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I produce music that incorporates impressionistic, modernist, minimalistic, jazz, and rock elements that, for the most part, is suitable as relaxing, pensive background music. You can find my greater body of work on my YouTube, which you can find by searching for my name, there ("PJ Cornell"). I try to update this podcast weekly, but if you want access to my broader body of work as an improvisatory musician, please follow me on my social media.
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"Doverie," or "доверие," means "trust" in Russian. It is an improvisation for keyboard and guitar. The bass line sounds like an acoustic bass, but it is actually also my acoustic guitar. The form would best be described as an elegie. When I improvise, this is frequently the form that emerges unless I am intentional about how I think about the form …
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Horus (Sonata for Keyboard) - in g# minor This episode of Friday Music at Five features "The Proud Bird," by Romansk V. This is a depiction of the ancient Egyptian god of Horus. What grabbed my attention in this piece is the artist's choice to reimagine the ancient two-dimensional Egyptian images and render it in three dimensions with very interest…
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Agave The agave is a desert cactus. It spreads out almost like a flower; but unlike a flower, it survives year in and year out in the inhospitable desert. It is so sweet that its flesh is processed and used as an alternative to sugar. Its glory is its steadfastness, longevity, and sweetness. Prickly and yet beautiful on the outside. Alive and susta…
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Sleeping City - Sonata for Guitar and Piano in e flat minor This is a sonata for guitar and piano in e flat minor. While it is somewhat in the realms of minimalism and jazz in terms of style, it follows the basic classical three-movement sonata form. I chose e flat minor because it has a dark, murky, mysterious quality. F Sharp Major is its relativ…
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Rokaya Muslims have a practice known as "Rokaya," which is a ceremonial prayer which cleanses a house of unclean spirits. The idea of this practice is highly suggestive to me. It suggests something rather akin to an exorcism, yet less theatrical. It's more like a center of calm in a person that they find deep within their soul and extends, gently, …
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"Hotep" is an Egyptian word meaning "peace." This is an instrumental rock song for electric keyboard, guitar and bass. From a technical standpoint, the piece takes the form of a theme and variation. The stories told in Egypt, and the forms, laws, and totems they revered are all the same ones revered by the Western world today. "The Book of the Dead…
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