Pure Imagination / Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Piano Solo

GET THE SHEET MUSIC: https://www.musicnotes.com/l/rKhSq
SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: https://bit.ly/2vtzW70
SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/2ci6Z1f

WEBSITE: http://www.charlesszczepanek.com
FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/charlesszczepanek
TWITTER: (@CSzMusic): http://twitter.com/CSzMusic
INSTAGRAM: (charlesszczepanek): https://bit.ly/2Lv6yDJ

"Music does bring people together.
It allows us to experience the same emotions.

People everywhere are the same in heart and spirit.
No matter what language we speak,
what color we are, the form of our politics
or the expression of love and our faith,
music proves:

We are the same."

--John Denver

"Music is the great uniter. An incredible force.
Something that people who differ on everything
and anything else can have in common."

--Sarah Dessen
"In my opinion, Pure Imagination is one of the most beautiful songs of the 20th century. Written for the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, released in 1971, the piece never gained much public attention until recently. It was recorded by a smattering of artists over the course of some 40 years, but not until the release of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 2013 and the passing of Gene Wilder in 2016 did the song garner much attention. Most of the music on my album, "Keys to the Cinema," was originally conceived for orchestra. In the case of this arrangement, I started as a jazz pianist would, writing down the basic chord changes, and composed a totally new arrangement around them. Ironically, throughout this compositional process, I heard the piano act more like a string section; a welcome departure from making a string section sound like a piano!

The arrangement opens with six of the most important notes of the original melody: the notes on which any singer would have the lyric “pure imagination” as they perform the piece. Through the opening section, these six notes are transformed harmonically and rhythmically, the left hand progressions mimicking the rising and swelling of a string section. The arrangement continues on in three sections, each building in harmonic complexity and fullness of registration. Before the piece gives way to the very familiar Somewhere Over the Rainbow, I created a transitional section in which the right hand takes over the fundamental harmony and the left hand creates both melody and texture. These measures, together with the very opening of the piece, are some of my personal favorites on the album.

As that transition ends, we are led into the seldom performed opening verse of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. The famous main melody is then presented simply at first, a few interesting color chords selected for variety. Toward the end of this first presentation of the melody, listen carefully for a short quote from Pure Imagination, played by the thumb and second finger of the right hand, while the fourth and fifth fingers of the same hand continue to play the melody of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. In dramatic fashion, the piece then transposes up in key and we hear another statement of the main melody, followed by an echo similar to the right-hand-harmony/left-hand-melody that ended Pure Imagination."

--Charles Szczepanek
CREDITS

Original Music - Bricusse/Newley Arlen
Arrangement and Performance - Charles Szczepanek
Producer - Charles Szczepanek
Director - Lorenzo Cuevas (http://www.lorenzocuevas.com)
Cinematographer - Brian Osback
Camera Operator - Christopher Gilbreth (http://www.cjgilbreth.com)
Editor - Tom Erickson
Piano - Mason & Hamlin BB (http://www.masonhamlin.com)
Location - Reel Men Studios (http://www.reelmenstudios.com)
Special Thanks to Jason Sipe at AZ Piano (http://www.azpiano.com)
Sound Recording - Winding Road Studios (http://www.wrdstudios.com)
Sound Mastering - Nathan James, Vault Mastering (http://www.vaultmastering.com)
Special Thanks to Murtaza Akhter, Estella Holmes, Kelly Jansen, Sean McConnell, Tyger McConnell, John McDonough, Wesley Merz, Ron Reynolds, Misty Wenger, and Ruth Wenger
Musical Arrangement and Sound Recording (P)(C) Copyright 2017 by Charles Szczepanek. Video Recording (C) Copyright 2018 by Charles Szczepanek. All Rights Reserved.

Видео Pure Imagination / Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Piano Solo канала Charles Szczepanek