Information:

• Source: Approved Measures Notebook
• Key: D minor
• Measures: 54
• Parts: Cello and Piano
• Duration: 3:12 min
• Pages: 6 Pages

Life is like a show than never ends, and out of nowhere only the actors are being replaced.

THINKING OF BACH
With the birth of J.S.Bach, a musical phenomenon appeared as if out of nowhere. By the time he started composing, till the day he died, nobody could stop his genius, and even to this day, it hasn’t stop, and it keeps going.

There is a lot written about the composer, but his biographers do not have it easy because, there is so much extraordinary music left behind, and very little is known of his personal life. A lot of it, is pure speculation

The influence of Bach’s music, as life itself, is similar to a first act scene that never ends; only the actors are being replaced. There are no second, nor third acts. His music is a playlist...

Information:

• Source: The Emperor’s New Clothes Notebook
• Key: F Major/D minor
• Measures: 30
• Parts: Cello and Piano
• Duration: 3:15 min
• Pages: 5

“The last generations’s worst fears become the next one’s B-grade entertainment.” ― Barbara Kingsolver, Flight Behaviour

EIGHT BILLION
Eight billion humans sharing the planet earth, and everyone has a story to tell. We smile and cry, we get happy and sad, and we do not need to be in a beauty pageant to desire, desperately, world peace. The thing is, we are a unique, emotional bunch of individuals reacting, in so many different ways to the same problems. I would like to think that, perhaps, we do have more things in common than we are willing to accept.

Everyone has a story to tell, it is up to the listener to accept it as it is, or give it a judgmental interpretation. Eight billion humans, I can’t emphasise that number enough; and...

Information:

• Source: The Wonder of Music Notebook
• Key: B Major / G minor
• Measures: 48
• Parts: Cello and Piano
• Duration: 3:17 min
• Pages: 4

“The future can ever promise but one thing and one thing only: surprises.”
― Steven Erikson

AN ETERNAL DANCE
Time passes through my consciousness like an uncontrollable storm, where my memories of yesterday and the fleeting moments of now mixed with the infinite possibilities of tomorrow, create the very foundation of who I am. My identity, along with the decisions I take and the whole understanding of my own existence are shape in a way, that it is difficult to grasp the concept of this eternal dance.

When I look at my past, I smile at all my accomplishments, but I also frown upon my shortcomings, hoping they won’t get shorter. When I take a closer look at my present life, it energizes me and foreshadows, with impressive precision...

Information:

• Source: The Wonder of Music Notebook
• Key: F Major / D minor
• Measures: 36
• Parts: Cello and Piano
• Duration: 3:23 min
• Pages: 3

“Sometimes life surprises you in the most beautiful ways, leaving you pleasantly taken aback by its wonders".

I NEED MUSIC
We live in a world that is NOT easy to figure out, different situations can be clear and bogus, all at the same time, or so we think, depending entirely on the perspective we see it. The gigantic, colorful puzzle that is in front of us, could be very complex, and therefore, difficult to solved; this in return, could affect deeply our self esteem shredding it in a trice, compelling us to do the unthinkable.

I need music to mitigate the confusion. Music guides me, and reasons with me, whispering that everything would be ok at the end of the day. Music never disappoints, it’s always there, ready to rescue me...

Information:

• Source: Emperor’s New Clothes Notebook
• Key: Bb Major / G minor
• Measures: 36
• Parts: Cello and Piano
• Duration: 2:43 min
• Pages: 3

“I’ve dreamt in my life dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas: they’ve gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the colour of my mind.” ― Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

ABSURD IMAGES
Most mornings I wake up without knowing whether I dreamed. I do prefer keeping it that way. If I do remember, the information is rarely worth having.
I dislike dreams regardless of their content _ agony or bliss. Nightmares are exhausting, and pleasant dreams are just as suspicious. Both feel unnecessary.

Dreaming strikes me as one of the stranger defects of being human. My mind produces a variety of absurd images, incoherent plots, no colors and no sounds. By morning, the whole thing dissolves on...

