Michael Hansen: Lamentation in A Minor

[Michael]

Hello everyone,

I may have mentioned a while back that I composed a piano piece that included some motifs from M6.
When posting it to YouTube in June of 2009, here is what I had to say about it: "When I think of my Lamentation in A minor, written mainly as a result of a parolizing loss in December 2008, Gustav Mahlers "Tragic" sixth symphony--also
a work in A minor--most often comes to mind. This composition--composed over a six-month period during my junior year at Willowbrook High School in Villa
Park, IL--tells the story of a friendship gone disastrously wrong, and my (at the time) unsuccessful attempts to restore it and have peace. At the end,
the music tells exactly what I faced: the most bitter form of rejection imaginable, unforgiving reality, and the realization that there was virtually no
hope of ever restoring the friendship. It is no accident that several aspects of this piece parallel Mahler 6; take, for instance, the militaristic left-and
sometimes right-hand fate motif that dominates much of my composition. Additionally, those familiar with the Finale from the sixth will undoubtedly notice
my allusion to the three (yes, all three) famous "hammer blows of fate"--growing in intensity in the case of my work. Another section of this piece that
incorporates borrowed music is the "Molto agitato" d minor theme (starting at
5:00)
before the big A minor climax (at
5:49
); this melody comes from a viola and double bass duet in the Romance movement of Serjé Prokofievs Lieutenant Kijé Suite, Op. 60. I do not usually quote
music from the works of other composers--even though I have been told that it is the highest honor one can give a fellow composer--but in this case, the
music is symbolic.
I am totally blind, thus I have composed this work entirely in my head; at some point, I plan to figure out a way to get my ideas on paper."
While the performance linked to below is not my best, it is the best one I have on video.  If interested, the video can be viewed/heard here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wRSmstL-AA

Best regards,

[Leo K]

That was very beautiful Michael...you did a great job with contrasting the lyrical reflection with the heavier dramatic comments between.  I thought it was well played too.  Keep composing!


--Todd

[barry guerrero]

I don't mean to be flippant, but I would sure like to hear this on a piano that's better in-tune than that one was. The very start of your Lamentation reminds of a popular tune that I'm sure is from a musical. I believe the title is "On The Street Where You Live" (people stop and stare, but that don't bother me; for there's no place on this earth where I would rather be). Do you know that tune? Anyway, you're composing, which is far more useful and progressive than anything I've ever done. Keep up the good work!

[Michael]

Yes Barry, I do know that tune!  And when I hummed the beginning to myself, I realized the similarities!  And that's a great song, too, sung as I know it by Nat King Cole.  How ironic, as I had not heard that song in a long time until about a week ago.

I will post back when I get home about this piece and how it all came about.  All I can say is that it was a composition I never, ever, intended to write.  And I don't think I could do it again if I tried.  LOL!

Thanks Todd for your compliments as well! 

Best,

[Michael]

I am looking for a place to upload a recording I made on a $92,000 grand of this piece.  Until that happens...let me again say that that piece was one I never intended to write.  And my first recording I made of it was some 15 minutes long, and it bore little similarity to the finished product.  It was an outporing of grief written two days after a disastrous orchestra concert in which a friendship between a friend and I came crashing to an end.
It just so happened that about two weeks before the concert, I discovered Mahler 6.  What are the odds?  LOL!

[Michael]

Hello everyone,

Earlier, I said that I would post a better recording of my Lamentation in A Minor, and here it is.  This was recorded at the Little Home Church by the Wayside in Wayne, IL.  The piano is a $92,000 Bluetner...sounds gorgious!  Performed November 8, 2009:
http://rapidshare.com/files/413339191/Lamentation_in_A_Minor__Op._7_11-8-09_Master1.mp3

Best regards,