Favorite Icon, Full size
Songbook Review: Momentum
David Hicken
Cover image of the songbook Momentum by David Hicken
Momentum
David Hicken
2017 / Enchanting Music
92 pages / 12 songs
Review by Kathy Parsons
The Momentum songbook is the companion sheet music book to David Hicken’s 2017 solo piano album by the same name. I really like both the recording and the songbook because this music clearly demonstrates Hicken’s versatility as a composer as well as what an incredible pianist he is. The styles vary from mournful (“Lacrimosa”) to tender and romantic (“Mon Coeur”) to buoyant (“My Sojourn”), lyrical (“Alicen’s Nocturne”), haunting (“Sanctuary of Truth”) and epic (“Incantation 2.0,” “The Valiant” and “Vanquished”); Hicken’s brilliant duet, “Gemini,” is also included. There is truly something for everyone and every mood as long as you are a fairly advanced pianist. David did the sheet music transcriptions himself and I proofed them to ensure that the scores are as close as possible to how he plays them on the recording. This music is challenging, but is an absolute joy to play.

The printed book is spiral-bound and printed on a medium-weight paper stock. The cover is an enlarged version of the album cover and illustrates the dynamic energy of the music. I have been a very big fan of David Hicken’s music for a long time and I think this is his best collection of original pieces (so far!). The scores include metronome settings, plenty of dynamics, and occasional fingering. The book is also available as a PDF download and both versions are available exclusively from www.DavidHicken.com, as are the individual pieces. Very highly recommended!

The song titles, the keys they are in, and the number of pages are:

Tempus Fugit - Key of Bb (2 flats)/ D (2 sharps) - 8 pages
Alicen’s Nocturne - Key of A (3 sharps)/ C (0 sharps or flats) - 5 pages
My Sojourn - Key of D (2 sharps)/ E (4 sharps) - 6 pages
Excelsis - Key of G (1 sharp)/ C (0 sharps or flats)/ F (1 flat)/ Db (5 flats) D (2 sharps) - 9 pages
Sanctuary of Truth - Key of Bb minor (5 flats)/ C minor (3 flats) - 7 pages
Silhouettes - Key of Db (5 flats)/ Eb (3 flats) - 5 pages
Incantation 2.0 - Key of E minor (1 sharp)/ F minor (4 flats)/ F# minor (3 sharps) - 11 pages
Lacrimosa - Key of E minor (1 sharp) - 5 pages
Vanquished - Key of C minor (3 flats) - 8 pages
Mon Coeur - Key of B (5 sharps)/ Db (5 flats) - 4 pages
Gemini (duet) - Key of Eb (3 flats)/ E (4 sharps)/ F (1 flat)/ Gb (6 flats)/ G (1 sharp) - 14 pages (7 pages each part)
The Valiant - Key of Eb minor (6 flats) / E minor (1 sharp) - 9 pages
September 21, 2017
More reviews of David Hicken songbooks