For The Love Of A Princess (from Braveheart)
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For The Love Of A Princess (from Braveheart)

Today I’m playing For the Love of a Princess, a version of the main theme from the 1995 film Braveheart in honour of composer James Horner who died earlier this week in a plane crash. The soundtrack from Braveheart earned Horner nominations in the BAFTAs, the Golden Globe and the Oscars. There will be more James Horner music over the coming days: he scored over one hundred films, some of the most well-known cinematic themes ever written.

If you’re looking for more film music, click here. To hear all of my June songs, click here. If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about why I’m trying to record a piano tune every day here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/for-the-love-of-a-princess

This Night
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This Night

It’s time for another Billy Joel song: today I’m playing This Night, a doo-wop classic from 1984 featuring the melody from Beethoven’s Pathétique Sonata. Indeed, “L.V. Beethoven” is credited as one of the song’s writers on the album notes. I hope you enjoy this song!

There’s more Billy Joel here, and to hear all of my June songs, click here. If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about why I’m trying to record a piano tune every day here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/this-night

Mary’s Song (Oh My My My)
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Mary’s Song (Oh My My My)

Tonight Taylor Swift kicks off the UK leg of her 1989 World Tour in Glasgow and I know quite a few friends who are attending the concert. Mary’s Song (Oh My My My) was apparently inspired by the long-lasting marriage of Swift’s neighbours.

I’d pre-recorded the song before leaving for Belgium, and indeed before Taylor Swift made worldwide news yesterday with her open letter to Apple regarding the announcement that in the trial 3-month period of the new Apple Music streaming service artists would not be paid. She explained that she would be withdrawing her 1989 album from the service. Within 24 hours Apple has backed down, with Apple Music executive Eddy Cue tweeting “We hear you, @taylorswift13 and indie artists. Love, Apple.” Taylor Swift may have millions, but in my opinion she’s quite right: artists should be paid for their work.

Anyway, I hope you like today’s song. There’s more Taylor Swift here, and to hear all of my June songs, click here. If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about why I’m trying to record a piano tune every day here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/marys-song

Ne Me Quitte Pas
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Ne Me Quitte Pas

Today I’m in Belgium at the European Parliament offices with a group of Scottish students who are taking part in the final of the OurEurope competition, organised by SEET. I’ve prerecorded possibly the most famous Belgian song ever written: Jacques Brel’s 1959 classic Ne Me Quitte Pas (“don’t leave me”). It’s a beautiful, haunting melody, and the middle section borrows a theme from Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 where Brel sings:

Moi, je t’offrirai des perles de pluie venues de pays où il ne pleut pas.
I’ll give you pearls of rain from lands where it doesn’t rain.

The song has been translated into many languages and has been recorded by hundreds of artists. I hope you enjoy my version today.

To hear all of my June songs, click here. If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about why I’m trying to record a piano tune every day here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/ne-me-quitte-pas

Kyrie from the Misa Campesina
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Kyrie from the Misa Campesina

Today I’m playing another piece from the Misa Campesina, the Kyrie. Like the other parts of the Misa Campesina, this song combines the normal parts of the mass with ideas of liberation theology which can be seen from the lyrics:

Cristo, Cristo Jesús,
identifícate con nosotros
Christ, Christ Jesus,
identify with us
Señor, Señor mi diós,
identifícate con nosotros
Lord, Lord my God,
identify with us
Cristo, Cristo Jesús, solidarízate
Christ, Christ Jesus, build solidarity
No con la clase opresora
que exprime y devora la comunidad
Not with the opressors
who squeeze and devour the community
Sino con el oprimido,
con el pueblo mío sediento de paz
Rather with the oppressed,
with my people, thirsting for peace

I hope you enjoy another piece from the Misa Campesina. Here are two other versions of this song: a more traditional one and a pop version which was the version I first heard. Both are quite different from my piano version!

My Misa Campesina recordings can be found here. To hear all of my June songs, click here. If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about why I’m trying to record a piano tune every day here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/kyrie-from-the-misa-campesina

Don’t Stop
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Don’t Stop

After Songbird earlier this week, I’m returning to Fleetwood Mac today as I play their 1977 classic Don’t Stop, one of the band’s most well-known songs. The random fact about this song is that it was used by Bill Clinton in his election campaigns, and in 1993 he convinced the then-disbanded group to come back together and perform it at his inaugural ball.

There’s more Fleetwood Mac here, and to hear all of my June songs, click here. If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about why I’m trying to record a piano tune every day here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/dont-stop

Waterloo
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Waterloo

Yesterday was the bicentenary of the battle of Waterloo and there have been many remembrance services and reenactments over the past few days. While I don’t want to trivialise the serious nature of these services, the reports of this bicentenary did make me think about another well-known Waterloo, so that’s the song I’ve chosen to play today.

Described as the quintessential Eurovision song by musicologist Dr Harry Witchel from the University of Bristol, Waterloo was ABBA’s winning 1974 Eurovision entry. The song tells the story of a girl who is about to surrender to love, just as Napoleon did at Waterloo. ABBA’s performance at Eurovision was completely novel: audiences were not used to flashy costumes and choreography, and until the early 70s all countries had to sing in one of their national languages. Waterloo broke the mould in many ways, a mould which has continued to be broken ever since! Given the more poignant nature of yesterday’s bicentenary I’ve decided to make my version of Waterloo a bit different from the original. I hope you enjoy it.

If you’re looking for more ABBA tunes, click here. To hear all of my June songs, click here. If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about why I’m trying to record a piano tune every day here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/waterloo

Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep
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Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep

The cheese alert is still in force. Here’s another song we talked about (and sang) last Saturday night, after a discussion about the organ playing of Klaus Wunderlich! Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep was first recorded in 1971 by its composer Lally Stott, but then made famous later that year by Scottish band Middle of the Road. Believe it or not, it is one of fewer than 40 singles to have sold more than 10 million physical copies worldwide, though few would admit to owning it! I hope you enjoy this cheesy throwback to the 70s.

To hear all of my June songs, click here. If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about why I’m trying to record a piano tune every day here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/chirpy-chirpy-cheep-cheep

Songbird
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Songbird

Fleetwood Mac played the Hydro in Glasgow last night and while I wasn’t there, I know quite a few people who were and I hope they all enjoyed the concert! Today’s song is Songbird which was written by Christine McVie and appeared on the classic 1977 album Rumours. It was later recorded by Eva Cassidy in 1998.

There’s more Fleetwood Mac here, and to hear all of my June songs, click here. If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about why I’m trying to record a piano tune every day here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/songbird

Dentist!
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Dentist!

Yesterday I had one of my wisdom teeth removed and this song came to mind as the circular saw approached my mouth… Dentist! is from the 1982 Alan Menken and Howard Ashman musical, Little Shop of Horrors. It took me back to when we produced Little Shop of Horrors when I was teaching at Mearns Castle. I think our plant is probably still doing the rounds of other schools! Here’s a clip of the brilliant Steve Martin playing the sadistic dentist Orin Scrivello in the movie version of the show.

To hear all of my June songs, click here. If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about why I’m trying to record a piano tune every day here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/dentist

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