| Name | Artist | Time | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Break Into Blossom | Gunnar Madsen | 3:34 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
2 |
In These Lonely Regions | Gunnar Madsen | 3:39 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
3 |
Kerenyi | Gunnar Madsen | 4:08 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
4 |
Half Empty | Gunnar Madsen | 3:01 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
5 |
Nino and Me | Gunnar Madsen | 5:06 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
6 |
Ordinary Day | Gunnar Madsen | 3:30 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
7 |
The Blackbird Whistling | Gunnar Madsen | 4:45 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
8 |
Frank Grows Flowers | Gunnar Madsen | 2:11 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
9 |
Bandon | Gunnar Madsen | 3:45 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
10 |
For Wendy | Gunnar Madsen | 2:46 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
11 |
Imagine It Falling | Gunnar Madsen | 2:15 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
12 |
Down Moon | Gunnar Madsen | 4:45 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
13 |
Ockeghem's Turn | Gunnar Madsen | 3:31 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
14 |
Oak Sky | Gunnar Madsen | 4:03 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
15 |
3 South Trail | Gunnar Madsen | 4:33 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
16 |
Red Bird | Gunnar Madsen | 5:05 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| Total: 16 Songs |
Customer Reviews
Distinctive, creative, gentle
The thing I admire most about Gunnar's new CD "Two Hands", is the unique personality of each piece. Lovely melodies and thoughtful harmonies abound throughout this disc. As pensive and gentle as some of the Chopin nocturnes, pieces like "Break Into Blossom", "Nino and Me", "Bandon" and "Imagine it Falling" project heartfelt originality. A wonderful fold-out cover includes his inspiration and thoughts behind the works. Highly recommended in the solo piano genre.
From MainlyPiano
It’s a daunting task to adequately introduce an artist with Gunnar Madsen’s experience and diverse background in a few short sentences. He is an award-winning composer, singer (The Bobs a capella group), pianist, writer, sound designer, filmmaker, and actor. He has composed and written music and books for all age groups, acted in stage plays and musicals as well as films; he has received commissions from Lincoln Center, the Los Angeles Theater Center, the Minnesota Opera, Oberlin Dance Collective, and on and on. "Two Hands" is Madsen’s eighteenth album to date, and is comprised of fifteen original solo piano compositions and three pieces for piano and violin. (Violinist Irene Sazer of The Turtle Island String Quartet appears as a guest artist.) While the album is very cohesive as an entity, there is variety in the music that reflects Madsen’s wide range of life and artistic experience. Deeply personal and often cinematic, the music conveys an abundance of emotions without becoming overly complicated or flamboyant. This is the music of a very accomplished artist speaking from his heart via the piano. Recorded on the much-loved piano at Skywalker Sound, the audio quality is stellar. "Two Hands" is certainly in the running to be one of my favorite albums of 2010.
"Two Hands" begins with “Break Into Blossom,” a soft-spoken piece that suggests hope and optimism. “In These Lonely Regions” was inspired by a line from a poem by Neruda as well as the passing of a favorite uncle. Very spare and open, strong emotions are expressed with a minimum of notes. “Kerenyi” was adapted from a play Madsen wrote in 1981. Dark and mysterious as a piano solo, the violin enters about 1/3 of the way into the piece and casts an even more haunting spell. “Nino and Me” is a lovely romantic waltz with a tender and graceful melody - very visual. “The Blackbird Whistling” is one of my favorites. Inspired by Wallace Stevens’ poem, “13 Ways of Looking At a Blackbird,” it more than hints of Erik Satie. The title could also be a nod to Satie’s odd titles and playing instructions. Most of the piece is very slow, spare, and flowing, trailing off at the end - exceptional! “Bandon” refers to a town on the Oregon Coast where Madsen’s great aunt and uncle had a cranberry farm that he visited one summer as a young boy. It’s the music of memories - simple and uncluttered. “For Wendy” was Madsen’s first composition, written for a girlfriend years ago. The heartfelt emotions convey the unbridled passions of youth. “Down Moon” gets me every time I hear it and is my favorite piece on this excellent album. Very dark and melancholy with occasional flickers of hope, it really makes my fingers itch (sheet music???)! I also really love “Oak Sky.” Simple yet incredibly moody, it says so much with so little. “Red Bird” ends the album with a gorgeous piano/violin duet that is perhaps the most cinematic piece of the album. Dark and expressive, it’s an evocative musical dialog between two artists.
