Welcome to Eric’s "Classical Music" playlist

This playlist is a collection of my compositions - mosylt chamber music, some solo piano, and a few orchestral works.  This is a mix of studio, live, and computer generated music.

So Called Classical Music

Arshin Mal Alan (lit. The Cloth Peddler) is a romantic operetta written in 1913 by Azuzeyir Hajibeyli - a renowned Azerbaijani composer.   Two movies were made in the USSR based on Arshin Mal Alan.   

This piece utilizes many musical motifs from the operetta, most notably the "Aria of Asker" which is the first song in the opera.

Variations On Aria Of Asker

Rumble For Two Pianos

The 4 (four) works in this collection/suite for piano trio were inspired by field recordings of African folk music.   These recordings invoke deep emotions in me for which I do not have adequate words.   "Joyful serenity" is maybe the the closest I can come up with, but that is inadequate.   My goal in writing these pieces was to somehow echo back the emotions I feel when I listen to this music but using my own musical vocabulary.   

Here are the tracks that inspired each "excursion":

    Track    /    Album
1) Mondume with Percussion / Music of Bayaka, Vol 1. 
2) Hut Song / Cameroon: Baka Pygmy Music 
3) Wagogo Soothing Song (Tanzania) / East Africa Ceremonial & Folk Music
4) Music for the Buma Dance / Cameroon: Baka Pygmy Music 

Album Details:
Music of Bayaka, Vol 1. is on the Wild Sanctuary label
Cameroon: Baka Pygmy Music is on the UNESCO Collection from Smithsonian Folkways.
East Africa Ceremonial & Folk Music is on the Nonesuch Explorer Series

Short Excursions For Piano Trio

Studio recording: Stan Sisskin - piano
Stravinsky wrote 8 miniature piano pieces – none longer than a minute - for beginner piano players. In each piece the right hand is limited to just 5 notes (Les Cinq Doigts translates as “The Five Fingers”). These variations start with the beginnings of each piece as written by Stravinsky (for #2 I re-structured things a bit), but then I tried to imagine what the pieces might sound like if Stravinsky had not limited himself to just those 5 notes. The only exception is #8, which both starts and ends as written by Stravinsky.

Variations On Stravinsky Les Cinq Doigts - Stan Sisskin on Piano

Bounce #1 is based on a sketch I composed on a old fashioned living room organ (the kind that had a built in rhythm box) - this was way back in the early 1980s.

I have revised & re-formulated it for full orchestra.   

If you want, you can think of this piece as mash up of Ravel's Bolero and the Rocky Theme Song.

My friend Rob says that listening to this makes him feel like he is flying through outer space.

Bounce #1

Award winning composer ERIC HEILNER took a very unconventional journey into composition. A lifelong rock & roll / R&B / blues keyboardist, it wasn't until he was in his sixties that he first felt the compulsion to compose. He started by studying composition at the Juilliard Extension Division. Within a few years, Heilner was composing fully developed pieces for chamber ensembles and orchestras. His pieces have been performed at various venues in New York City, Moscow, Los Angeles, Milan, Vienna, and Lviv.

Heilner has released two albums of his compositions. In October 2020, he released his first album – Modern Sounds in Classical Music – produced by legendary producer Jack Douglas (John Lennon, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, Patti Smith, etc). The album features Heilner’s chamber music for strings, woodwinds, and saxophones. The album has gotten excellent reviews and some airplay on college radio stations. In May 2024 Heilner released his second album, titled Blues Phantasia , which features his unique interpretations of the blues and boogie-woogie piano legacy. Both albums are available on available for streaming on most digital platforms.

Heilner has had significant successes in the international competition arena.  In 2024 his composition Excursion for Piano Trio #4 won first place in the prestigious Vienna Classical Music Academy Competition.   Other compositions have also won 3rd place and honorable mentions.
While Heilner continues to devote most of his time composing, he can still be found playing rock & roll keyboards in his favorite haunts in the wilds of New Jersey.

Variations On Stravinsky Les Cinq Doigts - Stan Sisskin on Piano

Eric Heilner