Each of the dozen original piano solos in this book are expressive and tranquil and have a serene feeling or mood. The solos may be played one after another as a long prelude in the exact order they appear in the book. The pieces should not be rushed. They can be used in a piano recital, as background music, as a prelude, or just for your own enjoyment. If you choose to play them in book order, each piece blends into the next without modulation and will provide approximately 25 minutes of peaceful music.
Most of the pieces were composed in the quiet evening hours. So many things can inspire a melody…. poems, a scripture verse, a beautiful bouquet of roses, a kind word, or just a whim.
When you play the piece entitled “Ocean Waves”, the triplet notes in the piece are meant to represent the sound of waves. At measure nine, the melody of the hymn tune, “Holy, Holy, Holy” is heard. It’s as if the melody is carried by the wind in the middle of the ocean. John B. Dykes wrote the stately melody, “Nicaea” specifically for the lyric poem by Reginald Heber, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty”. It was called the “The World’s Greatest Hymn” by the poet, Alfred Lord Tennyson. Perhaps that’s why the hymn came to my mind while composing the calm ending of “Ocean Waves”.
When you play the solos in the book, experience a feeling of peace as you contemplate the melody and interpret the song. Own the song and feel it means something personal to you. When I was writing “Bouquet of Roses”, I had recently received the most amazing bouquet of large and small pink roses. When you play the piece, notice that many note stems are higher, like the longer stems of some roses in a bouquet. Imagine the notes as flowers as I did when composing the piece.
It’s hard to describe how feelings and melodies evolve and then disappear in thin air. Composers will continue to compose new songs forever. It encourages me to know that with the twelve tones of the Western chromatic scale, the factorial table informs us there are 479,001,600 possible combinations of those notes. Just think of arranging them, giving rhythm, chords, harmony, etc. It boggles the mind to say the least.
So, for now, enjoy these twelve pieces and be at peace.