Quicksand Fantasy for Piano- Bowie meets Beethoven ?

[Michael T]

I thought I'd share this little indulgence.

Quicksand from the album Hunky Dory by David Bowie has long been a favourite of mine.

Bowie is a remarkable songwriter and those early albums especially ( Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane) are full of great tunes. There is a depth of musical thinking in some of them which I find quite compelling.

I used to doodle around on the piano with this song and thought sections of it were quite 'classical' in nature.

It seems (to me) to have turned out a little late Beethoven with a touch of Liszt thrown in so apologies to all three composers LOL!

I don't have a score prepared but there is a video or the mp3.

[Michael T]

It has got a wide dynamic range but I like the overall tweakability of the instrument. 

I hadn't noticed the teeth :)

[michael diemer]

Very impressive writing for the piano. I too thought the dynamics were a bit too dramatic. Re: David Bowie, yes, he was an incredible songwriter. I always considered him one of the true geniuses of that incredibly fruitful time (late 60's, early 70's). He was an original.

[Michael T]

Thanks Michael,

I did try to compress the mix but couldn't come up with a natural sounding setting that did the trick. I don't mind the dynamics that much though as it sounds quite realistic to me.

Bowie was (still is) an original, that's for sure. And I am lucky to have seen him live three times in London in the early 70s as Ziggy. The first time I was only about 13-14  and wondered why there were lot's of men in make-up in the audience!! 

michael diemer said:

Very impressive writing for the piano. I too thought the dynamics were a bit too dramatic. Re: David Bowie, yes, he was an incredible songwriter. I always considered him one of the true geniuses of that incredibly fruitful time (late 60's, early 70's). He was an original.

[Martyn Standing]

I like this, especially the tonality from 1:08 onwards - it´s a nice little interlude right there. However, the introduction could maybe grab the attention a bit more, maybe varying the rhythm slightly? But that´s just personal taste - it really is impressive overall.

[Michael T]

Thanks Martyn although any credit for 'tonality' must go to Bowie. :)

Martyn Standing said:

I like this, especially the tonality from 1:08 onwards - it´s a nice little interlude right there. However, the introduction could maybe grab the attention a bit more, maybe varying the rhythm slightly? But that´s just personal taste - it really is impressive overall.