Fantasy on "The Little Mermaid"

This piece was written as a commission for a pianist in a school I used to go to. It was written pretty quickly and is based on the Hans Christian Anderson version of the story, not the Disney version. It gets weird in some places but I hope you all enjoy! (And sorry it's kind of long, haha)

Great. At the beginning I thought: "Oh, the piano is underused". But I was wrong, it was just an "intro". It's like a movement for a piano concerto. I wasn't long for me.

Hey! I really, really liked this piece. Specially after 1:00 where the melody barely starts peeking its head a little bit. But my absolute favorite part is between 2:42-3:00. It awakes a feeling of nostalgia and romance that is so big... And then it comes again at 4:20. These are the type of compositions I really like, the melody is fantastic! It tells me a lot of stories. The part before the ending is gorgeous as well. Congratulations, I´d love to hear this live!  By the way, I read the original "Little Mermaid" story by Hans Christian Andersen and is so sad. This represents the original story perfectly.

Edited July 1, 20178 yr by Juan José

15 hours ago, Juan José said:

Hey! I really, really liked this piece. Specially after 1:00 where the melody barely starts peeking its head a little bit. But my absolute favorite part is between 2:42-3:00. It awakes a feeling of nostalgia and romance that is so big... And then it comes again at 4:20. These are the type of compositions I really like, the melody is fantastic! It tells me a lot of stories. The part before the ending is gorgeous as well. Congratulations, I´d love to hear this live!  By the way, I read the original "Little Mermaid" story by Hans Christian Andersen and is so sad. This represents the original story perfectly.

 

Honestly, i completely forgot about this piece. It has its fair share of problems, like the misuse of compound rhythm, and incorrect resolutions of multi-tonics but overall I'm still proud of it. I like the atonal stuff myself, haha! Thanks for your comments!

5 hours ago, Monarcheon said:

It has its fair share of problems, like the misuse of compound rhythm, and incorrect resolutions of multi-tonics

Really? That demonstrates the technical-academic issues and "errors" of music does not necessarily affect with the emotional impact of it (unless somebody blocks it with their intellect by noticing the errors). I literally felt like crying in several parts of this piece! Question: Is there a way you could make a piano solo version of this, and share it with the community? I would love to have it.

Edited July 2, 20178 yr by Juan José

38 minutes ago, Juan José said:

That demonstrates the technical-academic issues and "errors" of music does not necessarily affect with the emotional impact of it

Mm... you and I will have to disagree there but I'll leave it at that. 
I'm glad you liked it so much. My friend never ended up performing it at school so I couldn't get a live recording unfortunately.
A piano solo of this piece would be extremely difficult both to write and to play  lot of prime manipulation.

Intriguing piece..    Emotionally it made me feel ' pretty uncomfortable' in many places..  Sections certainly are 'haunting', some are sad but beautiful. ..  at 3:20 I get very uncomfortable,   very intense. 

But I also recognize it is brilliant.  Quite a piece of work..  I would have this piece played at my daughter's wedding, if she were going to marry a powerful corrupt meglomaniac.. On third listen, it is very powerful.. 

I've come back and listen some more..  I can't EVER remember listening to a piece of music which made me feel 'uncomfortable' even after repeated listenings...  I've certainly heard pieces which dredge up emotions..  

For instance the vocal octave jump in 'Unchained Melody' by the Righteous Brothers, still 'makes me quiver' and I've heard that many many hundreds of times in the last 50 years.. The sound of Beachboys 'Good Vibrations' had a very strong reaction on me for many many years too..  That was more the collection of all the segments, not a particular motif or passage. 

Edited July 6, 20178 yr by markstyles

On 7/2/2017 at 8:01 AM, markstyles said:

But I also recognize it is brilliant.

That's a little bit much, perhaps, haha  Like I said, it has its problems.
It definitely is supposed to make the audience uncomfortable with the constant use of diminished and tonics, as though the whole thing was under the dark blue hue of water at night...

I listened to it last night and have been meaning to share my thoughts ... I absolutely loved the sweeping main theme in the Romantic idiom, and I thought the final statement in major turned out very well. I also really enjoyed the introductory part, which set the mood very well. Each passage was very well done in its own way, although I felt there could have been a bit more connectivity between them -- it sounded almost episodic due to the sudden stylistic changes. All in all, a very enjoyable work; it makes me want to attempt to write something for piano and orchestra. 

If you're interested to hear how another composer tackled The Little Mermaid, I'd recommend the score to the Studio Ghibli film "Ponyo." It's very charming and magical. 

One last thing -- is your name Noah, as it is at the top of the score? I feel like I should've caught that, if so. 

13 hours ago, Noah Brode said:

Each passage was very well done in its own way, although I felt there could have been a bit more connectivity between them

Absolutely. I have no defense to that  

13 hours ago, Noah Brode said:

All in all, a very enjoyable work; it makes me want to attempt to write something for piano and orchestra. 

You should! It's a really great combo because with good enough piano writing (which this piece does not exhibit) the orchestra can really be quite sparse. Gershwin's piano stuff do this a lot.

13 hours ago, Noah Brode said:

One last thing -- is your name Noah, as it is at the top of the score? I feel like I should've caught that, if so. 

I changed it during the main phase of my transition. So it was, yes, but on my modern scores, you'll see Blaire.

Thanks for your comments!

6 hours ago, Monarcheon said:

You should! It's a really great combo because with good enough piano writing (which this piece does not exhibit) the orchestra can really be quite sparse. Gershwin's piano stuff do this a lot.

I already feel a little more comfortable writing for piano since I started lessons, but I do tend to write things I'd have no hope of playing myself. :/

Very interesting about the name! I'm sure the International Secret Society of Noahs will grant you emeritus status.

This piece is beautiful. I enjoy the dissonance and suspense in some parts. I've never read the Hans Christian Anderson version of The Little Mermaid, but this piece adequately tells me the story.