# Nardo Brown's Blue Moon



## nardobrown

My new Opus, have a nice day.


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## Phil loves classical

I thought it was entertaining with the tone clusters and the dissonant parts thrown in, and how you could keep a straight face still through the more melodious parts. I felt some of the dissonant injections were a bit arbitrary. I could understand for contrast, but I'm thinking if they were incorporated into the harmony of the rest it would be more unified.


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## nardobrown

By the way, I would have done that ten years ago, but that was not my style any longer. All those augmented chords were used to enhance articulation and accent in order to establish a more humid and rigid atmospheric firmness.


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## nardobrown

I remembered the time when I handed my quartet to Tishchenko before he was dead.


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## Phil loves classical

nardobrown said:


> I remembered the time when I handed my quartet to Tishchenko before he was dead.


Sounds nice. I would avoid calling it 19th century, even if it might be loosely based on Schumann. It sounds closer to contemporary pop, I could just see you being skewered selling it as that.


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## nardobrown

I think you're too concerned with the harmonic settings of the second piece, especially when I was focusing on the harmonics of the whole range in order to obtain an ideal harmonic resonance. Moreover, although I love Schumann but obviously this piece is not written in that style. By the way, I want to share the variations I wrote 10 years ago in 2009, and that was also one of my style.


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## Vasks

Phil loves classical said:


> It sounds closer to contemporary pop.


Yeah, the Blue Moon is quasi-New Age and the piano piece is pop influenced. Neither piece is clearly Classical.


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## nardobrown

What about the "Variations", is that classical? We are now living in the 21st Century by the way.


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## Phil loves classical

nardobrown said:


> I think you're too concerned with the harmonic settings of the second piece, especially when I was focusing on the harmonics of the whole range in order to obtain an ideal harmonic resonance. Moreover, although I love Schumann but obviously this piece is not written in that style. By the way, I want to share the variations I wrote 10 years ago in 2009, and that was also one of my style.


There's nothing wrong with writing pop, I'm just saying it could attract some criticism if you call something 19th century, some would judge its success solely based on 19th century aesthetics and forms, which I don't think you would want in that particular case.

I would say the variations is 'Classical', it sound Debussian.


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## nardobrown

The Variations was solely written to avoid criticism, but that is not my style any longer since it is the 21st century now, but I still sometimes compose in that style now, just in case when something happens. Most listeners won't care about the composing techniques that were used, that's why I shift my style to a more listener-oriented settings. It was a title for the piece and by the way, is Scriabin's music classical in your taste? Moreover, the haromonic balance of Blue Moon is carefully calculated, and that is not pop music. The 19th Century is purely music and that was just a title of the piece, it does not mean it should have been written according to speicific aesthetics and forms. For example my fugues are totally and purely classical, but I still haven't finished the 24 pieces set, that's why I haven't shared with anyone yet. Moreover, someone may think Blue Moon is quasi-New Age but it does not mean it is pop music, just like you think the Variations sound Debussian, but actually that is my stlyle and I don't think it is Debussian at all. After all thanks for the criticism, and everything you have said is exactly what I had been thinking of when I compose, and that's why Blue Moon is quasi-New Age but not New Age since most New Age music is not carefully calculated like this piece, all the dissonant parts and consonant parts are proportionally in balance to maintain fluidity.


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## Phil loves classical

nardobrown said:


> The Variations was solely written to avoid criticism, but that is not my style any longer since it is the 21st century now, but I still sometimes compose in that style now, just in case when something happens. Most listeners won't care about the composing techniques that were used, that's why I shift my style to a more listener-oriented settings. It was a title for the piece and by the way, is Scriabin's music classical in your taste? Moreover, the haromonic balance of Blue Moon is carefully calculated, and that is not pop music. The 19th Century is purely music and that was just a title of the piece, it does not mean it should have been written according to speicific aesthetics and forms. For example my fugues are totally and purely classical, but I still haven't finished the 24 pieces set, that's why I haven't shared with anyone yet. Moreover, someone may think Blue Moon is quasi-New Age but it does not mean it is pop music, just like you think the Variations sound Debussian, but actually that is my stlyle and I don't think it is Debussian at all. After all thanks for the criticism, and everything you have said is exactly what I had been thinking of when I compose, and that's why Blue Moon is quasi-New Age but not New Age since most New Age music is not carefully calculated like this piece, all the dissonant parts and consonant parts are proportionally in balance to maintain fluidity.


