There's Beauty in Here Somewhere [SOLO PIANO] (2026, AMH)

Composer: Alannah Marie Halay (2026)

Instrumentation: Solo Piano

c. 3'30"

"There’s Beauty in Here Somewhere searches for something that continually seems just out of reach. Its title intends to silently scream an unspoken extra word (inserted wherever): "surely?!". This music repeatedly tries to find such 'beauty': presenting an idea, reconsidering it, abandoning it, and trying again. Repetition is deliberately not shied away from. Though repetition can sometimes appear an easy or even lazy choice, here it reflects part of a potentially-arduous process we must all succumb to. However, the same material is never encountered in quite the same way twice because context, expectation and the memory of what has already happened allow something new to be found within something familiar. Hesitation gradually gives way to greater persistence as fragments begin to connect and possibilities emerge from what initially seemed uncertain.Yet, beneath this through-composed process of searching and discovery, the waltz presents a contradiction because its dance continues regardless. As such, a flowing, secure, forward-motion must be followed as though time waits for no one`(even in uncertainty). The performer should therefore resist making the music sound obviously fractured or hesitant. Its doubts and discoveries belong within the movement of the dance, and should be performed with freedom and expression without losing its underlying grace. For all its questioning, it is, after all, a waltz."

- Alannah Marie Halay