A gentle, moody piano piece in neoclassical style, that speaks to looking back across time with feeling. The composer is a violist who brings a string player's sensibility and a preference for the alto and tenor range to his writing for piano. Performed by the composer.

Retrospective 1

Running back over memories buried by time, reliving them but with new emotions. A familiar sounding broken chord on the piano goes through small changes that are like cracks in time. The music slowly builds a wave of emotion.  The music has the range of the viola and cello - the composer is a violist - adding a unique sound and expressive range to this piece.

Retrospective 2

A moody, introspective piano piece in which the piano is reimagined as a duet between a viola and a cello. Scenes from the past are represented by short musical interludes that weave emotions of nostalgia and loss with the memories. Written in a darker key, Retrospective 3 draws out the color of the lower register of the instrument and creates rich sonorities with few notes. The composer, Shaun Elder, is a violist by training, and brings a string player's sensibility to this music.

Retrospective 3

Fourth in a series of introspective, gentle piano pieces exploring the recesses of memory.This piece features an innocuous short broken chord motif on the piano that gains emotion and power as it goes through four different permutations, like like turning a memory over and thinking about it from different perspectives.

Retrospective 4

Finding the old road is more interesting, if slower, than the new road. Taking the time to breathe, to see, to listen, to think, to remember, to feel. The new old road. A piano piece that uses a familiar chord pattern and often pentatonic, slowly unfolding phrases. Performed by Shaun Elder.

New Old Road

The fifth in a series of gentle, introspective piano pieces in neoclassical style, Retrospective 5 - Life Study is about turning an idea or memory over in our minds, considering it from different perspectives, until we get it to make sense. And in the process, being surprised by the emotions and insights we uncover. Performed by Shaun Elder. Compare to the Guitar version here: https://youtu.be/SEomMbBs7Hg

Retrospective 5 - Life Study

Seventh in a series of piano pieces exploring memory, shifting between remembering an experience like it was at the time, to reflecting on how everything is different now. A spare, but warm and emotional piano piece.

Retrospective 7

Imagine a guitarist interpreting a scene that unfolds quietly in a place with ancient buildings. Is it present day or set in the distant past? You decide. This piece grew out of a challenge to write a piece quickly (in about an hour), to create something fresh and spontaneous sounding.  Hence the name Sketch. The guitar version is available on YouTube at https://youtu.be/IykGMhOYJks.

Guitar Sketch 3 For Piano

Mystery and journeying through landscapes that are sometimes real, sometimes innerworlds are familiar themes in my music. This piano piece combines descriptive and emotional passages, and references blues as well as classical motifs.

Adapted from the guitar piece, which can be heard here: https://youtu.be/m4bvdu5uEug

Guitar Sketch 4 - Piano Version

Consolation with a tinge of sorrow. Adapted from the guitar piece, the music winds its way through several descriptive, evocative sections, ending with a gentle touch of consoling melody.
 Compare to the guitar version here:: https://youtu.be/jcdjeicrS7o

Shaun Elder, composer and pianist