Victoria - 7 minutes 15 seconds

Sisters rock and Victoria Richardson rocks more than most...

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Written for my sister Victoria's 40th, this starts out as a very delicate, almost melancholic piece and turns into something rather beautiful. The major melody at 4:50 is sung in my head as 4 distinct notes: "Vic-to...-ri-a."

Happy Birthday Vic - remember any of these...?

Standing up for me when I was being bullied
Letting me hang out with your cool friends
Dancing In the gay bars in Glasgow
Establishing whether people cook Turkey or not
The attic in Germany – the poor people –
The leaning bloody tower of Piza!
The artist vs. business
The "Fuck You Forehead"
Paris
T In the Park
Meeting Wendi
Hearing about Dan
Meeting Dan
Meeting Callum
Meeting Charlotte

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Victoria is part of The Thinker's Playlist.

New Theme Development 137 bpm

[audio:137-keys.mp3 | titles=137 Theme Development|artists=music2work2]

I’m actually enjoying the whole practicing thing at the moment – historically I have balked at the thought of sitting down and running through scales and arpeggios but it’s like many things – once you start, so much good stuff begins to manifest that you kick yourself for not doing it earlier.

I’m searching for themes at the moment – playing with different tempos and going with the flow. This particular theme has been emerging over the last couple of days and this morning started to really take shape. Having started in ¾ time and moved through 6/8 time, it is now sitting pretty in 9/8 time and I think feels pretty good.

I like playing in 9/8, particularly in the higher tempos – there’s an inherent movement to the meter – think of Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries and Robert Duvall in a Huey and you get an idea of the kind of emotion that 9 time can deliver.

Marsha - 18 minutes 57 seconds

Piano, Organ, Strings with a renaissance edge

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I used three voices on this track: Piano, Organ and Strings. I have been using organ more and more on the Kelli project and I wanted to see how it would fit into the overall style of this kind of piece. As ever, the piano track goes down first, then the organ and finally the strings. Listening to the tracks afterwards, I then remove what doesn't work. There is an interpretation of one of Wendi's earlier themes tucked into the middle of the piece, which felt fairly appropriate with Wendi being Marsha's daughter.

One of my most visceral memories is of seeing David in Florence. I remember being 18 and not terribly into "Culture" per se - however, the sheer size of the sculpture, the perfection, the human achievement, was enough to change my attitude towards art forever. Legend has it that when they asked Michelangelo how he did it, he replied: "I just removed what wasn't David." I have had that concept in my head for a while now and am actively incorporating it into my approach to creating music. When I look at the finished piece, I use about 30% of the organ track and about 60% of the string track - with apologies to Michelangelo, but: "I just removed what wasn't Marsha!"

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Marsha is part of The Thinker's Playlist.