1) Earth
2) Water
Peter Kater, 2005
Real Music
If you haven't already heard any of Peter Kater music, then, run – don't walk – to the nearest store for any one of his CDs. Peter is a seasoned, and Grammy nominated, composer of deeply meaningful arrangements with quiet magnitude.
Peter Kater is an award-winning pianist, and I fully expected to hear solo piano compositions when I pushed “play,” but in this collection he has brought the soul of many instruments together to speak for the elements. Earth is one of four CDs in his new collection, two of which I will be reviewing here.
Earth begins with the tenderness of the sunrise, the moment that occurs every 24 hours when first light filters into the darkness announcing the arrival of our Sun. A soft solo flute conjures this image well before it is joined by a chorus of strings and a classical guitar, beckoning the morning as she dresses for the day. From there, each track aptly named, musically expresses the subtle changes that our Earth shifts through on a daily basis. We may not notice these silent changes the earth orchestrates before our eyes in our own everyday world, but this CD makes us stop to hear it, feel it, see it, like Scrooge must have felt with his angel.
Once you get past your sense of ingratitude you will never get through another celestial cycle with out realizing that our Earth has so much to teach us and in return we must restore Her to being the true driving force behind everything we do. If we don't make that paradigm shift, nothing else will matter.
In the second of the four CDs, Water, Peter Kater sits down at the piano on this CD and you will be glad he did. These pieces are anchored by his trademark piano compositions, beautiful and flowing. He embellishes each with the oboe and the French horn, as well as the classical guitar and flute that we hear on the Earth CD. They are like familiar friends now as they create the imagery of the serenity and heart of our most precious resource – Water. With all the purging of mankind that water has been a part of in the last year, it is hard to think of water as peaceful, but there is forgiveness and compassion in this music. It is an inspiration and acknowledgement that we must honor each and every element because together or separately they are older, wiser and stronger that we could ever be.
These compositions carry a powerful message from a powerful composer. Mother Earth and the nature of Water have chosen Peter Kater to speak for them, to remind us of the natural and unstoppable beauty that is right before our eyes. Look no further, it is all on his new CDs.
~ reviewed by Laura Silvestri
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