Paper Palace

Paper Palace is a fantasy piece that is predominantly gentle and airy. It could be heard alongside an animation of an imaginary world.

The lightness is achieved via delicate use of the piano, with broken chords and arpeggios keeping a steady beat flowing. At first, the lyrical melody is played by a solo cello, before the flute joins in for a duet. Muted strings keep the timbre soft and silky. For a brief moment, the tonality turns into a darker minor key, however the basses drop out, keeping the texture weightless.

After this, we hear the compositions first expansive moment, where the high strings show us a taster of the broad theme that is heard in full after a couple more delicate ‘verses’. The middle of the piece sees a more textural and enveloping motif. The piano is now silent, and the harmony alternates between two sets of chords, gradually moving upwards as the intensity grows. Another cello solo leads us to the piece’s biggest moment, a richly orchestrated variation of the broad theme from earlier. To end, the music returns to its gentle nature, and the piano and strings very softly complete the circle back to the beginning.

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