FAWM: "Quadragesima"

Quadragesima

2 days ago by @karendemello

Skirmish: Latin phrases (@beau_mickey)

Quadragesima

karendemello

00:00

Liner Notes

#latin #sqirmish This is my first Skirmish in 2026, and it's also the first time I've done something live on my piano this year. I'm sort of cheating as the 1-hour skirmish asked for Latin phrases and this is merely 1 word. But it's a good word (IMHO), and it seemed appropriate since today is Ash Wednesday.

Quadragesima is Latin for "fortieth". 40 days from now (not counting Sundays) is Easter.

Lyrics

My intent was to chant Quadragesima 40 times, though truthfully I lost count :-)

Comments

@kahlo2013 1d

Lovely touch on the keys! Meditative! Kudos on doing the skirmish!

@karendemello 22h

Thanks! After figuring out the chord progressions for the first 2 measures I pressed record on my phone and hit this in one take. So unlike me to improvise on the piano! I loved the one hour time box of the skirmish that prompted this to happen :-)

@russkeys 1d

The sparse piano is perfect for this. Well done!

@karendemello 1d

Thank you!

@jongoldie 2d

I didn't think I would get a kick out of someone singing one Latin word for two and a half minutes, but I did. Says a lot for what you achieved. Cheers

@karendemello 1d

Wow, 2-1/2 minutes? I didn't realize that that. How ironic - my longest song so far this year only has 1 word LOL Thank you!

@frostbeat 2d

I like that you took a Latin word and turned it into a meditation. I felt immersed in the chant and your playing is beautiful!

@karendemello 2d

Thank you! I'm glad that you felt part of it ~

@musicsongwriter 2d

Your song is beautifully hypnotic. I can imagine it as sing along involving more and more people joining in. It feels like meditation, getting tension go away and feeling the new energy coming in. Beautiful playing and singing.

@karendemello 2d

Thank you! Oh, how I wish there were more people joining in. I am not a singer and (this is embarrassing) it's a challenge to sing even something easy like these same 5 syllables over and over while playing piano LOL.

@musicsongwriter 2d

You are very welcome and your voice is beautiful. I too wish more people joining but there is something unique about a songwriter's perspective on the song created. Sometimes brilliantly polished songs lose the soul the songwriter brings with their own interpretation.

@karendemello 2d

Interesting - you make a good point that I’d never thought of. Thanks again ~

@bethdesombre 2d

That is so cool -- what a great word and concept, and so many different emotions expressed throughout. (I'm sorry I missed this skirmish -- I could've written a song for my International Law students who are complaining about all the latin legal terms).

@karendemello 2d

Thank you! And (just sayin') there's nothing stopping you from writing a non-skirmish song with latin legal terms :-)