Gotham

“Gotham”
(Composed and performed by Reynold D. Phililpsek, copyright 2013 Zino-Rephi Music BMI, All Rights Reserved)

A few years ago, I ran across the tragic story of American pianist William Kapell (1922-1953).

Kapell was considered the best of the young American pianists when his plane, returning from his tour of Australia, crashed just before landing in San Francisco in October 1953.

I became very fascinated with Kapell and ordered the CD box set of his recordings. Up until just a few years ago his recordings were out of print and RCA wisely decided to remaster and reissue them with a very informative booklet in the box set.

I wrote “Gotham” as a sort of homage to Kapell. In the song, I quote a part of the Prokofiev Third Concerto, which Kapell had made an excellent recording of in the late 1940s.

Since Kapell was a native New Yorker, I also tried to evoke the feeling of that city and ergo the title and video images as well.

Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFpQTd9BFtI