Hoagy Carmichael’s “Heart and Soul”

You may have heard the recording of it by The Cleftones group, or the 1952 version by The Aces, or maybe one of the 1939 interpretations by Eddy Duchin or Al Donahue. You might have enjoyed best the original version recorded by Larry Clinton and the Orchestra where Bea Wain acted like the sweet soloist. But I doubt that all of you have come across Hoagy Carmichael’s “Heart and Soul” performed on a giant foot piano:

il Grande Piano performance

The song itself is such a unique jazz standard that there’s hardly any instrument that could ‘spoil’ its universal melody. Written by Hoagy in 1938 (lyrics by Frank Loasser), it became one of his chartbusters along with the later written Stardust, The Nearness of You and Georgia on My Mind. But the song’s popularity did not only spread in public entertainment. Its educational effect can’t be mitigated. Up to day, the melody of “Heart and Soul” is considered to be the perfect and most optimal material for learning to play piano four hands. The song is even cited as one of the pillars in American musical pedagogics.

Hoagy Carmichael was a very interesting man. He is known for his image of a restrained person able to produce bright, joyful and powerful hits. In this regard, the musician was even compared to James Bond: an attractive talented man with strong willpower and restraint. The reason for the sudden change of behaviour was the early loss of the younger sister that forever erased the smile from the man’s smile. It is amazing that despite this tragedy he was able to bring to the world such wonderful music creations.

Debussy’s Mythical Cathedral

Got to mention at once: this is one of the most gorgeous piano pieces by Claude Debussy that create for me that sense of infinite space and time. One of the favourites!

Known as “La Cathédrale Engloutie”, the piece was published in 1910 as part of the two-volume piano set consisting of twelve lovely compositions in the style of what is called musical symbolism. “La Cathédrale Engloutie” (which translates as ‘submerged cathedral’) is the tenth prelude in the set.

I always got chills when listening to this amazing work. But when I learnt its story, the image became even more vivid. The piece is based on the so-called “legend of Ys”, Ys being a mythical city off the coast of French Brittany. The legend goes that on early clear mornings, when the water is most transparent, a beautiful cathedral would rise amongst the water and the people would hear its organ playing and the priests singing to it, bells chiming lively all around.

In his prelude, Debussy made sure we experience the imagery of the legend in all its beauty, from the slow rise of the mythical cathedral to its going back under water. With the help of the harmonies and a number of musical impressionism techniques that Debussy was so good at, the composer reflects all of the legend’s images one by one in a very realistic manner. Just close your eyes and watch the marvellous myth Live!