How fortunate you are!
Typically, as devoted readers will attest, I save the piercing… um… lash of my adjective-cumbersome reviews for film. In fact, WordPress tells me I’ve written NEARLY TEN such reviews, each one more senselessly wordy than the last. Now, I’m positive WordPress is terribly wrong with this calculation, but it nonetheless serves as some sort of proof that I’m not just flat-out lying to you all the time. See? See how fortunate you are? And it’s not even your birthday.
My brother Ryan (music composer and self-devoted-blog-fanatic) has very recently written and posted a brand-new piece which he has written for symphony orchestra, and recorded on solo piano. It’s titled “Eric” which fits with his trend of titling original compositions of any length with the old video game character theme titling system. I for one have ALWAYS supported character themes, even though this one seems to be in name only. In any case, it’s a 14 minute dramatic epic, most suitable (in my opinion) for a film score. It runs through several segments of varying intensity, but generally revolves around a few thematic elements.
Of his piece, Ryan writes:
“I’d like to admit that it’s hard for me to play this piece and do it justice, as the instrumentation in my head differs from what I’m playing (I simply do not have enough hands or the piano skills). “
Quite. In fact, the liner notes he includes with this rough draft detail exactly his intentions with several segments of the piece, making plenty of room for woodwind solos (including what will eventually be a soul-destroying English horn.) These notations are rather important, although not necessarily vital to keep in mind on first listen. The melody is pretty thoroughly conveyed with the piano alone–a testament to the skill with which he plays.
The first thing I’ll say about the piece itself is that the flow is impeccable. There was no lone moment that seemed abruptly out of place or disconnected from the overall composition. This is a pleasantness that should not go overlooked, as the piece exceeds in length most all of his other musical time parameters, it does not feel like several separate pieces stitched together clumsily, but rather a single, solid symphony.
The chord configurations in play, especially within the first three minutes are ethereal and boldly moving. It sets up what I believe to be the thematic conveyance of the piece. We open with a sudden sadness, as though entering unaware into any number of given scenes, unsure and anxious. We then ease naturally into the narrative of the piece, effortlessly taking in the grand scale of its presentation.
The bulk of the piece takes us on an immensely personal journey through emotion itself. One listening to this piece should easily be able to conjure personal memories of lasting emotion as the music unfolds around them. For me, my mind was constantly being transported between joyous and tragic places within time and space, and at times was almost overcome by emotion entirely.
Personally, the heart of this piece rests within its brutal effect on the listener’s psyche. The melodies are so conducive to reflection that they border on therapeutic. At times in one’s life they find themselves captured in a moment–whether it be walking alone along a forest trail or waiting patiently for your 5am bus to arrive on a cold and rainy Tuesday morning–that they begin to see the moment from a third-person perspective, as though they are realizing for the first time that they exist, and that they play a role in life. In these captured moments, this music plays.
And as a sort of score-for-life’s-emotions, this piece fits brilliantly, up to and including the majestic finale. The music swells with almost unbearable gravity until it calmly guides you back evenly and warmly to the place at which you started. You exit the journey feeling enriched: a more understanding person than when you entered.
The video, which I will link to momentarily, was edited to include passing images to facilitate the listening experience. I’m gonna go ahead and say that a lot of effort was put into this, if for no other reason than that it’s 14 minutes of images having to be edited together to music. Really, though, it’s a beautiful experience that only adds to the composition.
http://www.facebook.com/v/52930536814
Enjoy the video (which only exists on facebook as far as I know, at least for the time being), and comment if’n you’ve given the video enough time.
Obviously I love the piece, and hopefully you’ll be able to appreciate it on the same level I do. I for one hope I am not alone in saying that I cannot wait for the fully orchestrated symphonic version.
The Glass City 