I am starting to adore this newest of
rising piano stars. I know a fair amount about Yang Yang's fame....and of course, you heard of the
greatest of yesteryear's pianists, Liberace.......but watch out....here comes
Emily!!!
I call her "the Newest Lily of the
Piano" for one thing....her performances are not just polished or
near-impeccably polished.....she is a musical flower that blossoms and makes
her audience very relieved. Her piano performances are simply just like
water lilies that shine out in the sun, and that is probably a good nickname I
call her......
She can compose too as well as play the
piano. Here is my synopsis of some of her piano compositions....since I am a
composer myself and I wrote over 300 compositions....
C-Boogie
12-bar blues straight up in a boogie-woogie
style. It is almost great that she had an unusual ending to that which makes
other boogie-woogie songs obsolete.
Ellen's Song
This song was dedicated to Ellen
Degeneres....of course. It is a gentle ballad that starts in C major, and ends
in A minor. The style of the music is almost like what Yanni would do....even
if I do not know if Emily is a fan of Yanni.
Emmy Song (I Don't Need An Emmy)
Inspired by the saga of Susan Lucci not
winning an Emmy award for years...until she got one finally. Also in the key of
C major. Starts off as a pop ballad. She added a sort of slow jazz blues
progession and in the interlude...and she added a singing part which was an
brief outro. One YouTube video shows that this song was dedicated to Ellen Degeneres...as
well!
Give Thanks
Another ballad again in D major. There is a
little taste of her "Journey To My Heart", but the arpeggios in the
left hand are in fewer notes in this song.
Journey To My Heart
Almost a teeny bit of Helen St. Clair's
style in the 1980s (remember Helen's "Love Theme from the movie
"Flashdance?")...as well as the style of Yanni.
Basically, most of the piece's texture is
the arpeggiated left hand and the melodic line in the right hand with an
occasional countermelody in that same hand. It is semi-dramatic in the use of
chordal progressions, which are fairly simple, and completely tonal.
Northern Lights
The piece is a sort of study-ballad in D
major. Running open fifths on the octave and below in 16th notes in the right
hand---against slower-running upward arpeggios in the left hand----open up the
piece, and a middle section has flowing eighth notes over mainly the top half
of the keyboard. The final part has long whole notes in open chords (D
major, Bb major, C major, A minor), and then, 2 or 3 variations of it in faster
notes to add tension, and when the reprise occurs with the open fifths in the
right hand, the whole thing fades softly into a slow arpeggiated outro.
The Love in Us
This is one of the 3/4-meter pieces that is
enticing when you hear it. A fair amount of her original songs are ballads...so
does this one. There is the babbling-brook arpeggio in the left-hand, always
flowing, and a gentle melodic line in the right hand.
Waterlights
The piece is still another ballad in C
major. The piece has a simple texture....arpeggios that mix in slow and fast in
the left hand, and a melody in the right hand. The underlying concept of
the composition shows little bit of Vince Guaraldi (of course, the famous
composer for the Peanuts comic strip, and famous, of course, for the song
"Linus and Lucy"). This was the piece that opened the 2007 McDonald's
Thanksgiving Day Parade, which was featured on YouTube. Thanksgiving Day is the
precursor to the Christmas holidays, and if you heard the music of "A
Charlie Brown Christmas", you will see why it is a gently festive piece.
Therefore...
If you had not listened to Emily Bear, I
strongly suggest that you hear this pianist. You will never believe what can
happen to an emerging pianist like Emily. Oh, yeah!!