Yeah, I do like Scriabin, and now you mention it, also think some parts of the Variations similar to Scriabin in gesture or general sound. Did you compose at the piano?


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## nardobrown

Phil loves classical said:


> Yeah, I do like Scriabin, and now you mention it, also think some parts of the Variations similar to Scriabin in gesture or general sound. Did you compose at the piano?


Yes, I compose at the piano. Messiaen's harmonic sequence was used in part of the variations, and there were many more elements by the way, like some are inspired by Wolfgang Rhim. The playing techniques I used in Blue Moon are inspired by Ligeti Etude No.6, and I played those in a rapid and rush pace in order to achieve tonal fullness, therefore it may sound not so even because they are very difficult to execute even for my current performing level since some passages are more skill-demanding than Ligeti's Etude No.6, especially when mutiple lines with micro rhythm like triplets are incorporated all together. Also Blue Moon used elements drawn from oriental music, that's why it may sound quasi-New Age, but the ending of the piece is solely composed in a classical mindset, that makes it not new age music. I studied Scriabin music a lot too, and the 19th Century maybe a bit similar to that but that's not Scriabin or else I'm copying someone else's style. Anyway, thanks for your reply,


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## Zeus

The piece works, though there's a few confusing ideas starting from around minute 3.

However, some pedals or passages sound a bit suspect; is there a score of this work?


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## nardobrown

Hi, Zeus, I sometimes wrote piano music with five or six staffs playing simultaneously, for example from 4:26-4:55 of my variations. That's why I have to use a bit more pedal in order to play all the notes in those parts. The ideas around minute 3 that you mentioned are inspired by timbre of some oriental instruments like Guqin, that's the reason why the motifs can not be easily spotted. Those parts are a more rapid and rush execution of the piano techniques used in my variations in the passage mentioned above.


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## janxharris

nardobrown said:


> My new Opus, have a nice day.


Have you applied compression to the recording?


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## Zeus

nardobrown said:


> Hi, Zeus, I sometimes wrote piano music with five or six staffs playing simultaneously, for example from 4:26-4:55 of my variations. That's why I have to use a bit more pedal in order to play all the notes in those parts. The ideas around minute 3 that you mentioned are inspired by timbre of some oriental instruments like Guqin, that's the reason why the motifs can not be easily spotted. Those parts are a more rapid and rush execution of the piano techniques used in my variations in the passage mentioned above.


I meant that a few passages sounded unperformable, but if this isn't a midi recording, then nevermind.


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## nardobrown

Zeus said:


> I meant that a few passages sounded unperformable, but if this isn't a midi recording, then nevermind.


It is because I have been practicing some of the most difficult modern piano pieces for years, and have already developed a certain level of performing skills before I recorded the blue moon. I had the skill level required to play Rach's 3rd piano concerto seven years ago, and had been developing my own piano techniques since then. I have been practicing the Blue Moon for a month before this recording. 
For example, this piece
[video]Wolfgang Rihm - Klavierstück Nr. 5 (w/sheet)[/video]
My Blue Moon is a bit more skill demanding in some passages than that piece and I have studied that piece before, but that was years ago. I have other compositions that were more skill-demanding than Blue Moon, but I don't want to share those yet because they were etudes for myself to develop my own playing techniques. I can perform Blue Moon any time live because I have been practicing and polishing this piece for a month after I first completed the original version of the piece in a day. Most of my works (not just my piano works) are skill demanding up to a certain level, but they are all performable, since I never write instrumental music that is unperformable. By the way, "19th century" is one of my impromptus when I think of the Lengend of 1900, and thus the title.


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## nardobrown




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