Scene 5

KHAOS – Scene 5

A scene with Demeter and the upper world chorus.  My voice is obviously substituted for all vocalists. As you listen to the demo take note of one of the lead female voices. She is actually my voice transposed up an octave using computer software that I use called Digital Performer. I’ll be glad to fire her once performances begin.

Scene 5 demonstrates how the music will deal with scenes that are more like traditional recitative. For those unaware of some of the operatic conventions, “recitative” is a style of performance that incorporates a speech-like delivery whereas an “aria” may often contain the more rhythmic delivery of poetry. Scene 5 uses recit whereas as scene 6 is an aria. Since music is inherently rhythmic, recit can pose some challenges for the composer. Do you, like the many of the Baroque and Classical composers, compose music that uses free flowing non rhythmic gestures or do you try to inject rhythm and forward motion like later composers such as Wagner?  I’ve chosen to go the latter route.

The harmonic concepts for the work are still in the evolutionary stages but as you’ll hear, much like music for a motion picture, the music paints each moment of text with a different musical color. I am keenly aware that too many harmonic concepts can lead to a directionless result so this quote from Stravinsky is always in the back of my mind as I write…..

“My freedom will be so much the greater and more meaningful the more narrowly I limit my field of action and the more I surround myself with obstacles. Whatever diminishes constraint diminishes strength. The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one’s self of the chains that shackle the spirit.”

Igor Stravinsky

This is a  rather eloquent way of suggesting that the creation of art is best served by narrowing your options. If a painter uses every color in his/her palette  the results may not be as compelling as one who experiments with specific shades for each new work.

With that thought as a backdrop, here are some of my chosen plans for the music….

– melodies will use a very smooth topography for emotional moments and very angular movement with wide leaps in more dramatic sections

– harmony will have triadic (chords built in thirds) and quartal (chords built in 4ths) harmony and there will almost always be a layers of subtle and not so subtle dissonance (due to our dark subject matter) weaving in and out of the score

– a signature structure of the work will be the recurrence of chords where a seventh or ninth is placed below a triad – in most cases these chords will sound dissonant but will also afford opportunities for warmth and power since they contain triads

That’s it for now.