Watch 'Beauty and the Beast' Composer Alan Menken Preview 3 New Songs for the Live-Action Movie

Not every press junket features an eight-time Oscar winner doing interviews alongside his piano. But there was Alan Menken, the legendary composer behind Disney hits like The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Pocahontas tickling the ivories at a Beverly Hills hotel while promoting the new live-action reboot of Beauty and the Beast. (The 1991 animated original is, of course, another classic he scored.)

While we were tempted to start throwing requests (“Piano Man”?), we instead asked Menken to preview the three new compositions he composed for the film with lyricist Tim Rice: “Evermore,” “Days in the Sun,” and “How Does a Moment Last Forever” (the latter crooned on the soundtrack by Titanic hitmaker and original Beauty and the Beast title track singer Céline Dion).

Watch above as Menken gives us a sampling of each track and a little insight into their origins.

Beauty and the Beast opens in theaters Friday.

Watch Emma Watson explain why her Belle is an activist:

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