Soundtrack to The Man who Painted his House (2025)
score by Richard Uttley
(Richard Uttley, piano; Rosalind Ventris, viola)

Layers: Time & Pattern [2025]

02 - Gift of Shuritashi

Sometimes a melody appears out of nowhere, as if someone were guiding their fingers by drawing a line that ends up being beautiful, without having put in any intention, any previous idea, any structure and, obviously, no architecture. It flows and emerges. It happens to me often and I don't know how to explain it. It is an easy air. It lets go and fills the environment. If sound is vibration in the air, I can find no other explanation than feeling that the air facilitates the vibration having its echo. The air accompanies this composition-improvisation. And the air structures it. And the air amplifies it. And that's how it is and that's how it flows.
A voltes una melodia apareix del no res, com si algú guiés els dits dibuixant una línia que acaba sent bonica, sense que hagi posat cap intenció, cap idea prèvia, cap estructura i, evidentment, cap arquitectura.  Flueix i sorgeix. Em passa sovint i no sé explicar-ho. És un aire fàcil. Es deixa anar i omple l'ambient. Si el so és vibració en l'aire no trobo més explicació que el sentir que l'aire facilita que la vibració tingui el seu eco. L'aire acompanya aquesta composició-improvisació. I l'aire l'estructura. I l'aire l'amplifica. I així és i així flueix.
A veces una melodía aparece de la nada, como si alguien guiara los dedos dibujando una línea que acaba siendo bonita, sin que haya puesto ninguna intención, ninguna idea previa, ninguna estructura y, evidentemente, ninguna arquitectura. Fluye y surge. Me pasa a menudo y no sé explicarlo. Es un aire fácil.  Se deja ir y llena el ambiente. Si el sonido es vibración en el aire no encuentro ninguna explicación más que el sentir que el aire facilita que esa vibración tenga su eco. El aire acompaña esta composición-improvisación. Y el aire la estructura. El aire la amplifica. Y así es y así fluye.

Les airs faciles

Prelude

River Flows In You - YIRUMA

Intentions is a journey through the deep love and unbreakable bond I shared with my dad. It reflects the paths we traveled together — his intentions in shaping my life, my intentions in caring for him in his declining years, and the lasting legacy he leaves behind.

This project is rich with personal meaning, infused not only with music but also with my father's voice.
Many audio samples throughout the album come from tapes and recordings he made throughout my life - drawn from voicemails, videotapes, and even a 1998 Manchester Craftsmen's Guild interview with Dwayne Dolphin. Some of these samples are obvious, while others are purposefully subtle - Easter eggs for those who listen closely. This album is filled with treasures from the Heid archives, preserving his presence, and making him an active part of this work.

The word intentions holds many meanings, each offering a profound connection to the heart of this project. My father's intentions were clear from the start: to raise me as a musician and composer and to give me the tools to create and express myself. He was the cornerstone of my musical foundation, shaping not just my skills but also my understanding of music's deeper purpose. He believed in me completely, planting seeds of passion that continue to grow.

In my father's later years, as his health declined, my focus shifted to caring for him with the same love and devotion he had always shown me. Those years taught me a hard but valuable truth: even the purest intentions don't always lead to the outcomes we wish for.

Heid Studios was his dream, a place where his intentions extended far beyond our family, inspiring creativity in others. That dream was itself a continuation of a legacy passed down from his father, George H. Heid, who founded the first recording studio in Pittsburgh - a studio that captured the brilliance of Pittsburgh jazz legends like Billy Strayhorn and Erroll Garner. This album's cover artwork, by Michael Crampton, depicts the house and recording studio my father and I built together over the course of my entire lifetime - our home and creative sanctuary, immortalized as part of this musical journey.

This album is my way of speaking to my dad again.
It's a tribute to his bravery, his sacrifices, and the bond we shared as kindred spirits — two lives deeply intertwined through love and music. Intentions is the story of our journey together, the foundation of his legacy, and the future that lives on in me.

Not a day passes that I don't think of my dad, my heart heavy with both love and loss. He often reflected on memories with his own father and their great relationship, wistfully asking, "Were they only dreams?" — a question that now echoes in my own memories of him. When I was a child, whenever we were apart, he would soothe me with the comforting words, "See you in dreamland."

Thank you, Dad, for your wisdom, your unwavering belief in me, your endless love, and the countless memories and adventures we shared together. Until we meet again - see you in dreamland.

- George Heid III 

I Sing The Body Electric

Beautiful and evocative, "Behold The Virgin Approaching" was written for chorus and later transcribed for piano trio.  It is part of a  larger work entitled Duan Nollaig, a collection of five carols for SATB chorus and piano. 


Davidson:  Behold the Virgin Approaching

Inspired on 360. Experimenting because I can, got it?

Wistful Spirit

Recorded at Zion Community Commons, August 21, 2025

Laura Harada, violin
Aaron Kerr, cello
Rebecca Hass, piano

About “Ad Parnassum” (Ad Parnassum, 1932)
The dark outline of a pyramid-shaped mountain glows beneath a warm orange sun while an open archway invites the viewer to take the first step on their journey towards enlightenment. Inspired by the pyramids and temples of Egypt, Paul Klee’s pointillistic masterpiece from 1932 is built from contrasting blocks of color built up brick by brick in a style that he called “divisionism.” In the same way, the music takes the form of a rondeau as repeated musical progressions are developed through textural variations. In Greek mythology, Mount Parnassus is associated with Orpheus and the home of the nine muses and “a step towards Parnassus” (gradus ad Parnassum) came to define the gradual process of pursuing mastery in scholarship or the arts through diligent, repeated practice. The climb towards any summit begins with a single step and although that journey can be defined as a series of steps towards a goal, there is no guarantee that the path will be straightforward. The path may be winding, or may double back on itself, or seem to disappear altogether – it is built from small victories, epiphanies, frustrations and defeats – and by the end you have come full circle, stepping through the door towards Parnassus once again, both an exit and an entrance.

Ad Parnassum (1932) - No. 144.1 from Paul Klee : Painted Songs

I was listening to The Planets by Holst when I started this.  I was working at getting deeper chords and creating more of an atmosphere.

Prelude

Oh Eight

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