Ronald Royer, composer | Alexander Panizza, piano

Notes from the Composer: Night Music for piano (2021) was created during the Covid-19 pandemic. Feeling nostalgic, I was drawn to night themes and music from the past. The composition is in the form of a piano sonata, but each of the four movements also functions as an independent character piece. Night Music was written for and dedicated to the wonderful Argentinian/Canadian pianist Alexander Panizza. Due to Toronto’s restrictions concerning live concerts, it was composed to be premiered on the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra’s YouTube channel. A Nostalgic Waltz was inspired by music of the early 1900’s, especially Maurice Ravel’s Valse nobles et sentimentales. I imagined the music being played in a Parisian cabaret at night, during The Belle Époque. The movement starts with nostalgic, calm, and elegant music, builds to a faster and more agitated middle section, and then returns to the calm music of the beginning.

Audio recording and video by Alexander Panizza This video was sponsored by the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra and was made possible in part by support from the Toronto Arts Council, and the SOCAN Foundation. Websites: https://www.spo.ca https://alexanderpanizza.com/ https://ronaldroyer.com/ Audio recording copyright 2021 Alexander Panizza and Ronald Royer Video copyright 2021 Alexander Panizza Music copyright 2021 Ronald Royer

Media:

1. Panorama of Place de l’Opera (1900) – Travelogue, Short Silent Film, Public Domain Circular panoramic view of the Place de l’Opera, “The busiest square in all Paris. 75 feet”, Filmed July 1900, during the Paris Exposition in Paris, France, Edison films catalog, no. 105. Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc – Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) – White, James H. (James Henry), Created/Published: Edison Manufacturing Co., 1900, Country: United States Source (Library of Congress): https://www.loc.gov/item/00694270/ Digital Id: http://www.hdl.loc.gov/loc.mbrsmi/edm…

2. Paris Night Timelapse, Free Stock Footage Source: https://www.motionplaces.com/paris-ni…

3. Les cent trucs (1906) (A Hundred Tricks) – Comedy, Short Silent Film, Public Domain Director and Writer: Segundo de Chomón; Production Company: Pathé frères; Country: France Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi… https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi…” Segundo de Chomón, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449203/

4. Tour Eiffel vue de la Seine (Paris).ogv – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi… Gzen92, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/…, via Wikimedia Commons

5. Moulin-Rouge – Montmartre (Paris) – pixaby.com Source: https://pixabay.com/videos/moulin-rou…

6. All other media from Envato Elements, https://elements.envato.com/