“They—words—act only to delay or distract from the bliss of the listening. You see, we at The Ark of Music know a secret. And this music reveals said secret. But you’ll have to listen for yourself to learn of it, to get the knowledge. For, that knowledge too is beyond words. Enjoy this. Breathe it in. Experience it. Consume it. Over and over again.”
Words we used in a vain attempt to describe the listening experience that is, One Song, the original 42-minute journey into the blissful musical universe of Melbourne, Australia’s very own composer & pianist, Galliano Sommavilla.
Just one week later, we’ve been presented with One Song 2. Upon just learning that there was a second act, our collective hearts here at The Ark of Music leaped for joy.
“What am I trying to say? One thing maybe, a quote from Andy Warhol, ‘Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.’”
HERE’S WHAT WE DUG MOST…
Opening gently, perhaps pensively, key strokes feel like the first drops of an early morning sun-shower, lightly falling into a nearby pond. Heart-stirring dynamics come quickly as the winds pick up at 1:50, then recede once more. For several minutes this beautiful, silky ebb and flow cycles and repeats, cycles and repeats and all I can think is… Spring.
And for the first time in many months, too many months, I find myself leaning back, eyes closed, and just listening. I don’t want to write. I don’t want to think. I only want to listen, as the cascade at 6:45 brings me close to tears. This urgency continues a new theme, one of desperation and loss. A beautiful tragedy begins to unfold, and at 9:30 the tears come.
As the composition rolls on, we find a curious jazz-inspired theme, to which Galliano returns, time and time again. Almost as if he’s found a respite to the preceding emotional storm, a dimmer to the blinding light, a shelter to the storms which so often come and go. (Example 18:36)
As the second act of One Song winds its way to conclusion, I can’t help wondering what sparked the inspiration. Whatever it was, it feels beyond time, like an unquenchable thirst, a journey whose beginning occurred beyond one’s ability to recollect, and whose end is not yet ready to be considered. Either way, I found myself hoping that Mr. Galliano finds what he’s looking for. Or, and the very least, finds in this music the strength to continue searching.
IN CONCLUSION…
Divinely inspired. Expansive. Other worldly. One of kind sonic art. Like a dance between rain-showers & sunny skies, love & tragedy, faith & despair. Ultimately, in Galliano Sommavilla’s, latest composition, One Song 2, we have found music which can inspire beauty. Music which can inspire depth. Music which stirs the heart and yanks lose one’s emotions, causing even the most hardened of hearts to feel something.
It has previously been written of Sommavilla, “It goes without saying that, to make great art, one must possess a great passion for that art.” This phrase rang in my head while listening to this latest piece. For it is only through a most excellent ability to execute one’s craft that a work like this can exist. Only thousands of hours with one’s muse can bare fruit of this quality. Find a quiet place, especially now, and spend 41:01 with Galliano Sommavilla.
WHOSE LOVECHILD…?
A stirring & masterful amalgamation of Classical, Jazz, and Contemporary piano music…
BELOW: Watch & listen to music from Galliano Sommavilla’s album, One Song 2, and connect with his website and social media platforms. Please support Galliano Sommavilla by visiting him online, and playing, downloading, and/or purchasing his music, or attending a live show! And, as always, thank you for supporting real music!
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