Endless

21 Apr, 2024

MUSIC Information:

• Approved Measures
• D Major, B Minor
• 48 Measures
• Cello and Piano
• 2:45 Min
• 4 Pages

“Now a soft kiss- Aye, by that kiss I vow an endless bliss. John Keats

LITTLE KNOWN MASTERPIECES

There is a music book sitting on my shelf that I haven’t played in a while. It contains piano sonatas by composers from all over Europe — voices from another century, waiting to be heard again. The title reads Keyboard Sonatas of the Eighteenth Century. On the cover, just beneath it, are the words: “Little Known Masterpieces,” published by Schirmer’s Library of Musical Classics.

For a long time, I was drawn to that subtitle more than anything else. Little Known Masterpieces. It suggests something both important and overlooked — music that once lived in someone’s hands, in someone’s time, but now patiently waits inside a book, ready to be rediscovered.

One of the sonatas included in the book was composed by Manuel Blasco de Nebra, a Spanish musician born in 1750. Very little is known about his life, which ended at the age of thirty-four. Thirty-four years — a life that stopped far too soon, long before it could unfold fully.

SONATA IV IN G MINOR

Even though his music hasn't gained much recognition, it's been preserved. Around thirty keyboard sonatas survive, secured in scores and recordings, ready to be played again. Each time they are performed, they reach back across entire generations, reminding us that while a life may be brief, its music endures. This endless feeling - the echo of the composer's life in sound - it's what keeps me excited about the mystery of learning music that is little known.

After reviewing Manuel's piano piece, I realized with awe, how satisfying it is to play his Sonata IV in G minor. Even after all this time _ almost three hundred years since it was composed _ it feels as if I had enter a familiar place where I know, I will always be welcome, a place where I feel at ease.

FOUR MEASURES

I've composed a piece where I've incorporated a few measures from the 2nd movement of his Sonata IV into my own composition, which goes by the title: Endless. I have borrowed four measures to be exact.

With this composition for cello-piano, I wanted to capture my desire of a world full of things I wish never end. Not in an attempt to grieve, or be sad for the moments that faded, but to embrace them while they are present and be happy. An invented world where at least, we are capable of slowing down the motions around us, to enhance our lives.

THREE HUNDRED YEARS LATER

Did Manuel Blasco ever imagine that, three hundred years later, someone would still be playing and enjoying his music?, Did he yearn for endless time? Did he long for his work to last beyond his lifetime? Was he happy? Questions come to mind, many more, but at this point, any answers would be pure speculation.

The one thing I don't have to speculate about, however, is Nebra's music. I invite you to listen to the thirty keyboard sonatas that have survived. Take the time to hear them — their clarity, their structure that feels mathematical relaxing and yet, inventive. Once you begin, you may find yourself wishing it will never end.

SONGS I LOVE

Since childhood, music has stirred in me a contradiction: fullness and lack at the same time. Even now, the pop songs I love — songs that are entirely contemporary — leave me with a subtle ache. I experience something a bit strange — maybe a little sadness, a touch of nostalgia, for sure a drop of grief, perhaps some confusion, and without a doubt, real joy — but they also intensify the present so sharply that when they end, something inside me feels abruptly cut off.

Important Story by Nando Fortunato: A song that takes me to unknown places and then brings me back safe to the comfort of my own. Hard not to put this gem on repeat.

The Beast Within by Madonna: I would only face the so-called “truth” if Madonna hurled the whole messy sermon herself - because in her mouth, monsters, false prophets, dragons, demonic locusts, and angels of the abyss stop being myths and become a musical "revelation".

Family Affair by Mary J. Blige: Refusal of drama feels like my cup of tea. The song is convincing enough to make me believe that if I turn up the volume, the problems don't exist - they just fade into bass.

Titanium by David Guetta: Its melody really took me by surprise, despite its over-the-top dramatic "nothing can hurt me" energy. It somehow turns emotional survival into a ridiculously catchy song that's impossible not to leave on repeat all day long.

ANOTHER LIST

After the songs, I begin another list. Not of titles, but of simple moments in my life that carried feelings of endless happiness. Some of these moments reveal more than I usually allow, but they're experiences I wish would never end. Even knowing it’s an illusion, they feel endless — until they aren’t.

When they arrive, my body reacts before my thoughts do — I became aware of being alive. They ask nothing but attention and that's when my breathing deepens, and almost without notice, a smile is drawn in my face. Something in me leans towards them, wanting to stay there just a little longer.

5 minutes before my alarm goes off: Tiny free trial of peace before the resume chaos. I want desperately this 5 minutes to become 5 hours.

Riding a roller coaster: Terrifying experience, some people may think. Yet, I voluntarily climb into a metal machine that throws uncertainty around for fun, because somehow still feels safer than real life.

Drinking strong coffee: My face tighten in mild suffering. Seconds later I am grateful for the bitter black liquid. I do not fully understand it, but I do not wish to end.

Listening to silence: A moment in life that I can claim for myself, when nobody wants anything from me, and I don't need anything from anybody. I almost don't know who I am without the noise.

Eating dessert: Nature gave us fruit, then humans created triple-layer chocolate cake. That frosty architecture seems excessive. However, I should not be surprised by the consequences, after all, cause and effect has always been active.

A soothing melody: Organized noise to survived disorganized existence. Seem reasonable that when waves reach my ears, suddenly I feel like life makes sense. It doesn't.

Living life: An unsupervised project whit eight billion participants and no one to keep score. Yet, all pretending to know what is going on.

What unsettles me is how quickly I sense their expiration. I know it is not the things themselves, but the feeling they leave behind - that gentle ache of wanting time to pause, of knowing the moment is already slipping even as I am inside it.

ENDLESS BLISS

When I move through things that I know will end, the experiences are even more tender and feel more precious, and that is the irony. An irony so thick that I can almost deep fry it!. However, I know my list of things don't need to be preserved in order to be complete. They only need to be experienced and that is enough.

For my part, I assure you, every time I play "Endless" I'll be thinking in all the possibilities life offers. I see the world around me bright and full of hope, at the end of a long day, I can even fall into the deepest sleeps and vow, just like John Keats, of an endless bliss.