Filming of Elegy of the Dynast

by Clare

Scott finished arranging this piece several weeks ago, but due to his accompanying engagements, we had to wait to record it. So when things got a bit cooler for him, we finally got this done!

You may have noticed that in this video, I (Clare) am playing the primo part! That is because Scott insisted on playing the secondo part due to the representation of the parts. This piece is supposed to be a duet between a male and a female, and so he insisted to play the bass part! (Actually, if you checked out the Drinking Song that we did, you’ll notice that I played the secondo and he played the primo. At the time, we didn’t think much of it, but finally when it came to time to release it, we thought maybe it would be somewhat “misleading”, and therefore the “dubbing of mouthing” of us presenting the “opera” in the video. Haha)

So to present it the way it was meant for the roles, I played primo this time.

To memorize the melody is usually very straightforward, so I was able to learn and memorize my part in about two days. Then, it was time for our rehearsals. When you memorize and can play by yourself, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you can play together. When the other person joins, it is always a little bit distracting at first. So we had to rehearse to get used to the physical aspect, and the musical aspect - know when to go above or under so we don’t bump into each other and know what to listen for in the other person’s part! When that’s all sorted out and got easier, we knew it was time to record!

Funny thing is that there was a little surprise on the day of filming. I must have slept funny or something, I woke up with a very painful right shoulder! (Life is full of surprises, isn’t it! Haha) So for a good hour, we were debating if we should record or if we should wait. We were pretty prepared, and we thought it wouldn’t be so hard, the recording session should go pretty smoothly, so maybe we should just do it. But on the other hand, my shoulder was so painful, would it be less of a problem if we recorded a day or two later? Maybe it’ll be easier…..

So as sweet as Scott is, he gave me a massage! (Awwww……) And guess what?!?! My shoulder was MUCH BETTER after! So we decided to stick to the plan and record it!

The recording session went smoothly! We played with our hearts and souls, as this piece symbolizes a tragic love story. I love the harmonies, how it progressively makes your heart sink deeper and deeper as you listen to it. The original melody was presented by a violin or viola, which to me, with the feature of violin can sustain a note, represents the longing perfectly. Not only the minor key start makes you feel the tragedy, but also the way it’s written takes you to a new dark place of feeling the heart-breaking love between the lovers - you can feel all of this by only listening to the music without prior knowledge of the plot! Even though piano sound doesn’t sustain like a violin, but I think Scott did an amazing job translating all that with the piano capabilities, and into a beautiful piano duet version!

If you’re curious about Scott’s arranging process for this piece, check out his words here!