Theme for Marcus

And now for something completely different. (I do write music for outside the church too--really!)

Back in 2000 (I think--the brain cells are starting to go dim here) I had the pleasure of providing the incidental music for Listen!, a play by Leah Cooper. It was performed in the Minnesota Fringe festival that year. The play is a "battle for the soul" of Joe between his Eco-friendly girlfriend (Katie) and his corporate boss (Marcus). The follow is a line of Marcus's that I used as the jumping off place for this composition, A Theme for Marcus.

MARKUS: ...Dose up on the gingko biloba and bring your brain. Ten minds, ten mouths, one note-taker, locked in a room together. Stream of consciousness stuff. This is where the product image gets conceived. Identify the essence of the allure, get in touch with the product's sexy side. Spin that into a lifestyle image. Invent a look, jingle out a voice, manufacture some soul, and bring your brand name to life!

(quoted with permission of the author)

Give a listen (no pun intended) to it.

New web hosting service

Well, I upgraded the website last night, so now I have plenty of room for mp3 files. Slowly but surely things come into place.

It's been a while

I realized I haven't written an entry on this blog for a while. Lots of things have been happening "behind the scenes", but haven't really had a chance to put things out. I need to upgrade my web hosting service for gennaula.com (where I put all my mp3 files) and so that has been somewhat of a blocker since I don't want to put too much more stuff out to my current website that I'll just have to move.

I was realizing that all of the pieces I've put out so far as been from my "sacred catalog." I need to get a bit more of my theater pieces out.

Now that I'm "40 something" I'm definitely having those times where I think "wouldn't it be great to be back in college when I could just play around at a piano or computer for hours"? That gets a bit more difficult when you mix in family, house, and job.

Looking for soundfonts

Right now I'm in the search for new soundfonts. I've orchestrated Blessed are the merciful and have decided that a listener would have to extra extra extra merciful in listening to what my midi to mp3 convert is giving out. The converter uses .sf2 files for the conversion, so I'm looking for a better set of files.

Meditation No. 1: Mercy

Listening to the "Blessed are the merciful" composition, I started to experiment with it: slowing it down and then lowering it in the the bottom most octaves.

A few years back I read the The Cloister Walk by Kathleen Norris. This eventually lead me to exploring the practice of Centering Prayer. I worked for a while in downtown St. Paul, MN and close by was a place called the Benedictine Center where there was a lunch meditation service. Unfortunately that downtown outreach program was shut down and I have since moved to a different location for work.

Listening to this experiment I thought this would be perfect music to listen to while combining it with the Centering Prayer. This goes somewhat against the basic tenet of the prayer since its goal is "interior quiet". But I find personally that the right music can help me obtain that prayerful state.

Click here to listen.

Blessed are the Merciful

I've been avoiding writing the next two posts. I uploaded two mp3 files a while back, but have been trying to figure out what to say about them. I'm finally just choosing not to say much.

The first of these sound-files is of a composition that I wrote for choir a few years back. Here it is presented on a MIDI harpsichord. Click here to listen.

The First Emperor

[from Wikimedia Commons]






Yesterday I saw the Metropolitan Opera's First Emperor by Tan Dun at a movie theater.

Since I am a Techno Geek as well as a Music Geek, this was just pure heaven. I've never seen an opera at the Met although I've taken the backstage tour when I was in NYC. In someways I have to admit that I found the experience even better than going to a real opera house. If for nothing else I didn't have to get all dressed up and spend a fortune on the tickets. Granted, at $18 a pop, this is more expensive than your normal movie, but that's OK.

The opera was great! I had read reviews of the opera complaining that the mix of the strong rhythmic and dissonant orchestral and choral sections did not integrate well with the Pucciniesque writing for Domingo. I have to strongly disagree. It was this juxtaposition that made the opera work for me.

The opera is based on Emperor Qin, the first emperor of China. It tells an emotional story in which Qin puts the state above all else, including love and friendship. It is the perfect subject matter for a grand opera and Dun's score as well as the performance was completely up to the task. Wikipedia has an article on the opera.

The whole experience even had my favorite beloved Grandma of Grand Opera, Beverly Sills! And like talking with your Grandma I had to chuckle when she mistakenly referred to Beckham, the soccer play, as a hockey player when speaking with Domingo. But that's OK.

The theater was sold out. There is a hunger for artistic experiences across the nation and hopefully this proves it. Well done Peter Gelb!!!!