A Sleepy Apology (My most honest composition)

(I pretty much copied the description of my video for this commentary.)

The story with this piece is quite interesting.

On the 22th of December of last year I woke up a bit late, and as it is common in me I was tired and I tried to keep sleeping. But for some reason some negative thoughts about a friendship hit me and made me feel bad and guilty (don't ask personal questions please, thanks), and out of nowhere the Rachmaninoff-like passage of this piece came to my mind. It felt as if my mind was trying to say "sorry" through music because I struggle with words sometimes. The thing is that I decided to go to my piano to write down the fragment because I considered it was too good to let it slip from my hands (at the time I had no idea it was similar to the 3rd movement of Rachmaninoff's 3rd symphony)(there is also a bit similar to Chopin's Op.10 No.3). So this piece pretty much originated from a dream, because I wasn't really awake (I ususally know when I'm dreaming).

I even cried when I found the Ebm7 chord with that dissonant leap that goes to the 9th, and I don't think I have ever composed anything else so straight from my heart. The last section also hit me pretty hard when I got it (yeah, I cried again...), but I actually almost improvised it, I never experienced such fluency in a composition. The piece still took me 10 hours to make.

Due to some thematic connections, style and a suggestion by my friend Ferran I decided to combine this piece with Nostalgia and create a small set. It will be called "Two dream fantasies".  

Another detail I could mention is that the repeated chords at the beginning are inspired by my friend Theodore Servin.  

I hope you enjoy the piece and that you can feel all the emotion I poured into it. 🙂 

Ivan, this is wonderful! I genuinely think this is your best and most beautiful piece yet! And in spite of what you said, I think your performance is great, it truly captures the character of the piece perfectly, and the way you shaped the melodic lines was excellent. I'm glad you posted this piece, it's really wonderful.

Very nice, and nicely played. Very late night and lullaby; gentle.

Why the apology...? 

Very beautiful and sentimental!

12 hours ago, Theodore Servin said:

Ivan, this is wonderful! I genuinely think this is your best and most beautiful piece yet! And in spite of what you said, I think your performance is great, it truly captures the character of the piece perfectly, and the way you shaped the melodic lines was excellent. I'm glad you posted this piece, it's really wonderful.

 

Thank you dude, I'm glad you enjoyed it that much. 🙂 Just curious, how did the ending make you feel?

10 hours ago, Quinn said:

Very nice, and nicely played. Very late night and lullaby; gentle.

Why the apology...? 

 

Thank you! ^^ It is dedicated to a friend to whom I wasn't too nice some time ago. I can't say more sorry.

3 hours ago, francoisfj said:

Very beautiful and sentimental!

 

Thanks, I appreciate the comment. 

On 1/16/2022 at 2:22 PM, Ivan1791 said:

Thank you dude, I'm glad you enjoyed it that much. 🙂 Just curious, how did the ending make you feel?

I like the ending, I thought the unexpected non-tonic final chord was a perfect way to close the piece, and it fit the piece very well emotionally speaking.

14 hours ago, Theodore Servin said:

I like the ending, I thought the unexpected non-tonic final chord was a perfect way to p\close the piece, and it fit the piece very well emotionally speaking.

 

True, I think that ending is one of the most emotionally powerful moments I have composed. It was my way of saying that I don't know what will happen at the end of that friendship and that sometimes things don't end as one would wish.

Hello, Ivan!

This is so touching. I love that you were able to channel your emotion into music and share this with others; that definitely takes courage. 

You have a great sense of harmony. Something about the moment at 2:13 especially tugged at my heartstrings -- I love the non-chord tones/accidentals. 

The repeated notes and rolled chords at the beginning reminded me of George Winston, a very atmospheric composer who in my opinion knows how to draw so much beauty out of simplicity. Have you heard of him? Perhaps @Theodore Servin has heard of him? I was listening to Winston's "December" album tonight (a holiday tradition for my family), so he has been on my mind a lot. 😊

Once again, a beautiful and touching work. I look forward to exploring more of your music. Thank you for sharing!

