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

Here are fourteen ragtime style flute duets - very contrapuntal - equally challenging and fun in both parts - sure to help teenage flute students keep on with their lessons! Below, find some reviews by flute teachers:Here are some reviews for these duets from flute teachers: ByDr. Mom on November 19, 2013 As a flute teacher, I watch for new and interesting music for my students. These Rags are terrific! They are harmonically and musically interesting, introduce a style to the students with which they may be unfamiliar yet has a "jazzy" feel, and are simple enough in range, rhythm and length (they're relatively brief) to be approachable to the intermediate student - a level at which one often needs interesting music to keep them going! - and above. I had one student who is versed in jazz (plays jazz trumpet) who tried to swing these, so I had the opportunity to work with him on how Rags differ from "swung" jazz, which was kind of fun. I feel these duets fill a need in the modern flute studio, and recommend them highly. Something to Rag about - for students & performers a-like! By Em on November 16, 2013 This 12-piece book is a delightful introduction to ragtime for flutists, who usually don't get the chance to play much jazz or "rag" music. What I perhaps enjoy most about the book is, the 2nd flute part has many chances for nice melodic interplay or fun walking bass lines to accompany the 1st flute. (Unlike many duet books that have a rather stagnant bass line for the 2nd flute/accompaniment.) If you are playing with students who are new to the territory, it is a great book to have them develop an ear for jazz chords. You'll need to review how to swing eighths, since that isn't covered here --it's for Intermediate players after all :). The lines should not be incredibly challenging though, and it is presented in such a way that whether up or down tempo, it's still fun to play. I did like playing most of the pieces up-tempo, though! My top favorite pieces are #5- "Forget-Me-Not", #6 - "Cotton Candy Rag", #11 - "High Country Stomp" (it's nice got a nice lilting feel) and #12- "Green Mountain Saunter." There is a great variety, and each piece has a memorable melody. Grab a flutist friend and play these! If you like to have up-beat and playful tunes (especially during these cold winter months) these will warm you up real fast. Hi Patricia,The Ragtime Miniatures for Two Flutes ? Set 1 Intermediate by Patricia Holmberg lends itself to development in rhythmic and reading skills. It offers studies of syncopated rhythms in 4/4 and 12/8. The 12/8 duets support improvement in the student?s triple feel. Also, the changes in meter challenge and support the enhanced reading skills of the student. Furthermore, the chromatic tones offer stylistic colors to the student?s assortment of fingering patterns. Students using the book had a positive response to the melodic content: it was fun to play?a breath of fresh air.Thank you for bringing your book to my attention. We await set two. Phyllis G. Ragtime Miniatures- Intermediate By Jean A. E. on November 7, 2013 This is Intermediate level music, it can satisfy several levels of players, and altho rags come over stylistically the same , these are varied enough . Except for mostly using flat key signatures, and having some confusion in finding your way around repeats and da capos, these are pleasant little works, some of which would make nice concert encores. The only feature I as a performer corrected when my friend and I played them thru was to 8 va some of the too low 2nd parts. Doing this seemed to improve the voicing.So In general, nice work,Pat!!Professional Flutist/ performer Jean A. "Back to School 2015".

Flute choir meets heavy metal!

Avenged Sevenfold is one of my absolute favorite heavy metal bands. I don't usually hear a flute choir when I listen to their songs, or mostly any heavy metal songs for that matter, but A Little Piece of Heaven is so creative, so musical, and so funny, that I couldn't help it. Also, Oingo Boingo headed up the instrumental parts of the original song, which is evident.

If you are unfamiliar with heavy metal, you don't need to know anything about this song, other than it's incredibly unique and has to be played with an attitude. Accentuate the down beats, lay off the full vibratos, keep pushing the tempo - it never should slow down, and channel your inner rocker.

This song was the brainchild of the late James "The Rev" Sullivan. With the help of Oingo Boingo musicians, the song was scored to include an orchestra, full wind section, and choir. This arrangement is less than half the length of the original song, but it still clocks in at around 3 1/2 minutes.

This arrangement is scored for 4 flutes, alto, bass, contrabass, and upright string bass or keyboard. It is essential that there is a strong bass line. The upright bass part could also be played by any bass clef C instrument, like a euphonium, trombone, or tuba. If you are lucky enough to know a drummer, that would help a great deal too. I did not include a drum part, only because I am not knowledgeable enough at writing for drums and would rather leave it out than mess it up!

I hope you and your group will enjoy playing this song as much as I enjoyed arranging it. And I hope your audience will like it too!