Shining Eyes - Rohan Williams [2010] (original piano)

Hi everyone! I am Rohan, a mostly self-taught amateur pianist and composer from Australia. I wrote this piece in 2010. The title was inspired by Boston Philharmonic conductor Benjamin Zander’s term ’shining eyes’, which to him are a signal of connection with and awakening possibility in others: “I realized my job was to awaken possibility in other people... You look at their eyes. If their eyes are shining, you know you’re doing it.“ I see Shining Eyes as a bittersweet state, when we are connected, awake to possibility, but also what Susan Cain calls a state of, “longing, poignancy, and sorrow; an acute awareness of passing time; and a curiously piercing joy at the beauty of the world.“ In a 2008 talk, Zander plays the audience Chopin’s Prelude in E minor (Op. 28, No. 4). At Chopin’s request, his Prelude in E minor was played at his funeral. In his talk, Zander asks the audience to listen again, but this time, “Would you think of somebody who you adore, who’s no longer there? Somebody in your life who you love with all your heart, but that person is no longer with you.“ There are clear influences of Chopin’s piece in this one. It is similar in tone, and uses a simple repeated melodic idea throughout, with changing harmonies underneath. It never fully resolves until the end, with a final exhale. Perhaps this is all a bit schmaltzy for your taste, but hey, I’m a melancholy kinda guy :) Score: available on request. Performed by Katarzyna Kempińska.