Star Taker and Piano Performances ’17
Introduction
This album is a collection of compositions and piano/orchestral performances I have worked on in the past 2-3 years. Soli Deo Gloria!
The Music
To download the mp3s, right-click the link and press ‘save link as’ or ‘save target as’ or your browser’s equivalent.
Download the whole album zipped (85MB).
- Star Taker – Vega [1:04]
- Star Taker – Ruins [1:55]
- Star Taker – Astrolabe [1:58]
- Star Taker – Ending [0:37]
- Promise [2:59]
- Ravel – Jeax D’eau (Piano Solo) [5:48]
- Chopin – Ballade no.4 in f [11:54]
- Shostakovich – Piano Concerto no.2, 1st movement [7:53]
- Hoong Ern Ng – Christmas Piano Concerto – God Rest Ye Town of Bethlehem [7:24]
- Grieg – Piano Concerto in A minor, 3rd movement [9:53]
- Holst – Jupiter (The Planets) [8:19]
NOTICE: All music is for PERSONAL use only, and is not/should not be used to make money, or be used for any commercial purposes.
Please do not link these files directly from any other sites (Just not the separate files – You CAN link to this page)
If you want to use these recordings, please ask me first! Thank you!
About The Music
1-4. Star Taker
I wrote these tracks for a video game a few of my friends worked on in early 2017. They were written to be not too intrusive on the player, and so are fairly ‘ambient’ in nature. It begins with ‘Vega’, setting the mood for a faraway and mysterious place. Next is ‘Ruins’, in which the explorer is surrounded by abandoned structures which tell of a yet to be discovered story. ‘Astrolabe’ describes an artifact whose powers are not entirely known, and ‘Ending’, is, well, the ending!
5. Promise
Not much to say about this one–just a slightly different style of music than what I normally compose.
6. Ravel – Jeax D’eau
Even though I posted a performance of this in my very last album Journeys, I love this piece so much I’ve decided to post yet another rendition of it!
7. Chopin – Ballade no. 4 in f minor
When I first attempted to learn Chopin’s 4th Ballade 17 years ago, I was kindly told (if I remember correctly) that I lacked the musical maturity that the piece demanded. Those words were true.
17 years later, having shelved the piece for a long period of time, I picked it up again and realized that I still lack the skill and maturity to truly showcase this amazing work, especially given the limited time I have.
However, here is one of my attempts (I’ve been working on and off on this piece for a year), in case you’re interested to hear one of my favorite Chopin works, which takes the listener on a deep and intense journey, through the build up of tension and resolution, at times melancholic, and at other times raging with raw power.
Video available here.
8. Shostakovich – Piano Concerto no. 2, 1st movement
This piano concerto has a special place for me, as it was the first I performed publicly (2 piano reduction) in the mid-Somerset music festival in 2005. Also the one piece which resulted in a snapped piano string during a practice session.
9. Christmas Piano Concerto – God Rest Ye Town of Bethlehem
The one ‘piano concerto’ that I have arranged/composed. See my dedicated post for more details.
10. Grieg – Piano Concerto in a minor, 3rd movement
Some pianists are good enough to perform with a skilled orchestra. Others, like me, who are not quite at that level, can only dream of it. Fortunately, with the help of some technology and patient work, there are some ways to get close to that dream.
Here’s my performance of Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor, 3rd movement, produced, performed and “conducted” by myself with the help of a virtual orchestra (EWQL Gold) and piano (Synthogy Ivory D). It’s one of my favorite romantic-era piano concertos, and for some reason, reminds me to vast landscapes and mountains (though more so the 1st movement than the movement featured here)
It’s a little odd to start with the last movement, and as usual, far from a ‘perfect’ performance, but this was just an experiment in the time I allocated (2 weekends). Might be good to note that I learned this piano concerto 11 years ago, so I didn’t have to spend as much time learning it. I might record the other movements some time in the future.
11. Holst – Jupiter (The planets)
I love Holst’s “The Planets”, and especially Jupiter!