‘Accentuated Music,’ is a series of seven pieces for solo piano composed in the spring of 2022. The title track is full of accented notes. Generally I rarely use accents or other common musical expression marks but this piece is full (though quite subtle). Music is a time-based art so ‘A waste of Time’ deals with that particular aspect of music

‘Accentuated Music,’ is a series of seven pieces for solo piano composed in the spring of 2022. The title track is full of accented notes. Generally I rarely use accents or other common musical expression marks but this piece is full (though quite subtle). Music is a time-based art so ‘A waste of Time’ deals with that particular aspect of music making. ‘Back in The Air’ was composed when finally after two years due to Covid restrictions I was able to book a flight. The left hand plays octave E flats throughout. ‘Non-Fungible Octaves’ was composed as a response to the rise in NFTs, which seem to offer artists a new revenue source but in reality is just another market manipulation with no artistic interest or integrity. As the title suggests the music is almost entirely composed of octaves. Sabina D'Orazi, is a friend of my wife who has been very helpful over recent months. ‘Empathy (For the People of Ukraine)’ was composed a couple of days after the Russian invasion after watching the tragic situation evolve. ‘The Reflective Tree of Hollow Ponds’ was composed after making a GIF of the reflections of the water on a tree in Hollow Ponds, Leytonstone, East London. The left hand is playing a solid four four, while the right hand plays in three four so the parts come together every twelve beats.

‘Five Painters’ is a series of piano pieces (for piano 3 hands) composed in late December 2021 and early January 2022. The pieces are dedicated to five British painters whose works I admire. 1. For Roger Hilton (1911-1975) 2. For Rose Hilton (1931-2019) 3. For Gillian Ayres (1930-2018) 4. For Patrick Heron (1920-1999) 5. For Howard Hodgkin

‘Five Painters’ is a series of piano pieces (for piano 3 hands) composed in late December 2021 and early January 2022. The pieces are dedicated to five British painters whose works I admire. 1. For Roger Hilton (1911-1975) 2. For Rose Hilton (1931-2019) 3. For Gillian Ayres (1930-2018) 4. For Patrick Heron (1920-1999) 5. For Howard Hodgkin (1932-2017). Rose an exceptionally talented painter in her own right married Roger Hilton in 1965, and he famously announced, “I am the painter in this setup,” so it wasn’t until after his death in 1975 that she resumed her own career. All of the music is diatonic, (with ‘For Patrick Heron’ utilising an odd scale) except ‘For Howard Hodgkin’ which is highly chromatic as are his tremendous paintings.

‘Disappearance’ was originally composed in the early 1990’s and performed once (in the foyer of the Royal Festival Hall) under the title ‘The Disappearance of All Saints into the Sea’ a reference to the church in Dunwich, Suffolk. The original piece also included two vocal parts, that sang the same notes as the piano right-hand part and used hand

‘Disappearance’ was originally composed in the early 1990’s and performed once (in the foyer of the Royal Festival Hall) under the title ‘The Disappearance of All Saints into the Sea’ a reference to the church in Dunwich, Suffolk. The original piece also included two vocal parts, that sang the same notes as the piano right-hand part and used hand bells. In this version the vocal parts are omitted and there are a few other minor changes. ‘Light’, was also composed in the early 1990’s and has recently been reworked with another section added. It is unusually chromatic but has a constant octave E in the bass line throughout. ‘Canon For Two Pianos’ is an arrangement of a piece for four voices originally composed in the 1990s. It consists of four lines of music (roughly 1 minute 48 seconds long) heard in the sequence: 1, 1 2, 1 2 3, 1 2 3 4, 2 3 4, 3 4, 4, so the last part sounds quite different from the first section. ‘At The End of The Rainbows’ was composed in October 2021, for piano 3 hands. The top hand plays mainly in quavers, the middle hand in crochets, and the low part mainly in minims. As with most of my music it is composed using a diatonic scale (in this case E flat Major) but here there is more of a feeling of conventional ‘changes’ but it never actually modulates. Occasionally it goes through a circle of fifths or fourths etc. and the last part alternates between E flat major and C minor.

All of the music was composed for solo piano in the summer of 2021. 'Stems-and-Branches for Paola Paoletti' was composed for my wife’s birthday. The title comes from a Chinese system of 60 year cycles affecting transformations and interactions. It was composed using an odd scale of C, D, E, F, G, A sharp and B. This scale allows for triads of both

All of the music was composed for solo piano in the summer of 2021. 'Stems-and-Branches for Paola Paoletti' was composed for my wife’s birthday. The title comes from a Chinese system of 60 year cycles affecting transformations and interactions. It was composed using an odd scale of C, D, E, F, G, A sharp and B. This scale allows for triads of both G major and G minor and the piece mainly consists of alternating these two chords. 'Unintended Consequences' “are outcomes of a purposeful action that are not intended or foreseen.” Wikipedia. 'Making a Hole in The Water' is an Italian phrase for when you try to do something and end up unable to do it. 'Sympathetic Resonance for Gemma Donati,' Is a very slow piece composed using a whole tone scale of C sharp, D sharp, F, G, A and B. 2021 is the anniversary of the Florentine poet Dante’s death in 1321, and during the festivities much will be made of his beloved Beatrice, but I wanted to dedicate a piece to his little mentioned wife Gemma Donati, with whom he had a least four children. 'Joyful Silence in the Convent of Via Dei Bruni' was composed after visiting the Carmelite convent in the hills above Florence, where I was impressed by the serene environment. It is composed using a scale of C, D, E flat, F, G, A, and B. 'The Wrong Note.' My music is generally diatonic using seven notes. With this piece the majority of the music is composed in the standard C major scale, but every so often new unrelated notes break into and possibly disrupt the flow. 'Wistful Music' Is very slow and uses an odd scale of C, D, E, F, G A flat, B flat. The left hand plays repeated octave Cs in different octaves and in changing time signatures while the right hand goes through a cycle of sixths (C, A flat, F, D, B flat, G, E) in different times to the left hand, so the overall effect is familiarity and expectation tempered by the unexpected. 'The Last Note,' was the last piece written and is composed in a regular diatonic scale.

All of the music was written in April and May 2021 for solo piano except ‘Pictures of Nothing’ which is composed for piano 3 hands. Pictures of Nothing Part One is very slow and has the three hands playing in different times, with the top part mainly in three, the middle in four and the lower part in five, and most notes are played in octaves.

All of the music was written in April and May 2021 for solo piano except ‘Pictures of Nothing’ which is composed for piano 3 hands. Pictures of Nothing Part One is very slow and has the three hands playing in different times, with the top part mainly in three, the middle in four and the lower part in five, and most notes are played in octaves. Part Two is very quick, generally in twelve eight time, with the top part normally playing in quaver groups of four while the other parts are divided in three. The title of ‘Oh! Les Beaux Jours,’ comes from a line in Verlaine’s poem ‘Colloque Sentimental’ that inspired Beckett’s title ‘Happy Days’. Michela Landi is a professor at the University of Florence.