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Mike's Music Notes |
- The Latest - Winter 2010 - In Glorious Colour What, you might ask, is one to do during winter here in the Great White North? Well you can ski (or other outdoor pursuit of your choice), hibernate (if you're a bookworm or a bear), watch the Winter Olympics ... Or, in my case, I also wrote three new collages of film music inspired by a legion of epic movies!. Why, you may ask? Well, in the beginning there was I, watching a restored version of Lawrence of Arabia on my widescreen TV ... occasionally eying the DVD sets of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings and so on, all awaiting my winter re-viewing pleasure should I choose. Now, you may not agree that all of these are epic movies, but surely they all have epic music, n'est-ce pas? But I digress ... Eventually, with the music of El Orance fresh in my mind, my thoughts turned to my "fragments" file. Now this is my repository for any musical ideas (bits of themes, harmonies, rhythms, etc) I have along the way, that might be useful for future projects - a musical odds and ends drawer, you might say. It so happens that many of this file's contents are (to my ear) cinematic in nature. So, I thought (yes, here comes the eureka moment), perhaps I could take a bunch of these bits and fashion a gloriously colourful new piece from them. To cut a long story short, I took a few days to sift through my "fragments", and gradually the plan for the new piece took shape. Then, a break for the Winter Olympics, a few weeks more of midnight oil and Lo! it was born. I have my own thoughts on the "screenplay" unfolding in the music, but the neat thing is that you can let your imagination roam and decide for yourself. I'll also leave you to decide if the piece really is In Glorious Colour ..... - Ongoing - Meanwhile, back at the studio, work continues on a new concert piece ... Niagara Suite Living in the Niagara region of Canada, I've taken many a meandering drive along the Niagara Parkway, taking in the sights and sounds of the Niagara River and environs, as it wends its way from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. The majesty of the river, and of course Niagara Falls, make this a memorable journey. But if you stop along the way you will also find numerous markers of past events - particularly those of the War of 1812 - that fill you with a sense of our history. It was a combination of these factors that inspired me to start writing the "Niagara Suite", which takes this journey in music that strives to give a sense of place (both of geography and time) rather than literal "sounds like" depictions. The piece has a single movement and is scored for wind ensemble - 2 each of Flute, Oboe, B-flat Clarinet, Bassoon and Horn, plus a Bass clarinet - a chamber orchestra that retains the intimacy of personal reflections, yet is strong enough to convey the power of the landscape. The piece is nearing completion ... I know, I said that months ago! But honestly some remaining ideas are taking an age to discover the right notes. In the meantime, here are two excerpts: That's all for now, folks ... - The News Archives - |
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