The Nostalgia of a Thousand Memories by Antonio James Higgins (b. 2005)
Elisabeth Lefkovitz, piano
Recorded live at the Cedarville University Fall 2023 Composition Recital.
Notes on the piece:
Each movement is supposed to depict picturesque scenes to make the listener ponder and reflect. The inspiration to compose this suite was the music of Takashi Yoshimatsu, specifically his wonderful Pleiades Dances. Like Yoshimatsu’s pieces, each movement employs either mixed meter or quintal harmony, and sometimes both.
I. Vestiges of Green Gables (0:00)
This movement is meant to depict a wistful image of the Green Gables house in the Anne of Green Gables series. The stacked fifths give a wistful expression of childhood depicted through the lens of an adult, yet give a hopeful air for the future.
II. Tranquility in Autumn (2:33)
This movement is meant to be an homage to the relaxing, hometown themes present in video games like Pokémon or Animal Crossing. It’s meant to evoke the falling and rustling of the leaves in fall, and a sense that all is right in the world.
III. Portrait of a Sleepless Night (4:53)
This movement takes a vague sense of Impressionism and transposes it over the general mood of the suite as a whole. It’s meant to be a climactic section, with octaves in the bass, open fifths in the right hand, and feelings of hollowness and full harmony at different points throughout. It evokes a sense of insomnia and wonder at the same time.
IV. Rhapsody of the Stars (7:33)
A fast paced, Yoshimatsu-inspired finale, this last movement is meant to be a sparkling reflection of the openness of space, with mixed meter representing the rhapsodic nature of space, and open fifths representing the vastness of the stars.
2023 © Antonio J. Higgins, All Rights Reserved.
Video background: Morning on the Seine in the Rain by Claude Monet (1840-1926)