Zachary Davies is a pianist and composer, and the host of The Euterpean Podcast. He's greatly inspired by names like Dave Brubeck, and his compositions carry the influences of both jazz and classical music. Below are Zachary's words on two of his works:
Millarden - an art song I wrote at the beginning of 2020 for a music society at my university. I was in a group of composers. We were each given a prompt within a larger theme: the Weimar Republic. I knew little about this region beforehand but my prompt, a one billion Reichsmark note, intrigued me. The huge number is a result of hyperinflation. The extract is the introduction to the song. It is atmospheric, but its character is subdued. Compositionally, I took the melody of their national anthem - also that of Haydn string quartet, I believe - and stretched it out, turning it into a baseline. I then improvised on top of it in a kind of jazz style - cabaret? - in apparent free metre.
Piano Miniature No. 1 - My goal here was to try to use bitonality in a way that wasn't simply a jarring effect as it is often used, such as in Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. At times, it's extremely chromatic and is generously inspired by the jazz idiom. More of an experiment I suppose but I hope one day to modify it into a piece for jazz ensemble.
Listen to The Euterpean Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/516L1PnexoIJpIsTUKa9XV?si=7odBCTf2T0qWFi0BAldqOA
Follow Zachary Davies on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZDaviesMusic?s=20
Zachary's curated playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4mzwUBdrDFYOgOUMttgjqY?si=b9711bba983a46f3
Together with Classical: http://www.togetherwithclassical.org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/togetherwithclassical
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/togetherwithclassical
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/withclassical
