What's on My Music Stand?
As we all know, the past few months have been hard, weird and overwhelming. We also know that the arts and music can be really valuable as a way of emotional relief or shelter, or to work out some of those harder feelings. I've been sharing some music on my personal instagram page to connect with friends and bring peaceful little breaks from the news cycle into their routines. These are just casual, spur of the moment videos, and they are what I've sharing with you today.
Merry Go Round of Life by Joe Hisaishi
This is the main theme from one of my favorite Studio Ghibli movies Howl's Moving Castle, which happens to be based on my favorite book of the same title written by Diana Wynne Jones. It's a happy little waltz that is just full of good feels for me.
Jim Brickman - Timeless
This is a piece from a sheet music collection available here that I picked up at the Jim Brickman concert here at the McPherson Opera House back before the Coronavirus hit. The collection is full of soothing music, and this is just one of the pieces with a bit of a waltz feel.
Satie was a rather eccentric French composer, and this piece while repeating a theme, encourages the artist to play it a little differently each time with instructions like Very Radiant, Ask!, Deep in thought, or On the tip of the tongue. From a music theory perspective, it also has no time signature. This is the edition of the book I am playing from.
Looking Back by Barbara Arens
This piece is from one of my favorite collections of Nocturnes for teen students, and it is now available digitally in single user license from Musica Ferrum. (Which is a big deal for those of us in the US who have to pay int’l shipping to get hardcopies!). I find it to be a very nostalgic, restful piece.