Mark B.

Frank Ticheli | Earth Song (Young New Yorkers Chorus)

American composer Frank Ticheli on his 2004 work, Earth Song: “‘ … the music … first appeared in a work called Sanctuary, for wind ensemble,'” (FredBock.com). “‘As I worked on that piece, I just kept thinking this music is just begging to be sung by a chorus. The music is so vocal in and of itself. It was also written during a time when we were sort of stuck in the Iraq War when everyone – regardless of what political side they were on – was tired of that war, and so Earth Song was written to be very pro-peace. I guess you could also say anti-war and anti-violence. It was a cry and a prayer for peace.

Earth Song means different things to different people. I know for me, it sprang out of an intense weariness of war and a wish for peace. The second half of the poem talks about music as a comforting force and a refuge. When I was bullied as a kid, music was my refuge. I often thought about bullies in relation to this piece as well, because that’s where violence starts. But music is a place where people can find acceptance and love – and it can often be their saving grace. And it’s not just choir that people can find that comfort – it’s band, it’s orchestra… it’s just people coming together to make music.'”

This 2025 performance by the Young New Yorkers Chorus was conducted by Justin Duckworth. Earth Song is built primarily in F major. But at 2:50, a soft-spoken but profound G major chord breaks the spell; a repeated E major chord then upends the tonality yet again as the piece draws to an end.

Many thanks to longtime contributor Mark B. for this beautiful piece — his fourth submission to MotD!

Sing, Be, Live, See.
This dark stormy hour,
The wind, it stirs.
The scorched earth
Cries out in vain:
O war and power,
You blind and blur,
The torn heart
Cries out in pain.
But music and singing
Have been my refuge,
And music and singing
Shall be my light.
A light of song
Shining Strong: Alleluia!
Through darkness, pain, and strife, I’ll
Sing, Be, Live, See…
Peace.

Levi Schechtmann | Asturias

“Levi Schechtmann, born in 1999, is a German pianist renowned for blending classical music with modern genres like hip-hop, creating a unique fusion that has captured a global audience,” (artist website). “He began piano lessons at age seven and has since developed a reputation as an innovative performer. Levi is active on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, where he has gained nearly 600.000 followers in total, showcasing his reinterpretations of classical pieces by composers such as Bach, Liszt, and Chopin, but also his own arrangements and improvisations.

Schechtmann’s approach involves merging classical styles with elements of modern genres like hip-hop and house, a combination that has earned him numerous accolades. He has won awards at prestigious competitions, including the Steinway Competition and Hamburg Instrumental Competition, and has performed at renowned venues like Elbphilharmonie and Laeiszhalle in Hamburg and Flagey in Belgium. His popularity is driven by his ability to bridge musical genres, making classical music accessible and appealing to younger audiences through a modern, rhythm-heavy style.”

“Asturias,” released in August 2025, is built in E minor overall. At 2:05 (after a dreamy contrasting section unmarked by the unrelenting energy of the majority of the piece) there’s a shift to the relative G major just before the ending. Anyone who guesses that Schechtman might be a studio creation should also check the live version (posted below).

Many thanks to our contributor Mark B. for this distinctive submission to MotD — his third!

@levi.sct
Let’s see who can count the notes 😜 🎶Levi.Sct – Asturias 🎶 – #viral #piano #classical #asturias #yeah
♬ Originalton – Levi 🪐

A Tribe Called Quest | Check the Rhime

“If A Tribe Called Quest had stopped with their first album, People’s Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm, they’d still be regarded as a seminal hip hop act (BBC) … The laid back style of Q-Tip and Phife Dawg over the jazz sampleology of Ali Shaheed Muhammad, along with the daisy age raps of De La Soul, almost single-handedly defined the alternative rap scene … So when they followed it up with as close to a perfect album, The Low End Theory (1991), their place in history was assured.

Low End… pushed the jazz connection even further with a sparse but not quite minimal selection of grooves built around some exquisitely chosen upright bass samples, and in the case of ‘Verses From The Abstract’ actually utilising the real-time skills of legend Ron Carter … Like its predecessor, it combined humour with insight to show the world that ‘rap’ needn’t be equated with the worst aspects of the American dream. Q-Tip and Phife’s posse flows were, by this point, honed to perfection, with most tracks seeing them bounce off each other like some funked-up game of table tennis … this is another feel-good mix of smart grooves and the wittiest rhymes this side of Noel Coward. Acclaimed as one of the best 100 albums of all time by Rolling Stone, The Low End Theory remains one of hip hop’s defining moments and deserves to be in everyone’s record collection. Probably now more than ever…”

The track opens with an angular, heavily processed sax line that outlines C major and Bb major chords and doesn’t settle easily into any key, but shifts into a much clearer E minor as the first verse starts at 0:28. The two-chord vamp (A/B -> E) that underlies most of the tune is more complex than you might expect: the B bass note hits on beat one, but the A chord is delayed until the “and” of beat 2 and bleeds into the E bass note on beat 1 of the next measure. From 1:49 – 2:08 and again for the outro at 3:28, the C major intro riff returns.

Many thanks to Mark B. for this submission!

Yes | Awaken

The RIAA reports that “Yes are one of the most successful, influential, and longest-lasting progressive rock bands. They have sold 13.5 million RIAA-certified albums in the US.” In 1985, the UK band won a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance and received five Grammy nominations between 1985 and 1992. The band produced 21 studio albums in total.

Ashley Kahn wrote about the band for its Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2017:

“Not so long ago, a home stereo was a portal into a realm of hyper-sensory interstellar travel. One could drop the needle on the edge of the LP, turn up the volume, stare at the album cover’s colorful, hallucinatory landscapes, and let the music take you along galactic pathways to undiscovered planets.

Piloting such sonic voyages was a talented group of creative musicians who combined centuries-old musical traditions with the latest tools and an immense spectrum of sounds: symphonic strings, cathedral organs, driving rock drums, meticulous jazz improvisation, offbeat time signatures, dramatic rhythmic shifts. Over all soared vocal harmonies and mystical lyrics.”

Many Yes fans consider 1977’s “Awaken” to be one of the pinnacles of the band’s output. Starting at the intro (E minor), the tonality shifts with the addition of the lead vocal (E major) at 0:35, then returns to E minor at 1:30. Starting at 1:33 and returning intermittently, the real interest switches to the meter — 11/8! After falling to a brief D major at 4:54, we embark on a kaleidoscopic multi-key tour, initially based on the circle of fifths, which continues until it finally slows down like a wind-up toy losing juice.

At 6:34, we’ve returned to E minor in a restful 6/8. At 10:35, a shift back to E major lands and we’re back on another multi-key tour — but this time at a slightly slower pace and a buoyant major key fee overall, with the lead vocal added. The tumbling chord progression is more complex than a mere circle-of-fifths concept; with no idea where to plant our feet, we just go along for the ride. 12:14 continues the tour with a dizzying organ solo, joined by the full band at 12:31 — and throwing a soaring choir into the bargain. 13:20 brings a decisive cadence back to E major, then a return to the floating feel we bathed in at the start. Lastly — just because it was the 70s, and why not? — the tune closes with a guitar riff that wouldn’t be out of place in a country/western cover band!

Many thanks to our first-time contributor Mark Bain for submitting this epic tune!

for JB