Alexis Ffrench (born 1970) is a contemporary composer and pianist from the UK. He is known for his unique style of combining his classical training on the piano with a love of roots music and R&B (rhythm and blues).
Today’s piece, Waterfalls comes from his debut album, Evolution.
Things to listen out for:
- The piece begins in 3/4 time with a 1-in-a-bar feel.
- The right-hand melody mainly consists of step-wise movement.
- The opening melody is repeated several times. At 00:51 listen out for the violin counter-melody (a secondary tune heard at the same time as the main melody).
- The music builds up to a climactic moment at 02:01 where the piano note values are halved, creating a cascading feel (like a waterfall)
- A percussion instrument called a mark tree is used at various points during the piece. See if you can hear when it is being played.
