E major

Lift the Wings
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Lift the Wings

I’m playing catchup with song 47:365, Lift the Wings from Riverdance. I think this is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. I think the most effective part is the way in which the entire verse is a sort of ‘hanging dominant’ – entirely in B major which builds up to the movement into the chorus with a 7th added, ready to fall to the E major chorus. In my version I’m playing the verse in E, moving into the chorus in A.

The official Riverdance website explains Lift the Wings as follows:

While those souls who were forced to emigrate were faced with the heartbreak of separation, their human spirit was often lifted by a defiant hope at the prospect of a new life.

If you’re not familiar with the song, here’s a 1996 video from Radio City Music Hall.

I hope you enjoy my version below:

Sun and Moon
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Sun and Moon

Song 33:365 is one of my favourite songs to play: Sun and Moon from the musical Miss Saigon. It’s a duet performed by American GI Chris as he falls in love with Vietnamese bargirl Kim and the orchestration of this song from the show is wonderfully ethnic with pentatonic overtones. I’ve tried to capture this in my performance.

There are more songs from Miss Saigon in my collection, and if you’d like to know why I’m posting a song every day, click here.

Caledonia
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Caledonia

Song 31:365, the final song of January, is the beautiful song Caledonia written by Dougie MacLean in 1977. He apparently wrote the song in less than 10 minutes on a beach in Brittany, France. He’d been busking with some Irish friends and was feeling homesick. He wrote the song and took it back to the youth hostel where they were staying. Having shared the song with his friends and realised the feeling of being homesick was mutual: by the next day they were heading home.

I think this is one of the best Scottish songs of modern times and whenever I’m away from home it’s one song which always makes me homesick. I may even have been known to line up versions of the song performed by different artists on Spotify…

My original 2010 version included my accordion, but I thought I’d rerecord this today, mainly because I wanted to play the song again. I’ll include both versions below – let me know which one you prefer!

Here’s Caledonia 2017 version:

And here’s the original 2010 recording with accordion:

Wild Mountain Thyme
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Wild Mountain Thyme

Song 23:365 is the start of a trilogy of Scottish songs as we head towards Burns Night. Today’s song is Wild Mountain Thyme, also known as Purple Heather and Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go? The melody and lyrics are a variant of the song The Braes of Balquhither by the Scottish poet Robert Tannahill who was a contemporary of Burns. The song has been recorded by hundreds of artists, both from the folk and pop world. I hope you enjoy my piano version.

There’s lots more Scottish music in my collection and to find out why I’m playing a song a day, click here.

When All Is Said and Done
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When All Is Said and Done

Song 19:365 is the beautiful ABBA song When All Is Said and Done, first released in the Visitors album in 1981. Although the original version was up-beat, it told of the heartache after a relationship ends, something all the members of ABBA had experienced in that both Agnetha and Björn’s relationship and that of Benny and Annifrid had ended in recent years.

In 2004 Swedish jazz singer Viktoria Tolstoy recorded a slower ballad version with Benny Andersson on the piano. This ballad version was featured in the 2008 film version of the musical Mamma Mia, and it’s the style of my version which I think is more fitting for the lyrics!

If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about the 365 Songs project. If you’re looking for more ABBA songs, have a listen to my Tribute to ABBA album or check out my 2015 collection of ABBA songs from my archives.

Intermezzo No. 1
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Intermezzo No. 1

For my penultimate song of the year I’m returning once more to ABBA and the wonderful Intermezzo No. 1. This instrumental performed by Benny Andersson was included on the self-tilted ABBA album in 1975, and was one of only two instrumentals in the entire ABBA catalogue, the other one being Arrival. In his book about the stories behind the songs, musicologist Christopher Patrick Tesch describes the “whimsical and melodramatic” Intermezzo No. 1 as “a sophisticated pastiche of all that is great and wondrous in the world of classical music, injected with a shot of late twentieth century pop enthusiasm”. Kudos also to “Tom” from Tom’s ABBA Midi files for the very well programmed drum track I’ve used on this recording!

If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about the 365 Songs project or see all of my December songs here. If you’re looking for more ABBA songs, have a listen to my Tribute to ABBA album or check out this year’s ABBA songs from my archives.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/intermezzo-no-1

The Little Road To Bethlehem
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The Little Road To Bethlehem

Today’s Christmascious song is by the English composer Michael Head. The first time I heard The Little Road To Bethlehem was when Hayley Westenra included it on her Christmas album and I’ve loved it ever since! I particularly like the slightly irregular time signature which keeps you on your toes!

If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about the 365 Songs project. For more Christmaciousness, see all of my December songs here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/the-little-road-to-bethlehem

Pipes Of Peace
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Pipes Of Peace

Today’s song is Paul McCartney’s 1983 Christmas #1, Pipes Of Peace. The video accompanying this single saw McCartney playing the roles of a British and German soldier in the 1914 Christmas truce between troops fighting in World War I. During the football match in No Man’s Land, the two soldiers exchange photos of their loved ones. A shell blast forces both sides to withdraw, and the two men realise they still have each other’s photos. If it sounds familiar from more recent times, it’s because the 2014 Sainsbury’s Christmas ad took its inspiration from this video! You can compare the two here: here’s Pipes Of Peace, and here’s the Sainsbury’s ad.

If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about the 365 Songs project. For more Christmaciousness, see all of my December songs here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/pipes-of-peace

Hark The Herald Angels Sing
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Hark The Herald Angels Sing

After not being able to find any information about yesterday’s Christmacious tune, there is almost too much to write about Hark The Herald Angels Sing! This popular carol was written in 1739 by Charles Wesley and later adapted by Wesley’s colleague George Whitefield. However the version we know today uses music by none other than Felix Mendelssohn who, in 1840, wrote a cantata in commemoration of Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press. Music from this cantata was adapted by English composer William H. Cummings to fit Whitefield’s words. Earlier this month I played Once In Royal David’s City which is used as the opening hymn at the King’s College Chapel Cambridge Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. Hark The Herald Angels Sing has been used for many years as the closing carol for this service and it remains one of the most well-loved English carols.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/hark-the-herald-angels-sing/s-N8fFm

Loch Lomond
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Loch Lomond

Here’s my song for St Andrew’s day: Loch Lomond, the traditional song first published in 1841 in Vocal Melodies of Scotland. There are many theories about the origins of the song, most of which link to the Jacobite rising of 1745. The “high road” in question is seen as the main road between London and Edinburgh where the heads of the executed rebels were exhibited and the interpretation of the “low road” which I like best is that it was the underground route taken by the fairies or ‘little people’ accompanying the souls of dead Scots who died in foreign lands (England in this case!) back to the homeland to rest in peace.

Loch Lomond has been recorded by hundreds of performers, and the song has also become the unofficial anthem of Scottish band Runrig and have closed their concerts with it for over 25 years. My version is definitely not particularly Runrig in style, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

There are lots more Scottish songs in my collection here, and you can also have a look at my album of Scottish tunes. This one hasn’t made it into that collection yet, but it may do in the future if it goes down well! If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about the 365 Songs project or see all of my November songs here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/loch-lomond

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