Have you heard? 08. Neptune, the Mystic

Have you heard? is a showcase for the unconventional, unique and inspiring music out there that never seems to get the limelight it deserves

The Planets: Neptune, the Mystic - Gustav Holst (1915)

Gustav Holst’s Planets Suite is undoubtedly his most well-known music ever. Particularly, the themes he wrote for Mars and Jupiter have been played and loved around the world. But there are five other planets he wrote music for, one of which is Neptune, the Mystic. Dreamy and soothing, this is the final piece in the suite, many years before the discovery of Pluto.

So how does an orchestral piece of music written to portray a distant planet as a wizard constitute an unconventional, unique or inspiring piece of music?

Before even beginning to assess the relationship between the music and the subtitle, “the Mystic”, I am going to jump straight to the end of the piece. The music ends with a soft choir repeating the same bar over and over again as it fades into the distance. In today’s modern age this is not unusual, but in a live 1910’s performance the effect was simply astounding. How did he do it? In a stroke of innovation for the modern orchestra, he instructed the choir to be put in a room offstage and the door slowly and quietly shut. Very clever!

Neptune, indeed, is a mystical piece. It is not grand or tense, but sombre and magical. That is what makes it special. It’s about the atmosphere rather than the journey. The instrumentation captures this beautifully. It is light and dream-like, heavily utilising the wind instruments and pitched percussion in drifting scales and unresolved chords. In the second half of the piece a choir appears and begins to add to the atmosphere in the background. There are many small chimes and lonely motifs, reflecting the traditional ‘mystic’ viewpoint. Everything is slow, measured and composed. Transitions between motifs and segments are seamless; there are no blunt announcements. Only there is the humble mystic at the end of the universe, craftily weaving his magic.

The music is a perfect fit for Neptune. The choir gives a sense of distance, while the strings flutter around the mystery of the blue planet. It’s the perfect music to have playing in the background when taking it easy… especially if on a trip to Neptune,

Neptune has been inspirational to me as a piece that showcases how a composer to think outside the box to utilise the orchestra in ways to achieve their desired outcomes. These days we have other ways of fading out an orchestra, but Holst’s solution back in 1915 really challenges me to think about things I can do to my pieces to add difference and uniqueness. It also reminds me that not all pieces need to be grand and ‘show-y’. I appreciate the simple atmospheric and impressionistic music Holst has created. it has character and it has soul. It feels just like a planet.

Happy listening and enjoy!

Composing Spotlight: Into the Beyond

Hello!

This month’s composing spotlight looks at the bold string-only video game theme song Into the Beyond, the main theme from my Adventure_RPG album in 2016.

I wrote Into the Beyond in mid-2016 after someone requested I add music to a video-game coding project. The game, titled Adventure_RPG, was all about adventuring out into the world to hunt down the menace Eric the Slayer and saving Adventure Town.

The composing work for this involved writing different themes for different areas in the game; forests, caves, fields and town. Into the Beyond is the theme written for the game’s loading and menu screens. It is the main theme, from which all the other pieces borrows aspects from.

So.. how and why did I write it the way I did?

Well, first, I wanted to capture the general feel and premise of the game. Tense and mysterious. Everyday the character was going out into the unknown in search of a supervillian they probably cannot defeat. Perfect. A driving timpani beat underlying the entire piece will drive it along. A minor key is absolutely fitting to this, along with a moderate military-style tempo and rhythm.

But there is one caveat; the opening three bars. In the game it is already known that you are in danger, so I saw no need to dwell on peaceful and happy times. Instead, I chose to use it to introduce and foreshadow the intensity to come.

The opening bars for percussion and piano.

The opening bars for percussion and piano.

The piece is written exclusively for an extended string section, with piano, percussion and organ added on top. It is not intended to be melodic, or even harmonic. It is a rhythmic piece that pushes further and further forward into the unknown. I did not intend anything grand, so I kept a very simple melody and supporting chord throughout the piece. D-minor for the entirety of every bar, with a small lift to A-minor at the end of the bar. The melody intended to be simple and curious as danger approached.

Main theme, first appearing in the violins.

Main theme, first appearing in the violins.

Then, the music changes. The focus goes back to the town, the melody and harmony changing to reflect the realisation of certain doom, almost like wailing. But never does the pounding of drums stop. Not once in this section does the home chord of D-minor feature, for D is for danger. Instead, we have things like A for adventure. The sequence follows a somewhat unusual Bb, F, Gm, A progression, repeated twice before finally allowing the return to the D-minor home.

Then, we have the calm before the storm. For five whole bars the beating of the drums stops and the strings give us some open air. Making full use of this, the piano borrows motifs from the theme and plays a solo. But it’s an uneasy and suspenseful moment - the final cadence signalling the introduction of the organ and the intensification of the music. This is where I imagined under still, starry night the watchmen of Adventure Town could see Eric the Slayer and his band of misfits approaching.

Piano solo directly before the organ enters the piece; notice similarities to the original theme.

Piano solo directly before the organ enters the piece; notice similarities to the original theme.

The organ. I waited an entire minute and a half to introduce the organ. Inspired by Hans Zimmer’s organ work on Pirates of the Caribbean and Interstellar, the organ was brought on board as a harbinger of fear. Its entry is entirely unexpected, yet immediately it establishes itself as the centre and feature of the music. In the build up back to the return of the melody I made full use of the organ. The right hand introduces a rapid and intense countermelody, the left hand rising in harmony as the dynamics intensify, and the feet playing one long, deep resounding D to counterpoint everything and convolute the chords. The result is that by the end of the segment the music is begging for resolution.

This resolution occurs as the music breaks back into the main theme. I wanted to give relief, but not too much, so opted to let the organ begin proceedings with its haunting version of the melody before kicking it back into the strings. By this point the dynamics have creeped up from pianissimo to fortissimo. The two styles merge and follow a general repeat of the opening sections, this time with the organ playing a counter-melody over the top.

Introduction of the organ and it’s counter melody.

Introduction of the organ and it’s counter melody.

Then, the drums stop and all melodies combine into one, with the strings taking the organ’s frantic semiquavers and blending them with the scales seen earlier in the music. At this stage I was going for chaotic and unknown, yet still familiar. Counter melodies are played together, backed by the original harmonies.

Then, finally the piano and percussion show us out. The tubular bells ring away as the threat recedes. Tomorrow will be another day of adventure.

The end result is 3m 17s of curios adventure and intense survival. These are the very essence of the game and this is what I tried to capture in the music.

Strings and organ mashing all the counter-melodies together to finish.

Strings and organ mashing all the counter-melodies together to finish.

And that is how I wrote Into the Beyond.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this spotlight!

Project Teaser - August 2019

Hello everyone! It’s the 11th of the month, so it’s time for a monthly project teaser.

This month… work continues in constructing a grand package of great new music for you - all flowing from my beloved piano to my computer’s orchestra and then to your ears.

Just how big am I planning? Hmmm… about as long as my last three albums combined sounds like a good length! Bring on 2020, it’s going to be BIG!