
	A significant feature of China Gates is its lack of metric pulse. There is no underlying meter simply because most of the patterns repeated do not fit into a clear meter. Many of the patterns are 5 or 7 eighth notes long, which doesn't fit evenly into the 4/4 meter. This obscures the underlying meter so that the only clear pulse is that of the eighth note.
	China Gates overall shape is a large crescendo and then decrescendo. The intensity of the piece builds slowly to the middle section where the modes are changed very frequently, as much as every one or two measures, and then slowly calms down to an uneasy and dark quiet. Interestingly this last sections is in the little-used Locrian mode.
	John Adams does not consider himself to be explicitly a minimalist composer, although he uses many minimalist elements in his writing. The original minimalist style as realized by Steve Reich and Terry Riley was much less directed and focused than Adam's style. To classify Adams as a purely minimalist composer would be incorrect, and would ignore so many of the other characteristics of his music.

China Gates - John Adams

	The Etude in C# minor is from a set of 12 etudes written by Chopin, all by the age of 22. The etudes of Chopin were an innovation at the time, since before Chopin, etudes were usually somewhat uninteresting exercises that focused on a technical difficulty. However, Chopin's etudes were not only extremely technically difficult, but they were also musically interesting, often achieving powerful emotion due to the sheer intensity of the technical display. The difficulty of the etudes demonstrate just how great Chopin's ability was at his young age. They remain some of his most popular works.
	This particular etude's technical challenge is two-fold. It focuses on learning to trade a quick and agile melody between the two hands. But it also is simply an overall strength and endurance exercise for both hands.

This is from my senior recital on December 2, 2012.

Etude in C # minor, Op.10 No.4 - Frederic Chopin

The Duet for Clarinet and Piano is my most significant composition to date and also my first substantial instrumental piece. It is not merely a clarinet piece with piano accompaniment, but a true duet with a significant, meaningful piano part. This is due to me being a pianist and enjoying interesting piano parts, rather than simple, unimportant accompaniments. The result is a piece that both the pianist and clarinetist will be challenged by, and will hopefully enjoy playing.
	My instrumental writing focuses on thematic development to progress the music. Almost every theme you hear in the piece will be reused and approached in a different way throughout the piece. Additionally, some fragments of the themes are taken and used motivicly to further relate the various sections of the music.
	The interval of a falling fourth is an important motive in the piece. Introduced by the clarinet as the first two notes of the piece, it appears in various ways, one of the most obvious being its frequent usage in the pianos accompaniment, which is then developed into a motive of its own. Also, in the choral introduced by solo piano, the three opening notes of the melody could be considered merely an alteration of the falling fourth motive.
	Fourths play another significant role in this piece in that they are a foundation of much of the harmony. My harmonic language is a mixture of both tertiary and quartal/quintal harmonies. It is my opinion that to rely merely on quartal/quintal chords would be akin to writing a piece with merely major seventh chords. It would be greatly limiting the expression of the piece. Similarly, I choose to use a variety of chords, and feel that the mixture of tertiary and quartal/quintal only serves to highlight the uniqueness of both types of harmonies.

This was from my senior recital on December 2, 2012

Duet for Clarinet and Piano

The “Waldstein Sonata” is one of Beethoven's most famous sonatas, and is an excellent example of one of his more Romantic sonatas. Its first movement is a sonata in somewhat standard sonata form; however, Beethoven modulates to the mediant when moving from theme I to theme II, which is not a typical key relation in a classical sonata. The development involves repeated instances of various themes from the exposition set over myriad modulations throughout various obscure keys.
	The second movement is an extremely slow introduction to the third movement. Its slow speed is not calm, but rather tense. The tension increases slowly throughout the piece, reaching a strong climax and then leading the listener to a suspenseful transition into the third movement. Most of the material of the piece is built on a simple dotted rhythm with a rising interval.
	The final movement of the Waldstein sonata is a long journey from a large variety of emotions, from dark and blisteringly fast, to soft and quiet. This is perhaps the most romantic of the movements of the sonata, with many blurred harmonies due to long pedal markings, dramatic moments, and extreme emotions. It achieves a sort of transcendental feeling found in compositions of the Romantic periods with its long pedal markings, shimmering textures, and its slow harmonic rhythm. These characteristics foreshadow elements of Beethoven's later sonatas where he capitalized on slow harmonic rhythm and muddied textures that seem to lose any melodic content.

This is from my senior recital on December 2, 2012.

Allegro Con Brio, Sonata No.21 in C major Op.53 "Waldstein" - Ludwig van Beethoven

Rondo, Allegretto Moderato, Sonata in C major, Op.53 "Waldstein" - Ludwig Van Beethoven

“Symphonia” merely refers to an introduction to a set of pieces, and as such does not have an exact formal style as the other dances of this suite do. It begins with a dark, powerful section with some slight imitation between voices and a rather consistent dotted rhythm. Following this section is a steady, lyrical section with a simple bass pattern. This section leads into a quick and technical two-part fugue which closes the opening movement.

Symphonia, Partita No 2 - Bach

This is an original composition

The text of this piece is a haiku written by Matsuo Basho, a famous Japanese writer from the 17th century. The title of the piece is actually the entire poem which translates as "Along this road goes no one, this autumn eve." The poem was written about a month before Basho died, and I feel it has a very lonely, sad, nature to it. My piece tries to reflect that mood in the music.

This is a performance by the Ohio Northern University Singers.

Kono Michi Ya, Iku Hito Nashi Ni, Aki no Kure

I'm a pianist, music teacher, and fledgling composer who is now trying to use my gift for the Lord. You'll find recordings of me playing various pieces throughout my past educational process as well as recordings of performances of my works

EptonicTermplor

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