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Sometimes Beethoven would write these pretty, sweet little songs and throw in a few, choice, unexpected notes. That’s the thing about Beethoven, he makes you feel like you’re in this comfortable, safe musical place, and then he jabs at you with what you think MUST be a wrong note. It’s back and forth, back and forth. You never know what to expect. He hurts you. And you’re so grateful for it!
I like to lay on the out-notes when they come along. I linger for a moment. It’s cathartic. Does it make you cringe? Beethoven!
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There’s a bit in the middle of this one that reminds me of Harold Arlen’s underscoring from Wizard of Oz. Do you hear that? It’s that B section – it triggers some memory of poppies and flying monkeys. I don’t know.
This is another beautiful song. I’ve always been interested in simple, lullaby-like songs. How many notes does it take to move a listener? Sometimes a lot, sometimes not.
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What if it was the 19th century, and there were no radios or muzak or recordings of any kind. So music wasn’t a constant presence in your life, and you weren’t used to being manipulated by sounds for marketing or ratings or whatever. And then a pianist comes to your town and sits down and plays this song. Can you imagine what that’d be like? Grown men would start crying. It’s moving.
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Recorded in 2007 at my summer sublet in Chicago. I lived in the Logan Square neighborhood and owned two bikes. I would ride up and down the lakeshore bike path 3 or 4 times a week. I was working that summer at the Theater At the Center in Munster, IN playing second keyboard on Cats. The show won a Jeff award for best music direction thanks to my wonderful boss that summer – Valerie Maze. I was mad practicing that summer on nothing but Bach, and had to move my keyboard to the back porch to the downstairs neighbors wouldn’t go crazy from the eigth notes pounding through their ceiling. I took a break late one night and recorded this version of Nardis.