HOLY CRAP!! Hearing this for solo piano is amazing. What it highlights for me are the amazing harmonic and compositional ideas the man has that so often get lost in his (to my ears) overprocessed orchestra sound. I don’t even mind the Holst parallels in this version. Check it out...
If I were to describe the musical form in simple language it would be of a relentless succession of waves coming ashore, with a slightly irregular spacing separating those with higher and lesser intensity.
That Insterstellar performance is amazing! Thanks for sharing that, Greccus, I hadn't seen it.
The Soerjadi-performace of Gladiator's Battle was impressive. Footnote: Soerjadi is one of the most famous musicians in the Netherlands. I'm pretty certain that there isn't anyone in this country who hasn't heard from him.
I was quite surprised to see him posted here, on this board. His genre is usually 'light classics' and – also considering it was a performance at broadcaster TROS – I'm not sure his audience of this particular concert knew what they were in for . (Most of the probably didn't even realize there *was* music in Gladiator.)
Usually I'm not a fan of Soerjadi - his 'Solitide' of Gladiator illustrates why. But this 'The Battle' is excellent, although the main theme should have been more prominent in the performance to my taste -- it would have ended on a higher note.
. (Most of the probably didn't even realize there *was* music in Gladiator.)