The Moon On The Roll and Beyond

Pasos del Ayer - arrangement for orchestra

It´s  not a  sin  but a  bit sinful -
it´s not heaven  but  heavenly - CHOCOLAT !
The movie by Lasse Hallstrom. Judy Dench, Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp and Alfred Molina are  th major cast.
Bastian Lee Jones loves to interpret Rachel Portman´s vivid and  whitty  piece "Passage of Time".

EARMErecords LC29347, ISRC DE-QB2-15-00007
PHOTO source: Google Search - the © owner is the production company of the movie/the photographer: CHOCOLAT

Passage Of Time (movie: "Chocolat")

all buy & follow links

Rachel Portman - Passage Of Time (movie: "Chocolat")

une dernière petite popsong pour cette année !!!

love ways

Cello with string orchestra

This beautiful aria from the Mattheus Passion: 
"Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben" is a transcription from Anderson and Roe. This piano duo has made a magnificent reflection of this piece made for two piano's.  So I made the double recording by me, myself and I.....
Played with a Kawai VPC 1, Ivory 3 Steinway and recorded with Altiverb.

Bach, aria"Aus Liebe" (performer Ad van Nederpelt)

Ominous Storms * Instrumental

Hi everyone,
today I’d like to share a song I arranged for the Italian musician Piero Bianchi, also known as Forastico. For me, this was a very special experience because it gave me the chance to work with a style of music I’d never played before, but one that has always intrigued me and might well stay with me in the future. I also really enjoyed working with Piero, not only because he’s a great musician, but because he’s genuinely kind, warm, and incredibly friendly as a person.
I’d love it if you checked out Piero’s page! 🎶
Here’s the link: https://on.soundcloud.com/VxBSZUdeiowARZ7i33

The song was written by Piero himself in 1981 and is very personal. It describes a meeting between two possible versions of himself: the person he would have liked to become, a musician, and the person he expected to become instead, a freelance professional with a family and a fairly quiet, unadventurous life. These two paths cross, recognize each other, and show how close dreams and reality can sometimes be.


IDENTIKIT
(P. Bianchi, 1981)

Il primo era alto sigaretta tra i denti
viveva di tutto e di niente
bohemien dell'80 ma senza speranza
così lo chiamava la gente
abitava da solo in un monolocale
una stanza nel cuore di Brera
passava i suoi giorni al pianoforte
e suonando aspettava la sera

Il secondo era un tipo abbastanza normale
pieno di vizi e difetti
di notte sognava guardando la luna
che si rotolava sui tetti
aveva un lavoro tranquillo e sicuro
una famiglia senza pretese
viveva una vita un po' piatta e stonata
una vita da medio-borghese

E qualcuno li ha visti partire
ma nessuno li ha visti tornare
e la sera di luglio ha giurato
di averli visti abbracciati
a scambiarsi parole d'amore come due innamorati


IDENTIKIT
(P. Bianchi, 1981)

The first was tall, a cigarette between his teeth
he lived on everything and on nothing
an ’80s bohemian, but without hope
that’s what people called him
he lived alone in a studio apartment
one room in the heart of Brera
he spent his days at the piano
and by playing he waited for the evening

The second was a fairly ordinary guy
full of vices and flaws
at night he dreamed while staring at the moon
rolling itself across the rooftops
he had a calm and steady job
a family with no great demands
he lived a life a bit flat and off-key
a solidly middle-class life

And someone saw them leave
but no one saw them return
and a July evening swore
it had seen them holding each other
exchanging words of love like two lovers





Identikit

«Île Sainte-Hélène».  (La vie et la mort d'un Corse. Partie III).

A little composition about writing among the flowers...The perfect place to be inspired and creative on a lovely day.  😊

A companion piece to "Afternoon in the Garden" and "The Poet."

The Writer's Garden

It’s a meditation on that narrow threshold between sleep and waking — the place where the mind is most inventive and least reliable. The song traces the fleeting arrival of an idea, the frustration of losing it, and the strange loop the mind performs as it tries to reconstruct what slipped away.

It moves between lived experience and reflective awareness, so the listener feels both the moment itself and the memory of it. The structure quietly mirrors the theme: clarity, loss, reconstruction.

At its core, it’s about how close we come to something meaningful — and how often meaning dissolves just before we can hold it.

***** Lyrics *****

Early In The Still Dark Hour

Intro

Verse 1
Early in the still dark hour...
Between sleep and awake...
There’s wonder at the directions
the thoughts often take...

Eyes still closed, they wander...
Ideas revolving in there...
The mind is avidly listening...
For the one that’s still unaware.

