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Sunny Intervals

Simon Rackham

(to be released on 11/11/2023) ‘Over The moon’ and ‘Ninna Nanna for Gabriele’ were composed in September 2023. ‘Over The Moon’ uses an odd scale of D major but with B flats. It is written in four four, but each bar either contains 7 notes or 6, so there is a rather lilting uncertain rhythmic feel to it. Ninna Nanna is the Italian term for a

(to be released on 11/11/2023) ‘Over The moon’ and ‘Ninna Nanna for Gabriele’ were composed in September 2023. ‘Over The Moon’ uses an odd scale of D major but with B flats. It is written in four four, but each bar either contains 7 notes or 6, so there is a rather lilting uncertain rhythmic feel to it. Ninna Nanna is the Italian term for a lullaby, and the piece was composed to celebrate the birth of Gabriele. In ‘October Music’ the notes played by the left hand are the same as the notes in the right hand but an octave or more lower. ‘Thinking of Sol LeWitt’ is dedicated to the American artist (1928-2007) who worked in both minimalism and conceptual art styles. In ‘Sunny Intervals’ the left hand plays a continuous line of quavers changing between groups of four and three. ‘Parallel Motion’ is very quiet and slow with all the notes moving in parallel motion. ‘Uncertainty’ uses a scale of C, but with E flats throughout. The last five pieces were all composed in October 2023.

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Left & Right

Simon Rackham

‘Sunlight Through the Trees (in Punta Ala)’ was composed in May 2023 for solo piano after seeing the sea reflecting the sun through the pine trees. ‘Four Simple Chords’ was composed in May 2023 for solo piano based on a simple chord sequence of G major, D major, A minor and E minor. ‘Remembering Walter Di Salvo’ was composed in July 2023 for solo

‘Sunlight Through the Trees (in Punta Ala)’ was composed in May 2023 for solo piano after seeing the sea reflecting the sun through the pine trees. ‘Four Simple Chords’ was composed in May 2023 for solo piano based on a simple chord sequence of G major, D major, A minor and E minor. ‘Remembering Walter Di Salvo’ was composed in July 2023 for solo piano and is dedicated to the Italian architect (1926 - 2017) who designed the layout and many important buildings in Punta Ala (Italy). The music is composed using a rather unorthodox scale of D, E, F sharp, G, A, B flat and C sharp. ‘Left and Right’ was composed in the early summer of 2023 for two pianos and recorded with emphasised stereo. Part 1, uses a lot of low notes to create a rather dark atmosphere. Part 2, was influenced by the sound of two birds, Scops owls at night and later in the piece a Hoopoe. The piece is dedicated to Iacopo Battaglini who identified the bird calls from my whistling imitation. Part 3, was the last piece of the album to be composed and was finished in late July 2023, and features the two pianos overlapping creating complex patterns accentuated by the stereo production.

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Horizons

Simon Rackham

Horizons was composed for solo piano in March 2023 in tandem with a series of ten horizon paintings I was working on.

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Footprints

Simon Rackham

All of the music was composed in early 2023 except ‘Starlight on Night Waters’ which was composed for piano three hands in 2022. While composing ‘Daisy Days’ I was also working on a painting of daisies so the two proceeded in tandem. It is based on a rhythm I occasionally find myself tapping. ‘In Simple Time’ the right hand plays in two while the

All of the music was composed in early 2023 except ‘Starlight on Night Waters’ which was composed for piano three hands in 2022. While composing ‘Daisy Days’ I was also working on a painting of daisies so the two proceeded in tandem. It is based on a rhythm I occasionally find myself tapping. ‘In Simple Time’ the right hand plays in two while the left hand plays in three. ‘Little Waves for Sabine Hossenfelder’ is dedicated to the German theoretical physicist to say thank you for her excellent YouTube channel ( https://www.youtube.com/@SabineHossenfelder/videos ) that I regularly watch. ‘Waiting for The Green Line’ as all of the other pieces on the album, is diatonic, but in this one I’ve used more of the dissonance available in the diatonic system to create a feeling of suspense. Anyone who regularly works on a computer will understand the suspense of waiting for the green line as it appears when one updates the computer, or scans, or downloads or saves large files. I seem to spend quite a lot of my time waiting for the green line to finish. When I started writing ‘Footprints’ I thought it sounds a bit too much like Philip Glass. I decided to carry on with it but acknowledge here my debt to his influence. The first time I heard his ‘Einstein on the Beach’ completely changed my perspective on what contemporary music could be, so thank you Mr. Glass. The piece is composed for piano three hands and has a surprising end.

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Accentuated Music

Simon Rackham

‘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.

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Five Painters

Simon Rackham

‘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.

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Disappearance

Simon Rackham

‘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.

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Unintended Consequences

Simon Rackham

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.

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