This piano album visits the raga in Morning Meditation, folk fiddle and bass from the American square dance, dream images in Nocturne, heroism’s selflessness in Eroica, the impetuous melodies of jazz pianist Thelonious Monk, Claude Debussy’s water music from his namesake La Mer, minimalist sound blown by the wind in Minimus, piano blues structures in Blue Triad, the simplicity and layering of the trill, post-Romantic angst in Ascent, the drive and themes of Beethoven in Ballade, and a 3rd century Celtic theme, dedicated to humanity, truth and peace.
Each is connected chromatically as tonal centers increase, so that the music incrementally rises throughout. Musical voices exist independently, free of the restriction of tempo, meter or verticality.
- Morning Meditation in C (6:27)
- Square Dance in C# (5:32)
- Nocturne in D (6:44)
- Eroica in D# (4:57)
- Thelonious in E (5:47)
- La Mer in F (7:16)
- Minimus in F# (4:51)
- Blue Triad in G (6:03)
- Trill in G# (4:59
- Ascent in A (5:11)
- Ballade in A# (4:41)
- Dirge in B (6:05)
All music is composed, performed, and engineered by the composer. Copyright 2025, Ron Fein
Special thanks to Paul Hadley at paulhadley.com for photo imagery.
Extended notes:
This is a contrapuntal music with a sole tonality based on the title note, in each of the 12 movements. It does not fall into key, major, minor or modal scenarios but that center is always present.
Independent melodies are made together, yet apart, and in a path of least resistance in falling together. Similar to film, editing is key, and each piece contains hundreds of edits – from the obvious to the very detailed and sublime.
Every voice, or line of music, or track, is independent, but exists as events in the natural world do. It is the nature of everything changing in its own way, connected in the overall environment, that encourages the music to move through time.
This helps to create a sound free of the restraints of any traditional musics. Themes, developments, lyricisms, counterpoint, chordal patterns, all exist, but in a flowing manner, not constrained by adhering to anything.
As each title suggests, there are definite influences. One might experience, due to this unique musical environment, an essence of each, such as the drive of a Thelonious Monk melody or ensemble, the undercurrent of how the square dance exists, through gesture and intent, or how Debussy thought of the sea, and how he incorporated those rhythms into his music. Yet these are all doorways into something completely original, using a spark of inspiration from the past.