Piano Sonata No. 8 (Porcelain Snowflakes) – Peter Bille Larsen’s style is simple, deliberate and precise
Born in Copenhagen -Denmark, Peter Bille Larsen began reading and writing music at the age of 11 while attending the Royal Academy of Music. At the age of 12, having mastered the works of Beethoven and Mozart, Peter wrote his first musical piece titled “Bernhard is Singing”.
Surrounded by music and inspired by his English grandfather, a retired pianist, Peter stopped reading music and started to play by ear. A trait discovered by one of Peter’s teachers, who discovered the boy studying his hands rather than the score.
During his college years, Peter continued to develop his style and technique, resulting in a solo piano concert in 1993. This marked the beginning of Peter Bille Larsen’s musical career. Recently Peter has released the Sonatas of Glacial Ages – Piano Sonatas Album [No. 7 – No. 9 ] from which we heard Piano Sonata No. 8 (Porcelain Snowflakes).
Peter Bille Larsen is an artist who makes music that somehow burrows itself deep inside your soul. What is heard here is music at its most basic, intimate level – a piano sonata – simplicity at its best.
To say that this musical piece is simply uplifting, or mood-inducing would not do the music the justice it deserves. It is a rare thing indeed when art imitates life accurately – yet here it is found in all its glory.
All in all, there are many facets to what is heard here, and what is heard must be deeply personal music to Peter, as it shows itself in a delicate but strong, genuine emotion that cannot be faked – and somehow he relates it in such a way that it comes across as music to live your life by. There are no saccharine sounds to be found here, just pure emotion; which in itself marks an achievement among modern-day pianists.
I am not typically a fan or expert authority of this “genre” of music. However, every note played on Piano Sonata No. 8 (Porcelain Snowflakes) evokes a strong emotion, one that Peter exactly wants you to experience. Each piano phrase has just the right amount of sadness, melancholy, and breathtaking beauty to sweep you away in its theme and place you right there in the thick of winter. The titles say it all, Porcelain Snowflakes is simply that.
With the shaping of each phrase you’ll feel like you are deeper and deeper into a long walk on a crisp winter day into an enormous wood full of steadily falling flakes. Your heart will feel the familiar pulling of the impending silence surrounding the cadence of your feet embedding themselves into the ever deepening snow, step after step.The sound of a solo piano is just so intimate, while the music evokes a sense of peace and soothing pleasure. It’s so simple, and so perfectly melodic.
Piano Sonata No. 8 (Porcelain Snowflakes) is mellifluous yet perfectly dynamic, sometimes sad, almost haunting, but thoroughly enjoyable. It draws you into the music box experience, at first distant, then louder – beautiful – then fading into the dark, winter night. Peter Bille Larsen’s style is simple, deliberate and precise. It suggests peaceful solitude and inner reflection.
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