Verse 2
Here comes one…. lighting up...
Floating in my mind right there
When I finally wake up…
It's no longer there.

I drift back to sleep again...
I know there was something...
An important thought to regain...
I just can’t remember the thing...

Verse 3
The dream is a good one,
Not being chased or losing my teeth...
If I could see it again, just once...
I’d find the meaning hidden beneath.

Back, but not yet totally awake...
The thought comes something like:

Verse 4
“Early in the dark hour,
Between being asleep and awake…
What twists and turns will my mind make...
Ideas circling around in there...
Wonder what the thought sounds like...
But It's still not fully aware...”

Outro


**********
Lyrics: Madelyn Dionne
Arrangement and Production: Madelyn Dionne
Cover Art Concept and Design: Madelyn Dionne
℗ & © 2026 Madelyn Dionne 
All Rights Reserved

**********

Early In The Dark Hour

The Land We Once Knew

Beethoven: Sonata Op.27-2.Mvt2-3'Moonlight', Josef Lhevinne 1927 on Ampico 67823. Recorded by VV 2016, and the rec updated 22 May 2017 (by permission)from the digitized copy of the original reproducing piano roll. The rec. updated Feb 10, 2019 by VV.
ANY KIND OF COMMERCIAL USE PROHIBITED.
Photo: Josef Lhevinne 1874 - 1944
Basic info* of the original reproducing piano roll:
SONATA Op. 27, No. 2, C sharp minor "Moonlight": Movement. 2 allegretto; Movement. 3 presto agitato
Roll Number: 67283, 67283H
Composer/Creator: Beethoven
Pianist: Lhevinne
Roll System: Ampico
Country: US
Date: March, 1927
Category: classical
Original Price: $2.00
*from The Player Piano Group web page (by permission)

Beethoven: Sonata 'Moonlight' Op. 27 no 2, II-III. Josef Lhevinne in 1927 on Ampico 67823

Myers Moonlight On The Ganges. Vicent Lopez on Ampico  208161.
Recorded in 2016 by VViljanen (by permission)from the digitized copy of the original reproducing piano roll. Rec updated with a new rec Jan 21, 2019
COMMERCIAL USE PROHIBITED.
Photo: Moonlight Over The Ganges sheet music cover page (1926)
Basic info* of the original piano roll:
MOONLIGHT ON THE GANGES ("oriental" Fox-Trot Song)
Roll Number: 713282, 713282
Composer/Creator: Myers
Pianist: Rich
Roll System: Duo-Art
Country: US
Date: November, 1926
Category: dance, popular, song
Original Price: $1.25
Notes: With words
*Info source: The Piano Player Group web page (by permission)

Myers: Moonlight On The Ganges, Vicent Lopez 1926 on Ampico 208161

Vincent Scotto: Tango In The Night. Peith & Earl in 1923 on Duo-Art 19135.
Recorded 3 Oct 2017 by VViljanen (by permission)from the digitized copy of the original reproducing piano roll.
COMMERCIAL USE PROHIBITED. 
Photo: Vincent Scotto 1874-1952, French composer in 1936, left (Getty Images)
Info* of the original piano roll:
A TANGO IN THE NIGHT (Un Tango dans la Nuit) (tango Dance)
Roll Number: 1913, 19135-D
Composer/Creator: Scotto
Pianist: Leith, Earl
Roll System: Duo-Art
Country: US
Date: September, 1923
Category: dance
Original Price: $1.25
*Info source: The Piano Player Group web page (by permission)

Vincent Scotto: Tango In The Night. Peith & Earl in 1923 on Duo-Art 19135

Frederic Knight Logan: 'PALE MOON',  Aand Indian Love Song. Robert Armbruster 1923 on Duo-Art 101475.
Recorded from the digitized copy of the original reproducing  piano roll Nov 8, 2018 by VViljanen.
ANY KIND OF COMMERCIAL USE PROHIBITED.
Photo: Pale Moon sheet music cover page (1920). "Pale Moon" (An Indian Love Song) is a popular song composed by Frederic Knight Logan with lyrics by Jesse G. M. Glick. The song was written in 1920,
and later transcribed and reinvented for violin and piano by Fritz Kreisler
Basic info* of the original piano roll:
PALE MOON (An Indian Love Song) (Song in A-flat)
Roll Number: 10147, 101475
Composer/Creator: Logan
Pianist: Armbruster
Roll System: Duo-Art
Country: US
Date: March, 1923
Category: ballad, song
Original Price: $1.25
Notes: With words
*Info source: The Piano Player Group web page (by permission)

Logan: 'PALE MOON' and Indian Love Song. Robert Armbruster 1923 on Duo-Art 101475