~ Gwendolyn

On 12/25/2022 at 5:02 AM, Gwendolyn Przyjazna said:

Hello, Ivan!

This is so touching. I love that you were able to channel your emotion into music and share this with others; that definitely takes courage. 

You have a great sense of harmony. Something about the moment at 2:13 especially tugged at my heartstrings -- I love the non-chord tones/accidentals. 

The repeated notes and rolled chords at the beginning reminded me of George Winston, a very atmospheric composer who in my opinion knows how to draw so much beauty out of simplicity. Have you heard of him? Perhaps @Theodore Servin has heard of him? I was listening to Winston's "December" album tonight (a holiday tradition for my family), so he has been on my mind a lot. 😊

Once again, a beautiful and touching work. I look forward to exploring more of your music. Thank you for sharing!

~ Gwendolyn

 

Sorry for the late reply.

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. Luckily I didn't have to do much with this piece because the music unfolded by itself. I love sharing my inner world through music.

Thank you. That moment is very dramatic, the augmented 6th is a really effective chord.

No, I didn't know about him, thank you for letting us know about that composer.

I hope to be posting new pieces here when summer comes. 🙂

Hi @Ivan1791,

I am so glad you are back! I have to thank you since you are one of my reason why I find this great forum!

I always enjoy your benighted music style, often dreamy, unconscious, atmospheric. I often link your music with one of my buddy's, @Omicronrg9 since his music is quite dark for me as well!

3 hours ago, Ivan1791 said:

hope to be posting new pieces here when summer comes. 🙂

I really look forward to that! I guess right now you are quite busy on all sorts if musical activities and it will for sure help your composing!

Kind Regards,

Henry

15 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

I often link your music with one of my buddy's, @Omicronrg9 

Thanks for the indirect heads up, Henry. Let's dive into this piece.

• First of all, your piece resonates in my mind like some impromptus: unpretentious, straightforward and very passionate, with a very clear melodic line and a thought-provoking harmony; a human interpretation always sums and yours is not the exception of course.

• Your performance is loyal to the title —which fits very well to this piece by the way—, both dreamlike and sweet with a touch of melancholy in my opinion. The ending is very well done both in the paper and in the performance. On a side (irrelevant) note, I also appreciate that you kept the indications in Italian. Liked and subscribed!

In summary, a very successful piece that I am glad you published here for us to listen to; I really have no complaints/criticism. 

Kind regards,
Daniel–Ømicrón.

23 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Hi @Ivan1791,

I am so glad you are back! I have to thank you since you are one of my reason why I find this great forum!

I always enjoy your benighted music style, often dreamy, unconscious, atmospheric. I often link your music with one of my buddy's, @Omicronrg9 since his music is quite dark for me as well!

I really look forward to that! I guess right now you are quite busy on all sorts if musical activities and it will for sure help your composing!

Kind Regards,

Henry

 

I'm glad I helped you find this forum and that you enjoy being part of it. 🙂 

Thanks hahaha.

Yes, I'm super busy lately and I am taking some meds that make it harder to compose. But with some luck I sould be able to post a dark lied next month, a really dark one...

See you soon!

7 hours ago, Omicronrg9 said:

Thanks for the indirect heads up, Henry. Let's dive into this piece.

• First of all, your piece resonates in my mind like some impromptus: unpretentious, straightforward and very passionate, with a very clear melodic line and a thought-provoking harmony; a human interpretation always sums and yours is not the exception of course.

• Your performance is loyal to the title —which fits very well to this piece by the way—, both dreamlike and sweet with a touch of melancholy in my opinion. The ending is very well done both in the paper and in the performance. On a side (irrelevant) note, I also appreciate that you kept the indications in Italian. Liked and subscribed!

In summary, a very successful piece that I am glad you published here for us to listen to; I really have no complaints/criticism. 

Kind regards,
Daniel–Ømicrón.

 

Indeed, it is one of my most honest pieces and I simply followed my heart with this one.

The ending is the best thing in my opinion, it is one of the most special things I have created.

Thank you so much!