new age Piano

Par Robert J. Wierzbicki, newagepiano.net, le 15 mars 2010

"if only …" by Galya is one of the most interesting new age piano CDs that I have listened to in the past few years! Strongly recommended to all fans of classical new age piano.

If Only is a stunning solo piano debut by Galya, a young composer originally from The Ukraine, now living in France. Considered the best student at the conservatory she attended and the first place winner of international competitions, Galya’s mastery of the piano allows her the freedom

Having listened to Galya’s CD, I asked myself what’s with the cheerful picture of the sea, the blue sky and the girl on the cover. The tracks on the CD are quite depressing, mostly sad, and left me in an emotional state I found myself in for the first time having listened to George Winston's "December". The music is wintery, nostalgic, contemplative, and sad, but at the same time brilliantly different from anything you’ve heard before. Trained in classical music, Galya plays skilfully with tone structures as if they were objects, the form and proportions of which can be remodelled any way you like. Sometimes they end up being abstract, something you can barely describe, other times they result in a clearly identifiable harmonious form which appears to be somewhat familiar. The single keystrokes sometimes come across like an affectionate hug, and sometimes they appear to be a thunderous salvo from the guns. The individual chords sometimes sound tender and harmonious, at other times they come across as being dissonant and threatening. There are positions in the music where one can recognise musical constructs well known from great new age piano masters like George Winston and David Lanz – almost monotonous, repetative phrases, which create a unique sound ambiance and arouse undefinable feelings. Galya artistically packages new age piano music in the form of an almost classical piano music, recognisably influenced by Claude Debussy in the harmony. For me the cover is a kind of metaphor for the unreachable – a dream figure which is gone when we wake up. Just like Galya’s music. It is announcing the summer, but resounds from the depths of winter.

"if only …" by Galya is one of the most interesting new age piano CDs that I have listened to in the past few years! Strongly recommended to all fans of classical new age piano.

15 Mar 2010
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