Product Description
About the music
Both pieces of
this diptych are miniatures with a
structure quite similar to each of the pieces of the Album für die Jugend Opus 68 by Robert Schumann. The melodies are
strongly rooted in Japanese music (particularly obvious in the second piece).
Aesthetically, this
is neoclassical music (a quite broad concept nowadays). Fans of Erik Satie,
Ludovico Einaudi or Joep Beving will possibly feel at home.
Both pieces were
composed on 6 June 2020 (the first one with my daughter Laura sleeping on my
breast). Find this music soon on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube or any other streaming
platform (either under my name or performed by other pianists, possibly Iannis
Eralos). Total duration: ca. 5:15.
https://open.spotify.com/album/27MbJnfPjcolbQZAmNs8tK
Weep Because Its Over: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWflYuEoLy8
Smile Because It Happened: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SQFUlb7lFg
About the titles
In a poem by the
German Romantic poet Ludwig Jacobowski titled "Leuchtende Tage" (Radiant Days) and
published in August 1899, he writes:
Nicht weinen, weil sie vorüber!
Lächeln, weil sie gewesen!
Literally:
Don't cry because they are over (they: the radiant days)
Smile because they happened.
Usually it is quoted
this way:
Don't cry because its over
Smile because it happened.
For my piece, I
adapted this idea und -not quite humbly- think that is better now:
Do weep because its over
But also smile because it
happened
Why is it better
now? Because where is the issue with weeping? The first step is to accept that
pain exists. Nobody has the moral authority to deny you the possibility of
crying. Weeping is not a shame or a disgrace. Besides, only he who weeps is
credible when he laughs.
By the way,
these words are sometimes attributed to Confucius.
I leave to you the task of determining whether Jacobowski borrowed this thought
from him.
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.