'Comme un voyage' is a series of ten solo pieces inspired by Oriental music, tango as well as by Baroque, Celtic and Romantic music. It is particularly suitable for pupils as it makes increasing technical and musical demands while taking them on a journey through various kinds of musical styles: From 'L'oasis', an Orientally inspired piece with drone bass, via 'Cordoba', a tango with complementary themes, and 'Melodie celtique', a piece with a Breton touch, to the romantic and longing 'Romance' or 'Etude romantique', a piece of arpeggios. Great complementary material for music teaching.

Juan María Solare: Numbered Places (eleven piano pieces)



01 - One Way Flight to... (2:50)

02 - Twopenny Loaf [USA] (3:45)

03 - Three Bridges [UK] (2:25)

04 - Four Oaks [USA] (3:00)

05 - Five Pointz [NYC] (3:45)

06 - Six Mile Bottom [UK] (2:40)

07 - Seven Kings [UK] (5:10)

08 - Eight Streets [USA] (5:55)

09 - Nine Elms [UK] (2:50)

10 - Ten Ten Road [NC, USA] (3:25)

11 - Eleven Lands [UK] (3:30)



Totaltime: 39:15

Numbered Places * piano * music by Juan María Solare



The cycle Numbered Places startsfrom a simple idea: the piece nr. 1 would have a title that begins with theword One, the piece nr. 2 a titlethat begins with the word Two and soon up to an arbitrary number (in this case, eleven).



For everything to have more cohesion, English names of different places orregions in either USA or (mainly) UK were used.



In its own way, Numbered Placesis therefore a conceptual album - alreadyfrom the point of view of titles.



Also musically, this world of sound has cohesion: instrumental piano music,neoclassical aesthetics (a somewhat broad concept that encompasses composerssuch as Erik Satie or Ludovico Einaudi), a certain simplicity in its surface.



Let us briefly comment each of the titles:



- One WayFlight to ...: The imaginary journey starts here. Each person will completethe sentence with the destiny of their choice.

- TwopennyLoaf: This is a neighborhood (and geographically a cape) in the city ofGloucester, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA. It is believed to have gotten itsname because it is shaped like a (bread) loaf that at the time cost twopennies.

- ThreeBridges: It is a city somewhere between London and Brighton, and a nodalpoint where trains typically split. Musically, the most minimalistic of all thecycle.

- Four Oaks:There are numerous places so named, both in England and the US, and possibly inother countries. I can imagine that there were actually four oak trees planted near.

- FivePointz: Neighborhood in Queens, New York. A graffiti mecca that wasdemolished in 2014 to build expensive buildings. And yes, it is spelled with zin this case.

- Six MileBottom: Is a hamlet near Cambridge in England. The hamlet derives its namefrom its distance from the start of Newmarket Racecourse and because it lies ina valley bottom. There is no public transport. The old train station, closed in1967 for lack of use, is now a private residence.

- SevenKings: It is a neighborhood in Ilford, East London. The earliest recordeduse of the name is as Sevekyngg or Sevekyngges in 1285, possibly meaning'settlement of the family or followers of a man called Seofoca'

- EightStreets: it is a (very sought-after) neighborhood located in the heart ofthe historic South End of the city of Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

- Nine Elms:a district of South West London. Nine Elms Lane was named around the year 1645,from a row of elm trees bordering the road.

- Ten TenRoad: it is a place -actually the main road- in the town of Apex, NorthCarolina, USA.

- ElevenLands: this place is mentioned in an old legal report from around 1782 asexisting in North London ("a place called Eleven Lands, containing fiveacres of arable, formerly Cosby's, beonging to a farm in the said parish ofBletcheley...", in " Acollection of the Reports of Cases, the Statutes, and Ecclesiastical Laws,relating to Tithes", volume 3). It has certainly changed its name.Musically, this last piece has a certain tango aura.





Why eleven pieces and not more? The truth is that - incredibly as it mayseem - I didn't find any place called "Twelve" something. Yes thereare such names in other languages, but I wanted to keep some consistency. Thereare also pubs or bars called Twelvewhatever, but since they are not sponsoring my music, I had no motivation togive them free advertising at the moment.



This album was released in early 2020 on Spotify, iTunes and allother online platforms through the label BlissRecordings in London (part of frtyfve).Find your favorite service here: https://frtyfve.lnk.to/NPVol1



There are alsovideos of several pieces of this album. They are in the following playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL70vQeCRYmkp3vEdIkdnjJyiU1aZ_u7HA

The present volume contains a selection of very easy recital pieces for violoncello and piano which can be played in the first position after 1-2 years of cello lessons. The selected pieces are original works from the Renaissance period to the present day: from the Baroque minuet, the classical sonatina or the Romantic character piece to contemporary music and tango, blues or pop. The pieces are suitable for individual, group and chamber music lessons, for practising on one's own and especially for the first auditions, concerts or competitions. A musical journey through 500 years of cello music!