ESTUARIES - G.Steinway (Sosnowski)

[etLux]

Estuaries
Piano Improvisation
David Sosnowski

To listen:
www.DavidSosnowski.com

Hi All,

My system's been giving me hives lately, with
Finale stubbornly forcing my soundcard to 96K;
hence, not much doing with orchestral work.

But in the interest of keeping my hand in, one
more of my little improvisations on Gary's
Steinway. He seems to know when I play, it, too;
this time, he called right around 05:58 and we
were chatting on the phone through the end of
the piece.

Thus, at least this time, I've got a perfectly
good excuse for all my clams: Gary did it.

Enjoy...

All my best,



David
-----
David Sosnowski
www.DavidSosnowski.com

[valhalx]

David,

What a magnificent improvisation! As I was carried away by this, I heard so many different things and different influences. What came to me most (and everyone will hear something different) was Charles Ives. Not his style or idioms, but his spirit. A lot of your work has the same effect on me, the Ives.

Brilliant work. Didn't hear any clams. Gary must have been speaking soft, lol.

Best,

Bill

[Raymond62]

This is the very first piece I didn't like. Muddy, undefined, too much reverb or sustain. Sorry, David, but it is.

Raymond

[Larry G. Alexander]

It has an unusual, "smeared" sound as though you are holding down the sustain pedal from beginning to end. It's difficult to distinguish one note from another. Also, the high end of the audio spectrum is missing, for the most part, except for a short segment in the middle. (?)

Sorry for being frank but that's how it sounds on my 'high-end' sound system.

My Best,

[rolifer]

David

I don't know what it is about your music, but it always inspires me to do something.

I listened to Devil's Sea the other day and immediately started a piece for strings that I completed in just a matter of hours. Today I listened to this new one of yours, began a new piece and 2 hours later, the piano part is finished and the violin part is a quarter of the way done.

One time I opened your page, saw the piece called The Perseids and without even listening to it, I immediately started a piece I called The Leonids. Since then I have also done The Orionids and just posted my version of The Perseids.

It seems like every time I open your page (which I have bookmarked), I get inspired to compose. Sometimes even without listening to any of the music but I always go back again.

I live less than a mile away from the Chesapeake Bay which is the largest estuary in the United States. I have improv'ed many a night out on the bay in many different ways.

Improv is the rawest form of music and as such is one of my favorite styles.

There is some clipping just shy of 2/3 of the way thru.

Great work

Ron

[Michael A. Wiktor]

David,

A very impressive work. I was, in a sense, carried away with the flow and texture. Seems to get a bit more hectic or agitated toward the end.

A great blend of dissonance and consonance; being a "impromptu" makes it even more brilliant.

Much enjoyed, ... sincerely.

M

PS, How come the lights on your site went out?

[etLux]

This is the very first piece I didn't like. Muddy, undefined, too much reverb or sustain. Sorry, David, but it is.

Raymond

Raymond, please, never apologize for a sincere
musical opinion!

As with everyone here, I want to improve my work
in any way I can.

And, very definitely, your comments caused me to
review this.

As I mentioned in the header post, I've been suffering
under the tyranny of a malignant soundcard... lol. The
recording sounded fine -- through that soundcard. But
when I listened to this on another machine, it sounded
dreadful!

I have now re-recorded this on a different machine with
a different soundcard... and I do hope I've got it
somewhere near right, this time.

All that said, this is rather a dark piece in many ways,
with extensive use of sustain to create texture... and
I certainly would not argue the clarity of it could be
better in the hands of a young, hot pianist with ten
working fingers.

Alas, I'm an old, tepid pianist, with nine fingers that,
er, well, sort of work... rofl... but I do my best.

Thank you, Raymond, I appreciate your voice on this,
and hope you find the re-recording somewhat improved.

All my best,



David
-----
David Sosnowski
www.DavidSosnowski.com

[etLux]

It has an unusual, "smeared" sound as though you are holding down the sustain pedal from beginning to end. It's difficult to distinguish one note from another. Also, the high end of the audio spectrum is missing, for the most part, except for a short segment in the middle. (?)

Sorry for being frank but that's how it sounds on my 'high-end' sound system.

My Best,

Larry, do see my post above to Raymond. You were most
definitely right on this -- the sound on it was way, way off.

Thank you, my friend, for pitching in an honest comment that
encouraged me to investigate further.

I confess readily to compensating my crooked old slow fingers
with perhaps too much right foot -- but I do believe you'll find
this at least somewhat cleaner and clearer, now.

All my best,



David
-----
David Sosnowski
www.DavidSosnowski.com

[rpearl]

David,

I don't get much time to stop by the Listening Post these days, but I did have a chance to hear this latest (your orch/choir piece will have to wait for another day...). I guess I heard the un-muddy version, because while there was much pedal, there was also much clarity. I thoroughly enjoy this, and love the way melodic lines rise up, take prominence, then recede; the movement from intense chromaticism to the diatonic - and back - was a delight, and very touching.

I don't know much about improvisation except to say that there is the create-on-the-spot kind of extemporaneous playing, and the improvising on something pre-existing. Both have their great traditions and practitioners - you fall into the category of the former, and with flying colors.

If Gary is at "fault" for this by having called you, then you two ought to get a "friends and family" deal so you can speak more often!

A very moving rumination, and for that, many thanks.

Be well.

[sd cisco]

Hi David;
Great stuff, these improvs of yours! Thank you!
BTW, I appreciate your website makeover, you have added a lot more active links to play your other works, so I will be drilling down and exploring!!
Best regards,
sd cisco