Nighthawks - Original Composition, Live in Newcastle, February 2026

And to pair with the Satie my own original composition 'Nighthawks', which took inspiration from the first Gymnopédie, as well as more significantly from the paint of the same name by the legendary American artist Edward Hopper. Below I have copied the description I wrote for the piece when I gave it's premiere last year. Nighthawks is a short piece for solo piano, that takes it's name and great influence from the famous 1942 painting by American artist Edward Hopper. I know very little about painting or drawing etc., and while I deeply appreciate the work of many visual artists I've never had a painting effect me quite as profoundly as Nighthawks did the first time I saw it some years ago. The dark, claustrophobic feeling of the whole piece, the way looking into the diner from the outside feels almost voyeuristic, the untold stories of these characters presented to our own imaginations, the couple, sat next to each other but nevertheless seeming so incredibly distance... In the words of the YouTube channel Great Art Explained... "Edward Hopper's world was New York, and he understood that city more than most people. He understood that even though you may live in one of the most crowded, and busy cities on earth, it is still possible to feel entirely alone." It is one of the most visceral reactions I've ever had to a piece of art of any discipline, and I knew immediately that I want to write a piece based upon it. It took some time for the muse to visit me with this one but at last I managed to get the ball rolling earlier this year and this is the result! In addition to the painting that inspired the piece from the beginning I also drew significant inspiration from the first Gymnopédie by Erik Satie, which I presented just before it in the programme of this recital. Those of you familiar with the Satie might recognise the similarities between the two, particular in the opening left hand rhythm, pattern of bass note followed by upper voicing in an almost sarabande like fashion, and soaring upper melody. I've had several people come up after hearing me play the Gymnopédie - a piece I perform regularly - and call it 'Midnight in Paris' or a title to that effect. Initially I had no idea what they meant by this, but eventually we figured out that it was the Satie. I believe in may have been featured on a compilation album of that name, or under that title, or something of the like at some point and thusly that name has stuck with a certain group of people. As far as I know Satie never intended for the Gymnopédie to be connected with Paris in any way, shape, or form, but it seems that connection has since been established never the less, as has a wider one perhaps to the French night and/or nightlife, I've often seen it featured besides Van Gogh's 1888 painting Café Terrace at Night. Unlike Satie, Hopper's work is overtly linked to the city in question, and I wanted that connection to be at the forefront of the composition. While Satie's Paris - intentioned or otherwise - is full of light and life, Hopper's New York is closed off, dark, and lonely, a city filled with dread at the prospect of the now inescapable reality of the war they were entering. Nighthawks was finished on the 21st of January 1942, just weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbour and the United State's entry in the Second World War. New York held blackout drills in preparation for the possibility of air raids - having already seen the destruction caused by The Blitz in the UK - and public spaces were left dark and abandoned as the lifeblood of the city itself seemed to hide away from the terror of what might come. The piece itself features two contrasting sections, both underscored by repetitive left hand figures in an almost passacaglia style. The first is the one heavily inspired by Satie, a soaring right hand melody that appears several times set against the rumbling jazz-inspired dread of the dissonant left hand voicings. The second, features overtly dissonant quartal chords moving up and down the keyboards registers, the stress of city's plight taking its toll, perhaps an argument breaking out between the diner's costumers, new stresses aggravating the old... The original painting and information about it can be viewed here, at the website of the Art Institute of Chicago, where the original has resided since the May of 1942 - https://www.artic.edu/artworks/111628... I also highly recommend the video by Great Art Explained covering the painting, which was my first exposure to it, and served as a great source of inspiration and information on the work while I was writing the piece. Their video can be found here -    • Nighthawks by Edward Hopper: Great Art Exp...   Many thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!