"Two Hands" is an incredible musical experience that I very highly recommend. Check it out!
Review from NewAgeMusicWorld.Com / NewAgeMusic.nu
Some young adults begin their early working careers by taking whatever job is at hand and find the road to success. Some hope to achieve the road to success when handed the family business. Either decision requires talent and determination of course, but the universal message often heard about either choice is to always have your individual hopes and dreams.
Gunnar Madsen from Berkley California has achieved an impressive level of success most would hope for at this stage of his bright career. You can visit his website to learn all about his career choices through the years and I feel his grand success as a Grammy Nominated pianist and award winning composer, singer, writer, sound designer, filmmaker and actor are career decisions that might have even impressed his family.
Two Hands is the New Age, Cinematic Piano, Instrumental 2010 release from Gunnar Madsen and eighteenth CD he has produced. This album is a more especial and innermost portrayal of his musical works in relation to his earlier compositions with the a capella group he founded called The Bobs. His first solo album Spinning World is a closer likeness with Two Hands, in a uniquely diverse discography that includes award winning family CDs along with an Epic Orchestral recording and even a lively pop art Rock album titled The Power of a Hat.
The recipient of countless music and theatre awards, his Grammy Nomination was for a song arrangement by The Beatles and has received ASCAP Awards for 15 consecutive years, plus his music is featured in some episodes of the widely popular HBO series Sex and the City and films Breaking the Rules, A Special Providence, The Break Up & Just a Kiss. Gunnar Madsen also does voiceovers, providing the film voice for Don Cheatle when he portrayed Sammy David Jr. in the Emmy Award winning HBO film The Rat Pack and this is just a partial listing of many credits during his career so far.
Two Hands was recorded at the industry regarded Skywalker Sound Studio and includes 16 songs total. Three songs have contrasting instrumentals where notable guest violinist Irene Sazer, a member of the improvisational Jazz and Classical group Turtle Island String Quartet lends her elegant expressions. The first violin portrayal by Irene Sazer on Kerenyl is more subtle while gently tracing the melodic depth on strings as Gunnar leads on piano. Ordinary Day & Red Bird make a beautiful piano and string duet from the pair, extending the symmetrical harmony on each song while interblending into a narrative full of melodic drama.
Solo Piano ballads of Cinematic proportions are the sequential songs where Gunnar begins to reveal the innermost reflections of his work in a manner of classic distinction. Outlined with a conceptual feeling of depth, some of the more melodramatic and intriguing phrasing performed on songs like Nino and Me, Down Moon & South Trail are offered with a personalized touch. Frank Grows Flowers is a song responding with an upbeat tempo and imaginative runs while dancing along the piano keys in every measure. The light reflective moments yet none the less expressive songs The Blackbird Whistling, Brandon & Oak Sky are more introspective in their structuring.
Break into Blossom begins with a lighter metrical sway and soon unfolds into bolder imagery by exploring a more robust presentation of greater intensity before returning into restful state of contentment and has a resemblance in style with In These Lonely Regions & Down Moon, given the more pronounced dynamics of diminuendo and crescendo variances. Much like the memoir notes on the inside album cover detailing each composition, Gunnar Madsen traces every song on Two Hands with a gifted accounting of his diverse imagination while delivering a beautiful finger to key statement and like the valuable reward of success that is never just handed to anyone, it came from the talent and determination of an individual who started with and continues to have, hopes and dreams.
Biography
Genre: Children's Music
Years Active: '90s, '00s
Top Albums and Songs By Gunnar Madsen
| Name | Album | Time | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Anna | Spinning World | 3:05 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
2 |
Don't Shake Hands With a One-Eyed Pirate | Ants in My Pants | 2:27 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
3 |
Summertime Is Here | Old Mr. Mackle Hackle | 3:23 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
4 |
The Dinosaur Song | Old Mr. Mackle Hackle | 3:11 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
5 |
Wedding Waltz | Spinning World | 3:34 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
6 |
This Must Be the Place (naive Melody) | The Power of a Hat | 3:45 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
7 |
Ants in My Pants | Ants in My Pants | 2:34 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
8 |
Far and Away | Spinning World | 2:50 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
9 |
Break Into Blossom | Two Hands | 3:34 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
10 |
Don't Shake Hands With A One-Eyed Pirate | Songs For Little Boys | 2:25 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