Gordon B. Iles: Moonlight Over The Lakes. Improvisation. Gordon B. Iles on Duo-Art S8002.
Recorded from digitized original reproducing piano roll 29 Dec 2018.
ANY KIND OF COMMERCIAL USE PROHIBITED.
Photo: Moon Over The Lake (VV2016)
Basic info* of the original piano roll:
MOONLIGHT OVER THE LAKES (Improvisatlon)
Roll Number: 8002, 8002
Composer/Creator: Iles
Pianist: Iles
Roll System: Duo-Art
Country: UK
Date: n/a
Category: popular, salon
Original Price: n/a
*Info source: The Piano Player Group web page (by permission)

Iles: Moonlight Over The Lakes. Improvisation. Gordon B. Iles on Duo-Art 8002

My warmest thanks to everyone stopping by for listening to my tracks, the most of them representing a  'REVIEW   OF THE PAST TIME PIANISTS' INTERPRETATIONS ON THE HISTORICAL PIANO ROLLS, - and in addition to them, also to a minor but growing  LISTS of MY MY OWN RENDITIONS, all of the latter representing a variety of piano music & also some pipe-organ classics reproduced by me, - and  TO THE Growing LISTS OF (just lately done and reproduced)  TRANSCRIPTIONS OF VARIOUS CHAMBER MUSIC CLASSICAL PEARLS FOR TWO PIANOS.
A HEADSET IS RECOMMENDED for optimal sound experience!
This kind of 'touching' on these old pre-sound-rec. era works by the great performers of the past, and giving my sound to these old 'punch rolls',  makes me feel  deep humbleness, .and I wish that this modest attempt to bring these  performances alive will satisfy you listening to them!
To introduce myself...
I am a Finnish M.D., PhD. and Hand Surgeon (now retired), previously when young with 10 years of professionally orientated piano studies at Turku Conservatory in 1965-1975, partly  along with my medical University studies. 
The digital sound techniques have become very familiar to me already from 1980's along with my university research work  and with my musical activities.
As continuation to my musical and professional experience, I have, during the last few years of my retirement, adopted a music historical challenge
to bring the past time major and minor pianists, prior to sound-recording era, onto the same 'start line' with the present pianists, by reproducinging their presentations, played onto 'punch rolls' i.e. piano rolls, now audible with modern digital techniques. This wouldn't be possible without the pioneering  efforts of Richard Stibbons, Wayne Stahnke, Terry Smythe, Warren Trachtman, Spencer Chase, and others, who developed the optical digitizing techniques of the piano rolls, and digitized /digitally simulated them.

The main part of my recordings here in SC consists of selection recorded by me from optically digitized piano-rolls** (from 1910's on or earlier, classical and 'vintage era'). These recordings of mine are not and will not be commercially unavailable. - The rolls were first optically scanned and converted into a digital form by diverse operators** (see also to the info of each piece). The pieces here were partly (minor part) picked from various open net sources, publicly available, but mainly from the huge archive (n=ca.5000) of digitized copies copies of the original reproducing piano rolls, made available to me by one of the pioneers of roll digitizing tehchniques (willing to keep anonymous), and then recorded from this archive mainly with virtual grand piano (called by me 'Bluethner Model One') modified/re-designed by me, as well as the rec settings. 
Also a minor selection of my own renditions among my records can be found here, included on my playlist 'Bach Goes Virtual', the name of the list telling something about the techniques used for getting the end result... The list includes various organ works by J.S.Bach and others, and also a growing list of  piano renditions of mine. Then there are included also various pieces which have been in my repertoire, but here played mainly by the  'guest' great players of the past (before the sound recording era).
MY MOST HUMBLE THANKS TO THE NOBLE DONOR  OF THIS INVALUABLE PIANO ROLL MATERIAL FOR MY USE!!!
My Sincere Thanks also to The Player Piano Group, UK, for providing me their permission to use the information about the piano rolls collected and provided on their web page ( https://rolls.playerpianogroup.org.uk ),  and for simplifying my short historical presentations of these renditions on their re-publication here!
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, MY MOST HUMBLE THANKS TO EVERYONE  OF YOU FOR LISTENING, AND FOR YOUR 'LIKES' & COMMENTS !
YOUR LISTENING & FEEDBACK IS TRULY APPRECIATED..!!.
Use of good headphones or speakers will make your music experience more enjoyable!
Best wishes, all the best
Veikko
These recordings are not commercially available, and ANY KIND OF THEIR COMMERCIAL USE IS PROHIBITED.

Beethoven: Sonata 'Moonlight' Op. 27 no 2, II-III. Josef Lhevinne in 1927 on Ampico 67823

Veikko Viljanen

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