Information:

• Source: The Wonders of Music Notebook
• Key: D Major / B minor
• Measures: 36
• Parts: Cello and Piano
• Duration: 3:09 min
• Pages: 3

Mexico. Melancholy, profoundly right and wrong, it embraces as it strangulates — Ann Castillo

FOR THE LOVE OF PETE
I was born and raised in Mexico, but I was spoiled in California and spent the last twenty six years of my life living there. Now that I am back, I didn’t think I was going to experience a cultural shock, or rather, a reverse cultural shock; as it is refer by experts on the subject, however; I was wrong, oh so wrong!.

The elements of surprise, confusion, disorientation, feeling out of place, and believe it or not, language, were all, well, “surprising” to say the least. I didn’t evaluate my expectations before hand, I didn’t think I have to, after all, I’m a Mexican going to live in Mexico, for the love of Pete!

...

Information:

• Source: Before The Sun Goes Down Notebook
• Key: F Major / D minor
• Measures: 24
• Parts: Cello and Piano
• Duration: 3:03 min
• Pages: 4

“Fighting for peace, is like fucking for chastity” ― Stephen King, Hearts in Atlantis

FIGHT BACK
No one needs to experience war firsthand to understand the essence of its character, which reveals the very core of pure evil, exposing the darkest aspects of humanity. There are times, however, when aggressors declare war and leave no room for neutrality, in which case, we have to defend ourselves at all cost, disputing the demands imposed upon us. When faced with such aggression, we don’t have a choice but to capitulate or to fight back.

Our victory or our defeat depend on numerous factors, many of which lie beyond our control. Yet when circumstances appear to favor us, we strike with such force in a desperate intent to defeat the...

Information:

• Source: California Sessions Notebook
• Key: C Major / A minor
• Measures: 36
• Parts: Cello and Piano
• Duration: 2:57 min
• Pages: 4

“The light was different here in California.”
― Heidi Freestone, Growing Home

A WISE LADY
Compare to many people, traveling has never been a priority in my life. If I were to make an inventory of all the trips I’ve taken, I could easily count them with the fingers of one hand. However, I can attest that the entirety of San Luis Obispo County is one of - if not the - most elegant and dignified places I have ever visited. Almost everywhere I turned, the breathtaking views were like watching a wise lady that knows better than to lose her composure - or else.

As a visitor, I ventured to the destinations commonly frequented by tourists. The beautiful beaches, Hearst Castle, and the Spanish-style towns scattered throughout the area were...

Information:

• Source: Before The Sun Goes Down Notebook
• Key: G Major / E minor
• Measures: 36
• Parts: Cello and Piano
• Duration: 3:01 min
• Pages: 3

“For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining is let it rain.”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

SORROW AND HAPPINESS
I have experienced sorrow and happiness. Fortunately, sorrow is not a permanent arrangement. My grandmother used to say, “There is no pain that lasts a hundred years,” which is reassuring. Happiness, on the other hand, has the bad habit of showing up and then moving on as fast as it came, leaving me a step behind.

Life expectancy of most mortals in reasonable conditions falls well short of a hundred years, then it seems unlikely that I will witness either sorrow or happiness outlasting that span. Both will come and go within my allotted time, a time span that feels suspiciously like something assigned on...

Information:

• Source: California Session Notebook
• Key: C Major / A minor
• Measures: 36
• Parts: Cello and Piano
• Duration: 3:04 min
• Pages: 3

I suppose in about a fortnight or so, we shall be told that he has been seen in San Francisco. It’s an odd thing, but everyone who disappears is said to be seen in San Francisco. It must be a delightful city, and possess all the attractions of the next world.” — The Picture of Dorian Gray by Wilde

IN FOR A TREAT
When I first moved to San Francisco, I really did not know I was in for a treat; everything seemed brand new, bigger, brighter and faster. I was twenty five years old. I did not know what to expect from this remarkably city with such an awful name, but as soon as I step out of the plane, I felt the magic in the air. They said Disneyland is the happiest place on earth, but they are wrong, surely because, perhaps, they have never...