a liturgy for grief

where do we go from here?

slowly

London Town in Winter

Solo Piano.  Created in Real-Time LIVE at St. Wenceslaus Church, St. Louis MO.

Photo by Greg Carr, my brother.

Year of Music: November 30, 2025

Peace Returns, Changed brings folk warmth and cinematic epic writing together in a way that feels slightly off balance on purpose. Folk and folk rock colours carry the sense of people coming back to their lives, streets filling again, familiar patterns slowly returning. Neo and modern classical elements sit inside that, adding a reflective, almost fragile intelligence to the harmony, as if everyone is thinking more quietly than before.

The mood merges dark and joyful tones, saying that it is over, but not really over. As good as the outcome may look from the outside, there is not much to celebrate when you count the losses that brought you here. The movement carefully teases out the feeling of a favourable result reached at a grave expense. The triumphant atmosphere never appears without an undertow of something ominous and heavy, a musical reminder of what took place and what cannot be undone.

About the album

Peace Returns, Changed is Movement XIV of Whirl: Ukraine in Sound, an instrumental cinematic and neo classical suite with symphonic metal intensity and Eastern European folk and Balkan colour. Across 15 movements the album follows a journey from peace to war, through loss and mourning, and toward a scarred return to calm, written from the perspective of those living through aggression rather than watching from afar.

Ukraine in Sound XIV • Peace Returns, Changed

Written between 2023 and 2025, this work in 5 parts is an attempt to put a personal story into a piece of music. The parts are meant to display different aspects of it and are not necessarily in chronological order of the process described.

This is an extensive crossover of electronic ambient and orchestral music, resulting in something that could also be the soundtrack to a movie. Most of the time rather downtempo and calm, with several mood swings from gloomy to euphoric. The instrumentation is a mix of various synths along with acoustic instruments such as piano and harp.

My main musical inspirations for this include Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Liquid Mind, Philip Glass, Jean-Michel Jarre, as well as orchestral music of the late Romantic era in the second half of the 19th century, especially the music of little-known Viennese composer Hans Rott.

The process part 4 - Through the haze

The process part 3 - The line

The process part 1 - Dark nights of the soul

The process part 5 - Trust the process

The process part 2 - Found

This album is shaped by the instruments that have meant the most to me. The piano was the first one. My grandmother taught me by ear in the living room, guiding me to listen for the notes instead of reading them. That memory still sits underneath everything I make.

I have always been drawn to the violin because it feels almost vocal, able to carry emotion the way a voice does. My wife has the same bond with the cello and the warmth it brings, so that sound found its place in our home too. Bringing all three together felt natural.

The music blends these roots into a Modern Instrumental style that is serene, expressive, and personal. The violin leads with lyrical motion. The cello adds depth and softness. The piano and Rhodes set the foundation. The sound moves through easy listening, neo classical color, soft R and B influence, and gentle cinematic moments.

These pieces were shaped with the help of current creative prompt based tools, guided carefully to preserve the same warmth and emotion these instruments have always held for us all.

Running the Edge

Shadowglide

Bow to Bow

Velvet in D# Minor

Almost Breaking

One Note Left

The Night Leans In

Minor Ash

The Year of Music project began in May 2011  there has been a new musical creation posted each day.  Each new piece is created in real-time.   The project is currently in its 13th year.  To date, there are over 4700 "Daily Doses" in the project.

Richard’s live performances take audiences on a journey away from the busy world and into a calmer, less chaotic mental and emotional environment.  Drawing on his classical training, jazz and pop familiarity, Richard creates music thru an improvisational process.  His music has been called a soothing elixir for the soul, mind and body.

In 2016, composer/contemporary pianist Richard Carr moved to the Monterey Bay area of California after living in his native St. Louis area since 2005.  Richard spent 10 years working as a pianist in the night clubs, hotels and restaurants of the French Quarter of New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina.  He has released twenty-fiven solo albums and one collaboration in the contemporary instrumental /new age genre.

Aware of the meditative quality of his music, Richard has been exploring the healing side of his music.  Working in the holistic community of St. Louis, Richard developed the I AM Creative Sessions. These sessions are personal sessions in which Richard creates music for the client’s intention or focus.  In essence, he creates a soundtrack for the intention.
  
Currently Richard's electronic keyboard set-up includes Kurzweil PC3x and PC4x,  StudioLogic Numa 2-88,and the Roland boutique synths JP-08 and JX-03.

I’ve always lived at the crossroads of music and poetry — where feeling becomes form, and melody turns memory into meaning. Whether it’s a lingering jazz note, a well-placed rhyme, or a shift in tempo that tells a deeper story, I’m drawn to that quiet magic where art reflects life with a little more style.

My roots are in classic music — the kind that doesn’t chase the moment but lingers with you long after the last note. Over time, that love expanded into poetry writing and jazz — especially the kind that swings, speaks, and smirks all at once. Jazz, to me, isn’t just a genre; it’s a personality. A conversation. A little tilt of the head and a grin that knows more than it says.

When I set out to create an album, it’s rarely just a collection of songs. I approach it like a personal playlist — one that drifts and flows as if the entire tracklist were one long, uninterrupted piece. Each track leans into the next, shifting mood, pace, or voice, but always carrying the same thread of feeling. I want you to listen the way I do — not as a shuffle of moments, but as a cinematic arc. One breath that lasts an hour.

Lyrically, my work is rooted in lived experience. Sometimes it’s obvious. Other times it’s just the skeleton of a memory, dressed up in wit, irony, or longing. I draw from real-life events, then let the poet in me twist, stretch, or sweeten them to taste. Depending on the tone of the album — playful, romantic, nostalgic, or something in between — I try to keep the emotional truth intact while giving it a fresh coat of creativity. A little humor where it fits. A deeper dive where it hurts.

My newest jazz album continues this tradition — short-lined swing tracks, conversational duets, and tongue-in-cheek storytelling. It’s an homage to late-night alleyway ballads, rooftop serenades, and train station goodbyes — all bound together with a sense of charm and cohesion. Each song is its own little scene, but together they tell a story — one you can revisit with each replay.

Thanks for stopping by my profile. I hope you find something that earns a spot on your repeat-play list — a melody, a lyric, or a moment that feels like it was written just for you.

Born in November 1973 in Vienna, Austria, I was always fascinated by music in general. Aged 10-14, I received piano lessons on a regular basis. Soon after that I started experimenting with electronic computer music on the Commodore Amiga with 1991 marking the first year of creating an own composition. Since then I have always - with some breaks inbetween - been active creating my kind of music.

New tracks tagged #neo-classical