The first album of Warren Mars' piano pieces

I have been composing and playing the piano since the age of 10, in fact my first composition was a piano piece entitled "Snow". For most of my adult life however I lacked a decent acoustic piano and had to make do with cheap electronic keyboards. This was enough to try out compositions and arrangements but not enough to reach concert standard. After my father's death in 2012 however I inherited his piano and I gradually increased my time on it until it became my primary instrument in the home. In the last 5 years I adopted a regime of daily scales and arpeggios and playing through my compositions on the piano. I found that my technique improved considerably as did my sight reading and general piano understanding. I found myself arranging my compositions specifically for the piano whereas previously I had simply produced lead sheets or arranged for a specific ensemble. ("Songs of Travel" is an outstanding exception.)

In mid 2021 in the height of COVID lockdown I found that I had more than enough solo piano pieces for an album so I decided to track down a quality pianist and make a professional recording. So it was that I found the well-known Melbourne-based classical pianist Nicholas Young who took on the job of premiering these works and after a series of rehearsals we booked in to Move Records in Melbourne in mid November where we recorded 12 pieces on the studio's wonderful Yamaha grand. We also videoed the recording process and you can watch the footage of Nick playing the pieces on YouTube.

I took my banjo with me to the recording studio, intending to simply use it to get Nick in the right frame of mind for the more folk style pieces but we found that the piano and banjo worked surprisingly well together and after trying a couple of the pieces with and without it I decided that "Dance with the Devil" and "The Mating Flight of the Herons" had more life and interest with the banjo in. So it is that a classical piano album comes with a little banjo on it. It was not what I intended originally but I believe it is for the best.

There are other ways in which this album breaks the normal classical piano mould too. Most noticeably there is a rock element in some of the pieces which is not normally heard in the classical repertoire. Many hard-core classical fans despise rock, mostly for its pounding drums and bass, it's often simplistic and repetitive lyrics, it's often ham-fisted arrangements and its loud volume, but "rock" is just a style of music and if it can be written down with the detailed harmony and full instrument usage of the classical tradition and performed on traditional classical instruments then I believe it can rightfully be considered "classical". Classical music is often ridiculed by non-believers on the grounds that it is dull and out-of-date. Bringing the rhythms and culture of other genres into the classical world is something that will broaden its appeal with the mainstream and also liberate the player who longs to be part of that too.

The entire album is good IMO but if your time is limited I recommend you listen to: "Matilda Goes to the Ball" which is pure classical, "The Mating Flight of the Herons" which is a lyrical piece in the Asian folk style and "Approaching the Summit at Dawn" which is rock.

- Warren Mars 2022

The album is available on all the major digital music outlets either to buy or just stream. Go ahead and click the logo of your preferred supplier and you will be taken to the album.

	Watch the videos on YouTube
	Go to the YouTube videos playlist
	Watch the videos in full HD on YouTube Music
	Listen to the album without the videos on YouTube
	Listen to the album on Apple Music
	Listen to the album on Spotify
	Listen to the album on Amazon Music