Since the beginning of this year we’ve been getting to know the team at The Concert Hall at Drew University and learning more about the creative work that happens there.

When asked if we’d like to be a part of a new afternoon series of tapings for their YouTube channel, John and I quickly said “yes.” 

We were intrigued by doing something in the same vein as radio station performances, Tiny Desk, and other YouTube concert series - a more casual chance to play into the elastic possibilities of interpreting a piece of music.

With The HIDDEN Project still fresh in our minds, and the Concert Hall’s vintage Baldwin concert grand before us, we decided John would re-engage two pieces from the original album in the way he felt connected to this moment and this piano.

We’re releasing the first of those pieces today, in partnership with The Concert Hall at Drew University.

This is a playful rendering of a piece heard in concert halls, in classic Hollywood movies, and even - recently - in an Anime series:  Fritz Kreisler’s Liebesleid, as rendered by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

In describing his thoughts for this performance, John says:

I’ve played this piece many times…and my imagination is employed to share personal experiences through this piece. 

There are two main themes (more characters in a movie, to me, than just musical themes) and what unifies these two themes is that they both descend…as when one “falls” in love. 

This musical story runs its course until a section towards the end that sounds like waking from a dream, where we find ourselves either more confused than when we started or wondering internally “is love worth the risk or is it just wishful thinking?” 

…or perhaps that this is 4 minutes and 56 seconds of some really fond memories of a risk worth taking.

One of the most fulfilling rewards of playing any piece of music I’ve known and played over decades is finding those elements - whether a certain chord, a melody line, a rhythm or mood - that resonates with me, compelling me to shape whatever I’ve found into a personal statement that is shared with the listener.

Finding a bashful melody that, like a shy personality, needs gentle exposure to bring its nascent beauty forward, or finding a chord made up of so many notes - like a litter of kittens tumbling and meowing over each other in feline cuteness - until one stands out of the group to capture our attention and melt our hearts. 

To have music resonate with me at such a level is one of greatest happinesses of my musical experience...

...and there’s something about the sound from a Baldwin piano, especially those from the 1960’s, that can be bright and prismatic but still yield such a warm sound, as this one did.

Enjoy Liebesleid on The Concert Hall at Drew University’s YouTube Channel

…and thank you for listening.

Peter Field
Skylight Arts