"Go West, Young Man" - Composed by Chris Ryan
The main three-note motif in this piece is one of the first things I ever wrote on piano. I was 8 years old, and just beginning to learn that playing certain notes in succession could sound pleasing to the ear. At a family party later that year, I enlisted the help of my older cousin Laura to play the right hand so I could figure out what the left hand wanted to do.
When I was 20 years old and preparing for a move to Los Angeles, I decided to orchestrate it, more as a diary entry than anything else.
Last month, as my 27th birthday rapidly approached, I decided that it was time to start over from scratch.
As I suspected, some things have changed; some things have not. In any case, it's my hope that this new version honors the sentiment of the original, while also reflecting the experience I've gained these past seven years pursuing what I love.
Cheers to 2017. And thank you, as always, for your support.
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"Go West, Young Man" was inspired in part by 'Looking Down Yosemite Valley, California,' painted by Albert Bierstadt in 1865. At the time, a critic wrote, “It looks as if it was painted in an El Dorado, in a distant land of gold; heard of in song and story; dreamed of but never seen.”
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http://www.chrisryanmusic.com