Madrid

Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum, sorry if the playing/recording is not great...

This piece is called Madrid, like the Spanish capital.

Thanks for listening. 

Hello @miso,

Welcome to the forum!

17 hours ago, miso said:

sorry if the playing/recording is not great...

I don't think the playing or recording is not great! A live recording is always what we treasure here, and your playing of this piece is lovely! I especially love the humming of birds in the latter half of the recording!

This piano piece is indeed quite colourful to be called "Madrid" (Maybe I'll have to ask some Spanish members here though). Those sudden modal change and modulation is varied. 1:03 seems to me a little bit discontinuous when you have the opening A minor melody comes back after that lovely Eb7 chord, but overall the piece is nice.

Thx for sharing and joining!

Henry

Hello @miso

It is a beautiful piece, indeed. True the sound is not perfect, but it is a live performance and that beats any mockup we can make with software.

I think the piano is treated idiomatically quite a bit in the Romantic style, particularly in song compositions, with or without words.

I have to say that, in other times of my youth, when I was doing my residency in a hospital, I have lived in Madrid for quite a few years. Besides, I had the good fortune to live in the historic center.

And maybe it's because of the title, but the music has evoked me to many moments there, especially when I was out of the maelstrom of so many people and visitors.
 

Hello @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu, 

thank you very much for your feedback.

1 hour ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Those sudden modal change and modulation is varied.

Do you think there is too much of it?

1 hour ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

1:03 seems to me a little bit discontinuous when you have the opening A minor melody comes back after that lovely Eb7 chord,

Thanks for this. I was also thinking what to do in that part, so you motivated me to think harder 🙂 

1 hour ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

I especially love the humming of birds in the latter half of the recording

Yes, this was a complete coincidence, but it is lovely 🙂 

Hello @Luis Hernández,

thank you for your reply!

I am very happy that you like the piece, all the more that you lived in Madrid and you could sense some connection between the music and the city. 

I only visited Madrid for a few days, but it left a deep mark. 

I love the melodic chromaticism - it makes the melody really remarkable and it repeats but takes its time in doing so - making it quite interesting, lyrical and whimsical imo.  The nature of it is such that I can listen to it again and again and not be bored by it.  There is variety and unity at the same time and the harmony and melody seem to be conceived simultaneously.  I love your use of acephalic phrases - phrases that start after the strong beat of any given measure.  It creates an expectation and sets the stage for the melody to be all the more intriguing when it comes in.  Thanks for sharing!

@PeterthePapercomPoser thank you very much for your kind reply. I learned what 'acephalic phrases' mean 🙂

I made another recording today with a variation towards the end. I am always a bit worried about repetitiveness. Have a good day, Peter!