Ballades of the Sun

Each of the Ballades is a musical story and collection of Daniel's experiences from 2021-2024. Although each piece has a story to tell, listeners are also meant to take the music and make their own story out of it. Daniel dedicates this release to his friends and families: those who made these experiences possible. 

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Ballade 1: Vie d'Orphelin, 2nd Movement

The first ballade, Vie d'Orphelin was Daniel's first classical composition, created in the fall of 2022 at Seattle Prep's music composition course under Sarah Bost. The piece was even featured at the Prep Band's concert in the winter of that year. Daniel took inspiration from Chopin's Nocturne No. 20 in C-sharp minor and Song of India. The Ballade tells a story of an orphan child experiencing hardship at the beginning of his life but turning it into joy by surrendering all the pain to his father- God.

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Ballade 2: Il Datore Della Vita

The second Ballade's inception can be traced back to the beginning of the recent Russia-Ukraine war. Although he was not directly affected, Daniel was deeply afflicted by the acts that were being committed on innocent people. Going to an event protesting the war filled Daniel with a new sense of drive, drive he could only express through music. The second and more joyous part of the Ballade can be attributed to Daniel's amazing experience running in Seattle Preparatory Cross Country in his sophomore year- runs through the city of Seattle with great friends were a significant sense of joy because of the great conversations and the physical and emotional growth he experienced during that time. After a year of composition, Daniel played and finalized the piece during his family's travels through the Mediterranean in the summer of 2022. Il Datore Della Vita translates to The Giver of Life, referencing God and thanking him for these experiences.

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Ballade 3: Caelum Memoriae

Following the Mediterranean trip in 2022, Daniel attended the Harvard Pre-College Program that same summer and shadowed a physician in Mexico. These various experiences of excitement, stress, and happiness culminated in the longest of the Ballades, Caelum Memoriae, translating to Celestial Memories. Daniel continued composing it until Spring 2023.

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Ballade 4: Sol

The final, shortest, and perhaps most technically advanced ballade, Sol, was inspired by Hans Zimmer's Interstellar soundtrack and Luis Bonfa's "Concerto for Guitar." Musical elements from these pieces such as repetitive buildup and guitar-derived chords mixed with Daniel's pure gratitude for the experiences he's had over the summer of 2023 in the Dominican Republic culminated in this piece. The only way to truly express the love he felt for the community in the Dominican Republic because of the countless life-lessons he learned and perspectives he took on was to communicate the anecdotes through this piece, finished and published along with the other ballades in November 2023.