Richard J Chandler

In Evening Begins, the feeling that inspired the piece is transition. Its joyful mood captures the feeling of having just finished one’s work day or school day and the feeling of looking forward to the rest of the evening.  The dance-like rhythmic interplay of bass and treble along with the use of short bursts of silence propel the piece forward to its boisterous ending.

Evening Walk utilizes a repeating pattern until the very end, grounding it with the steady rhythm of walking.  Its constant 5/4 helps musicians to settle into this more unusual meter as easily as taking an evening walk.

Waves Lapping was inspired by watching and listening to the continually varying length of time it took for each wave from the Great Lake, Lake Superior, to wash up the beach and back down into the lake. At the time I observed those waves, they were generally moving at the pace reflected in the varying rhythm of this piece.

In Prayer-like, the pianist uses very close hand positions, which along with liberal use of the pedal, evokes sonorities that are contemplative, haunting and meditative.

The main theme of Sleep Now was written many years ago, when my oldest daughter, who has been an adult for over a decade, was four years old. She had awoken from a bad dream in the middle of the night and was crying. I took her into the living room to calm her down. While sitting with her on the couch, watching a gentle snowfall out the window, this theme and the lyrics of the piece came to me and once she was settled, I wrote them out. I recently found this sketch and added the middle instrumental interlude to complete the piece and this collection.