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Intimacy

Every romantic song has some level of intimacy. Intimate songs tend to be personal and not showy or performance oriented. They frequently have sweeping strings or soulful guitar or piano in the background. Also, most romantic songs fall between the pulse of 60 -100 beats per minute which also happens to be the average heartbeat of a human being. Coincidence? I think not. This gentle pulse is often done with soft percussion, or naturally emphasized in the music. Over this pulse is usually a warm and tender voice or instrumental lead.

Time

Romance flourishes when you give another person your full attention and time.  The following songs are all about the element of time and they do this by drawing out words and spacing phrases:

Can’t Help Falling in Love With You, Elvis

Come Away with Me, Norah Jones

Fascination, Nat King Cole

I Will Love You, Fisher

Unchained Melody, Righteous Brothers

Wonderful Tonight, Eric Clapton

Conversation

This is an easy one, because words of love and devotion can be translated directly into music as in the following examples:

Always On My Mind, Willie Nelson

Devoted to You, Everly Brothers

For You, John Denver

I Will Be Here , Steven Curtis Chapman

Longer Than, Dan Fogelberg

Time in a Bottle, Jim Croce

Truly Madly Deeply, Savage Garden

Your Song, Elton John

Passion

Passionate songs have energy, intensity, perhaps a faster pulse than the typical heart rate, and often the element of the unexpected. Some of the most passionate songs are classical, particularly from the aptly named “Romantic Period” of music. Following is a wide range of passionate songs:

Everything I do, Bryan Adams

Hello Young Lovers, Stevie Wonder

Libestod from Tristan Und Isolde (Richard Wagner), Birgit Nilsson

Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet, Henry Mancini and his orchestra

Meditation from Thais (Massenet), Yo-Yo Ma

‎Someone to Watch Over Me, Herb Alpert

For fun I looked for a song from above that, in my opinion best blends all four categories. The result was a tie between “Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers and “Can’t Help Falling in Love With You” by Elvis. “Unchained Melody” frequently uses the word “time” which enhances its slow development, then crescendos with passion towards the end. “Can’t Help Falling in Love with You” brilliantly combines all the elements of intimacy, along with slow romantic words.

One of my favorite romantic instrumental ensembles is the flute and harp. If you are looking for musicians for your spring wedding or Valentine’s Day, take a look at my event music page or wedding music page, where I offer a variety of ensembles.

An Irish session is an informal gathering of people to play traditional Irish music. If you live in Charlotte, NC you will have a very hard time finding a traditional Irish session. In fact, I’ve lived there for almost twenty years without finding a single regular session closer than the two hour drive to Asheville. So imagine my happy surprise when I moved to Colorado a few months ago and found over ten Irish Sessions less than thirty minutes from where I live!

I was classically trained in flute, but what really sparked my interest in traditional music was an old-time/bluegrass jam session I found in a nearby small town in North Carolina. After the group broke up a year later, I continued to explore on my own, and fell in love with traditional Irish music. I found that my extensive experience with improvisation and playing by ear was a great asset when learning Irish music.

And so my adventure began in Colorado. I began going to Irish sessions in Denver, CO and Boulder, CO and my appetite was whet for more. I still play Irish music on my classical flute and various whistles, but I’m going to start saving my money and realize my long time dream of buying an Irish flute.

If you are interested in listening to or playing Irish music, you can visit these local Irish Sessions in Colorado. Swallow Hill in Denver also has regular sessions. Each session is a bit different so there is something for everyone, from beginners to advanced musicians, or music lovers who come to listen.

You can also go here to learn more about what I do with Irish flute music.

This past week, I had the pleasure of attending two great concerts – one by the Jefferson Symphony Orchestra, and the other by the Broomfield Symphony Orchestra. As a flute player, I enjoyed that both concerts had some great flute solos. As usual, I also loved watching the cello and bass sections, given that I play cello and my husband plays bass.

The Jefferson Symphony played at the Colorado School of Music in Golden, CO. They performed a lively and engaging concert featuring works by Brahms and Richard Strauss. The concert ended with an impressive performance of Ravel’s “La Valse” featuring Peggy Lyon on piano.

The Broomfield Symphony performed to a packed Broomfield Auditorium, just minutes from my home. They played an enjoyable selection of pieces by Haydn and Tchaikovsky to an enthusiastic audience. The second half of the program featured solo pianist David Korevaar playing Rachmaninov’s 2nd Piano Concerto. David’s passionate playing and flawless technique had me riveted, and his inspiring performance elicited a standing ovation from the audience at the end of the concert.

In addition to this, I am working with folk songwriter and guitarist John Matthews and along with other local musicians to record several CDs featuring his original music. John describes his music as a mix of folk, country, rock and pop. He has unique and fresh approach to his music writing, and each CD and song has a different flavor. I am writing the flute and keyboard parts and recording them at Swallow Hill Music Association in Denver, CO. We are planning to release a folk style wedding CD in the spring of next year, and I am currently working on some folk rock songs for a future CD.

Just before I headed out to my new home in Colorado, I attended the National Flute Association’s annual convention, held in Charlotte, NC this year.

I attended numerous masterclasses and competitions,  and a number of educational classes that featured topics ranging from correct breathing to beginning lessons on a Baroque flute. I was particularly inspired by William Westney’s class “How can a wrong note be perfect”.  His premise is that music should be fun, but the way we tend to teach music leads students to aspire for perfection  rather than playing their instrument with life and expression.  At the exhibits, I got to try out different flutes including Celtic flutes, Chinese flutes, and contrabass flutes.

I also saw a number of concerts including several flute and cello concerts, a French music concert, and a concert given by the Charlotte Symphony Flutists that used fascinating modern techniques to create unique sounds. One of my favorite concerts was Trevor Wye’s “50 Variations on the Carnival of Venice for 60 flutes and piano”  where he showed us how to make a flute out of a carrot, played a flute made out of a human bone, and played on his own creations that lit up in humorous ways as he played.

The day following the convention, I attended an inspiring masterclass  given by Jean Ferrandis, who focused on playing the flute with a relaxed and natural posture as if you were saying “hello” to a friend. The convention was inspiring and refreshing and I’m glad I took time to attend even though I was busy with the move.

If you are in the Colorado area and reading this, then know that I am thrilled to be coming to your beautiful state. I have vacationed there in the past and feel blessed to be able to call it my future home. I can’t wait to explore the opportunities in music awaiting me there!