Lullaby - Score Video
I’ve always loved score videos, youtube videos with the score scrolling as you watch. I recently released the Reflections album on my youtube channel with a nice visualization and the album art, and as nice as it is I thought it was missing something. I’ll likely be releasing the rest of the album as score videos as well as time permits, it does take longer than I expected to put them together but they’re also just a ton of fun. I hope you all enjoy them too!
Lullaby - Score Video
The piece follows a kind of abbreviated arc structure and is somewhat programmatic, but I didn’t have a specific storyline I was trying to depict. The idea is more the feeling of being comfy in bed and having somebody read or sing to put a cherished person (or pet!) to sleep. As they doze off, their minds get filled with all kinds of images and excitement and adventure until they drift off into deeper sleep, and we return back. It’s more about the abstract feelings than a plot, but you can certainly fill in a concrete story if you’d like.
There’s a constant drone on middle C throughout the entire piece, right up until the end. I wanted to have an element there to ground things and connect the sections, and also keep that resonance open on the piano to add a sense of space and depth. In the middle section with the wide left-hand arpeggios, I wanted the open voicings there to really flood the piano with warmth and overtones. It’s a big contrast from the sparse harmony and high register of the beginning and end and highlights the imagination and a bit of whimsy there in the “sleepy dream” part.
And then, things slow down. The music takes a breath. We return back to the drone, with the second to last note being that final leading tone before the last chord. The voicing of the last chord with the low C is almost like eyes closing, or maybe closing a door. The piece is short, but it says what it wants to say and doesn’t overstay its welcome. It was a joy writing this piece, and I hope you enjoy listening (and performing!) the piece too.