Another of the songs from A Change of Legacies

Here is another of the songs from A Change of Legacies. Not surprisingly, it is a piano and cello duet, Beethoven's Sonata for cello and piano no. 2 in G minor:

One of the songs from A Change of Legacies

As we get closer to the publication of A Change of Legacies, I thought I'd post one of the songs that will feature in the story, Mozart's 12 Variations of "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman." I'll follow up with another soon, as well as an announcement!

Corelli's Christmas concerto

On my drive back to my family's home, there's a particular wooded area that, for reasons unknown, always makes me think of London townhouses, probably in the Regency era, all lit up with candles for the evening. It's some sort of weird trigger, I guess. At this time of year, I'll certainly be imagining the house festooned with greenery, with sugared fruits and other confections set out. And perhaps the family will be eating dinner, before they go to attend a concert that would include Corelli's Christmas concerto.

Happy holidays to you all!

Scarlatti's Fandango

Today's musical interlude is the harpsichord version of Scarlatti's Fandango. I haven't been able to come across a version of it as I've envisioned it in ACL, but you can imagine it would be much snappier than it is as played here, although this version is certainly appealing.

A few pieces for piano and cello

These are some favorites of mine, and serve as a good musical accompaniment to this part of "A Change of Legacies," if you're interested in listening along.

Ralph Vaughan Williams is well beyond the Regency, but his music is so quintessentially English, and so beautiful, I listen to him quite a bit while I am writing.



Also a bit beyond the Regency, but we are eventually going to catch up to Schubert. Camille Thomas and Beatrice Berrut do an amazing job with this; I really wish they would release an MP3 of this because I would buy it right up.




This one actually makes an appearance in ACL2: Beethoven's Cello Sonata No. 2 in G minor. António Meneses and Maria João Pires play it with a nice, quiet intimacy that I think matches how it would have been played in the story.

A little musical interlude

I heart Ralph Vaughan Williams; even though he came well after the Regency and as such won't ever be able to be used in my work, I listen to him pretty frequently, and his music is just so evocative of England. I particularly love that he takes themes from old folk music and hymns, and turns them into something new and beautiful. Like "Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus."



You can just barely tell that it uses bits of "Star of the County Down:"

The soundtrack of England

We are in the midst of dreary weather here, and for some reason it got me thinking about English birdsong. One of my favorite things when I'm traveling in Britain is to take a walk in the countryside, or in a garden, with the birds there just chirping away. Is it me, or are they more musical than those I've grown used to in America? There's certainly quite a variety, for such a comparably small amount of land.

So if you're experiencing dreary winter weather as well, I recommend putting this on and imagining you're Elizabeth Darcy, having a nice country walk on a fine morning. It's also a fine accompaniment to reading JAFF. ;-)

Substituting Scarlatti

I've been of a mood to post some music today, but it's not the right time for some of the pieces I want to share. Here's a beautiful piece by Scarlatti, though, that shows why he ended up being a very fine substitute for Schubert (at least for now) in "A Constant Love". I make no claims that Georgiana plays nearly so well as Vladimir Horowitz, because, I mean, he's Vladimir Horowitz, but the level of difficulty indicates the skill level she's willing to attempt.


It also sounds completely reinvented on the piano, compared to how it would have sounded when first played, on harpsichord.