Sunday, April 14, 2024

"Secret Garden"


Last fall, I learned some parts for the middle section of "Secret Garden" (piano, Clavinet, and bass).  I kept either forgetting or not having enough time to record an example of what I'd learned, but I finally got around to it a couple days ago.

For the bass part, I referenced the rough mix that's included as a bonus track on the CD (because the bass part is much easier to hear there), but inexplicably, this middle section is eight measures longer in the final version.

I think the two hands in the Clavinet part play the same thing an octave apart, aside from a few notes that are tenths (at ~1:23 in my recording, ~3:23 in the actual track).

At some point, it also occurred to me that the structure of "Secret Garden" illustrates the title.  The middle section is slower and generally less involved than the bookending sections, and these differences hint at a sort of seclusion.  It's similar to what I wrote about in "The Tell-Tale Heart" a number of years ago, although here it's purely instrumental.