REVIEWS

Album Review: Loving by Letting Go

Matt Johnson
2022 / Dolce & Nuit Productions
3 minutes

Review by Kathy Parsons

www.MainlyPiano.com

 

"Loving by Letting Go" is a deeply emotional single by pianist/ composer/ keyboardist Matt Johnson. The "Composer Notes" describes the piece as: "Matt’s delicate and nuanced performance of his melancholic yearning for reconnection—listen as he arrives at self-preservation clarity to 'let go' and move on." The "official" single of the piece is mostly piano with some additional instrumentation, but there is also a solo piano version on Matt's site - AND sheet music!

The heartfelt melody floats over a gently flowing rhythmic pattern that makes me think of fog slowly rolling in from the ocean, gradually blanketing everything in a gray mist. Deep sorrow and a powerful sense of loss can move like that, too, enveloping the mind and emotions so that it's difficult to see anything else - until you can let go and move on.

As usual, Matt Johnson is offering free downloads of both versions of the single as well as the sheet music from his website. "Loving by Letting Go" is available from Amazon, Apple Music/iTunes and many streaming sites including Spotify. Digital Collectibles (NFTs) are also available on OpenSea.

The sheet music is in the key of Db major/Bb minor (5 flats) and is six pages long. It is not difficult to play the notes, but it's a very expressive piece that allows pianists to interpret the music from their own emotional points of view. Most of the piece is in 5/4 time, but a passage in the middle changes to 6/8 and then returns to 5/4. Pianists at an upper-intermediate/early advanced playing level should find much to enjoy in the sheet music.

Beautifully done!