Then There Was One (clarinet,trumpet, piano)
For all my life I've been blessed since birth to have had a brother and close companion who was my twin. On April 19, 2006, my brother John lost his 4-year battle against cancer. Click on 'lyrics/story' below for more information.
Electronic and classical symphonic music come together in an exciting imaginative mix using piano,electric guitar,synthesizers and acoustic virtual instruments
Story behind the song
Four years ago my brother was diagnosed with Colon cancer. In March, 2006, after suffering siezures doctors determined that the cancer had spread to his brain. After a lengthy hospital stay and rehab along with daily radiation treatments he went home to his family- his wife Claudia and 12-year-old daughter Carmel. At home he continued his rehabilitation. During the hospitalization I started a piano composition as kind of therapy for me to deal with the feelings brought on by the difficulties my brother faced. Only six days after returning home he was rushed by ambulance to a nearby hospital emergency room. At the hospital he developed pneumonia and this led to pulminary embolism and his death on April 19. In memory of the time we used to play duets together, John on trumpet with me on clarinet (a few times on a Sax as pictured here) I rearranged the piano piece I had started before and added a trumpet and clarinet duet and strings. I have faith that my brother has gone on to a great spiritual reward. He was always kind hearted, never spoke ill of anyone, and was deeply loved by many. He continued to work until just a few months ago, even while enduring years of chemotherapy and two surgeries. He fought hard to live all the way up to the last moment. He will be deeply missed.
A close friend of my brother John wrote the following about him:
Some souls seem to have little to prove. They love loyally, practice patience easily, and model unity effortlessly. They possess a bright intellect and self assurance without indulging the ego. Their souls can soar to fine classical music and their pens can turn out exceptional writing, even as they offer humility and kindness to the untrained ear and deference to their brothers and sisters from every walk of life. They never exhibit a sense of competition but always show interest in what others are doing. They are comfortable with silence or can share their philosophies tactfully in moments of camaraderie and communion. They give according to the needs of the one in their presence because they are, above all, kind to others.
Have you noticed that some of these souls suffer illness fairly early in life? Perhaps these are the souls whose "calamity is their providence," because it takes great physical struggles to further hone their spiritual marrow in the way everyday annoyances test and refine the character of the less resilient. This is the way some of his close friends envision John Fanning—kind, long-suffering and patient in times of tests that would have challenged the fortitude of many others. Through it all, he passed the tests with dignity. As a husband, a father, a family member and friend, he touched many lives with his words, as well as with his silence, and most especially, with his exemplary deeds. When we remember him, may we remember to love loyally, practice patience, and model unity. This was John’s legacy to us. Now it can be our gift to him, in return for his inspiration.
