Numbered Places

Juan María Solare

Numbered Places

eleven piano pieces

01 - One Way Flight to… (2:50)

02 - Twopenny Loaf [USA] (3:45)

03 - Three Bridges [UK] (2:25)

04 - Four Oaks [USA] (3:00)

05 - Five Pointz [NYC] (3:45)

06 - Six Mile Bottom [UK] (2:40)

07 - Seven Kings [UK] (5:10)

08 - Eight Streets [USA] (5:55)

09 - Nine Elms [UK] (2:50)

10 - Ten Ten Road [NC, USA] (3:25)

11 - Eleven Lands [UK] (3:30)

Total time: 39:15

Numbered Places
piano music by Juan María Solare

The cycle Numbered Places starts from a simple idea: the piece nr. 1 would have a title that begins with the word One, the piece nr. 2 a title that begins with the word Two and so on up to an arbitrary number (in this case, eleven).

For everything to have more cohesion, English names of different places or regions in either USA or (mainly) UK were used.

In its own way, Numbered Places is therefore a conceptual album - already from the point of view of titles.

Also musically, this world of sound has cohesion: instrumental piano
music, neoclassical aesthetics (a somewhat broad concept that
encompasses composers such as Erik Satie or Ludovico Einaudi), a certain simplicity in its surface.

Let us briefly comment each of the titles:

- One Way Flight to ...:
The imaginary journey starts here. Each person will complete the
sentence with the destiny of their choice.

- Twopenny Loaf:
This is a neighborhood (and geographically a cape) in the city of
Gloucester, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA. It is believed to have gotten its name because it is shaped like a (bread) loaf that at the time cost two pennies.

- Three Bridges:
It is a city somewhere between London and Brighton, and a nodal point where trains typically split. Musically, the most minimalistic of all the cycle. This track was included in Spotify’s Editorial playlist Peaceful Piano for 9 months, and has over 5 million all-time streams.

- Four Oaks:
There are numerous places so named, both in England and the US, and possibly in other countries. I can imagine that there were actually four oak trees planted near.

- Five Pointz:
Neighborhood in Queens, New York. A graffiti mecca that was
demolished in 2014 to build expensive buildings. And yes, it is
spelled with z in this case.

- Six Mile Bottom:
Is a hamlet near Cambridge in England. The hamlet derives its name from its distance from the start of Newmarket Racecourse and because it lies in a valley bottom. There is no public transport. The old train station, closed in 1967 for lack of use, is now a private
residence.

- Seven Kings:
It is a neighborhood in Ilford, East London. The earliest recorded
use of the name is as Sevekyngg or Sevekyngges in 1285, possibly
meaning ‘settlement of the family or followers of a man called Seofoca’

- Eight Streets:
it is a (very sought-after) neighborhood located in the heart of the
historic South End of the city of Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

- Nine Elms:
a district of South West London. Nine Elms Lane was named around the year 1645, from a row of elm trees bordering the road.

- Ten Ten Road:
it is a place -actually the main road- in the town of Apex, North
Carolina, USA.

- Eleven Lands:
this place is mentioned in an old legal report from around 1782 as
existing in North London (“a place called Eleven Lands, containing five acres of arable, formerly Cosby’s, beonging to a farm in the said parish of Bletcheley…”, in ” A collection of the Reports of Cases, the Statutes, and Ecclesiastical Laws, relating to Tithes”, volume 3). It has certainly changed its name. Musically, this last piece has a certain tango aura.

Why eleven pieces and not more? The truth is that - incredibly as it may seem - I didn’t find any place called “Twelve” something.
Yes there are such names in other languages, but I wanted to keep
some consistency. There are also pubs or bars called Twelve whatever, but since they are not sponsoring my music, I had no motivation to give them free advertising at the moment.

This album was released in early 2020 on Spotify, iTunes and all other online platforms through the label Bliss Recordings in London (part of frtyfve). Find your favorite service here:
https://frtyfve.lnk.to/NPVol1

There are also videos of several pieces of this album. They are in the following playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL70vQeCRYmkp3vEdIkdnjJyiU1aZ_u7HA

Italian pianist Nibbio Bruno wrote about Three Bridges:

“Juan Maria Solare never disappoints ...in just [2 minutes] of arpeggios he says all that others (like me) do not even say in… an hour of music!! What a wonderful listening experience, a great return back in the past of each of us to look for an episode of our life, a face, something that had been forgotten and instead, thanks to this music, returns to a new life in our memory. Thank you!”

Want the sheet music? Here it is:

Numbered Places [11 pieces for piano solo]

(https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/21669769?aff_id=565049)