Sheltered Solitude - Dawning.mp3

Before Leaving

Evergreen,” written by Barbra Streisand and Paul Williams for the 1976 film A Star Is Born, is one of those ballads that wears its heart entirely on the surface. It belongs firmly to the mid‑1970s – a time when popular love songs had grown lush, introspective, and unabashedly emotional. In contrast to the wry, metaphor‑rich standards of the 1930s and 1940s, “Evergreen” leans into directness: it speaks of love not as a flirtation or a passing mood, but as something enduring, sheltering, almost mythic.

Musically, the song moves with the slow confidence of a modern classic. The melody arcs in long, vocal lines that give Streisand space to do what she does best: hold a note until it feels like a confession. The harmony is rich but not overly complex; the chords shift in a way that feels inevitable, like seasons changing. There is a sense of growth built into the song’s structure – it begins in a kind of intimate murmur and gradually widens out, as if the music itself is learning how to trust its own feelings.

Lyrically, “Evergreen” frames love as something both tender and elemental – “soft as an easy chair, fresh as the morning air.” These images are simple, almost domestic, yet they reach for something bigger: the idea that true connection can outlast chaos, fame, age, and failure. In the context of A Star Is Born, where careers rise and fall and personal lives fray under the weight of success, the song functions as a quiet counter‑statement: beneath all the noise, there is this one, steady line that does not break.

Stripped of its film‑score orchestration and radio‑friendly gloss, a felt‑piano version of “Evergreen” restores the song to its most vulnerable core. Without strings swelling in the background or a voice soaring over the top, you are left with just the skeleton of melody and chords – and it turns out that skeleton is surprisingly delicate. On felt piano, the progression feels less like a grand declaration and more like someone thinking carefully through what love has meant to them, note by note.

In this more intimate setting, the song tilts away from cinematic romance and toward personal memory. Each phrase becomes a small, private statement: a recollection of hands held, rooms shared, quiet mornings that never made it into the official story. The familiar rise into the chorus no longer feels like a spot for a big vocal climax; instead, it is a gentle widening of perspective, the moment when a private understanding of love briefly touches something universal.

Heard alongside earlier, pre‑war and mid‑century pieces, “Evergreen” traces how the language of love songs has evolved over the decades. Where the songs of the 1920s and 1930s often wrapped emotion in wit, metaphor, or dance rhythms, this 1970s ballad speaks more plainly, more introspectively. On felt piano, the era’s lushness is pared back, leaving a quiet, steady glow – a musical portrait of love not as sudden infatuation, but as something that has lived through storms and, somehow, is still there, still green

Evergreen  1972

“Deep Space” by French pianist Victor Bouzard is a contemplative and spacious felt-piano piece that invites the listener into a quiet, immersive universe. Its slow, deliberate phrasing and deep tonal warmth evoke a sense of vastness and inner stillness. 
A thoughtful, atmospheric work that highlights Bouzard’s refined musical sensitivity. Released by the reflective neoclassical piano label ad21.

Deep Space

As The Years Go By

Streams

Chasing Cloud Nine

Fragment

Progress

Equanimity is the title track from my Ambient Cinematic / Modern Classical album, released on November 8th 2019.

Progress

Ever So Blue