Each Measure Feature: Suzanne Grosvenor

FEATURE

Heart of Love is a stirring solo piano piece from American composer, Suzanne Grosvenor. It is improvisational, was recorded live in front of an intimate audience, and is deeply moving. Grosvenor’s work spans decades and various styles. She has composed music in multiple musical veins from classical, to jazz, even writing a runaway regional new wave hit in 1978–a feat that landed her band a gig as an opening act for the Talking Heads. However, with all of the zigs and zags her compositional stylings have taken, they have remained deeply intuitive, spontaneous, and moving–but perhaps none more than Heart of Love.

Heart of Love is brief in its runtime, but the piece feels as vast as an ocean. It’s comforting and atmospheric. It’s full of subtle flourishes that allow Grosvenor’s improvisational instincts to take center stage. The piece is brimming with bright notes that make the listener feel as though they’re safe in the arms of a loved one, yet–sparingly littered throughout (including the final note of the piece) deep, resonant, notes are struck that give Heart of Love a weight and gravity. These moments are sullen–almost morose–but in a way that provides texture and adds to the piece’s sense of personality.

I can imagine being one of the lucky few in attendance of the song’s recording must have felt exhilarating–like falling gently as a leaf, knowing that wherever the wind blew you, you would eventually come to rest gently in the grass. That is what listening to Heart of Love is like.

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