Mana Cycle (for Planeswalker Positivity)



Eucalyptus: Genetic Dances was written for the Sydney Conservatorium's 2014 Chamber Music series but was premiered in the 2015 Chamber Music series on the 30th of July 2015.

Dedicated to my little sister Vanessa on completion on her honours in Genetics, Eucalyptus is based on on her thesis - in particular the Eucalyptus genes she sequenced for her work. The DNA strands were converted into the melodic material for these four dances.

These excerpts are recorded live from the premiere.

Performed by:
Deborah de Graaff
Nattanan Low
Peter Smith
Sue Newsome

Eucalyptus: Genetic Dance (excerpts)

Fragments of Solitude

Written for Planeswalker Positivity Week 1: Gideon Jura

Intended as a battle hymn for Gideon as he learns to become a knight on Bant. After his first planeswalk and the loss of his friends due to his own hubris, Gideon begins the long path to redemption.

Composer & Vocalist: Cameron Lam
Sound Engineer: James Passfield

Album art by Luke Shilson-Hughes
Available on RedBubble
http://www.redbubble.com/people/codeling/works/15671283-mana-cycle

Path To Redemption (Gideon Jura)

Written for Planeswalker Positivity Week 2: Jace Beleren

Jace is a mind mage with the power of telepathy and the ability to erase memories. This piece gives us a look into Jace's damaged mind, hearing the inner voices of others blend with his own nearly-forgotten memories.

Composer: Cameron Lam
Voices: James Passfield, Cameron Smith, Cameron Lam
Sound Engineer: James Passfield

Album art by Luke Shilson-Hughes
Available on RedBubble
http://www.redbubble.com/people/codeling/works/15671283-mana-cycle


Where Do The Memories Come From? (Jace Beleren)

Written for Planeswalker Positivity Week 3: Liliana Vess

Liliana is a dark mage unafraid to utilise the powers of death and unlife to achieve her goals. Macabre Waltz depicts Liliana raising the dead forcing them to dance until their limbs give way.

Composer: Cameron Lam
Solo Cellos: Scott Gambling
Sound Engineer: James Passfield

Album art by Luke Shilson-Hughes
Available on RedBubble
www.redbubble.com/people/codeling/…71283-mana-cycle

Macabre Waltz (Liliana Vess)

Written for Planeswalker Positivity Week 4: Chandra Nalaar

Chandra Nalaar is a pyromancer, unafraid to trust her emotions and instincts to lead her to where she needs to be. When she finds herself incarcerated and awaiting execution for being different, Chandra's planeswalker spark ignites leading her to another place in the vast multiverse.

Composer: Cameron Lam
Solo Piano: Damian Griffin
Sound Engineer: James Passfield

Album art by Luke Shilson-Hughes
Available on RedBubble
www.redbubble.com/people/codeling/…71283-mana-cycle

Ignition Point (Chandra Nalaar)

Written for Planeswalker Positivity Week 5: Nissa Revane

Nissa Revane draws her power from an instinctual connection to her homeland, granting her dreams and visions. Her connection even allows the land itself to come alive to guide and defend her. But something sinister has been trapped inside the world, and all Nissa can hear now is it looming, ready to break free.

Composer: Cameron Lam
Percussion: Kaylie Dunstan
Sound Engineer: James Passfield

Album art by Luke Shilson-Hughes
Available on RedBubble
www.redbubble.com/people/codeling/works/15671283-mana-cycle


Anima: Soul of the Land (Nissa Revane)

Written for Planeswalker Positivity Week 13: Nicol Bolas

Nicol Bolas is an ancient dragon planeswalker from Magic: the Gathering, obsessed with reclaiming the power of his youth. Manipulative and subtle, he is willing to bide his time to gain ultimate power, assuming his temper doesn't take over first.

Composer: Cameron Lam
EWI: Peter Smith
Recorded by Peter Smith, Mixed by Cameron Lam

Check out Peter's awesome YouTube channel of video game music covers here: https://www.youtube.com/user/SoUnDoLe

Album art by Luke Shilson-Hughes
Available on RedBubble
www.redbubble.com/people/codeling/

Scheming (Nicol Bolas)

Eucalyptus: Genetic Dances was written for the Sydney Conservatorium's 2014 Chamber Music series but was premiered in the 2015 Chamber Music series on the 30th of July 2015.

Dedicated to my little sister Vanessa on completion on her honours in Genetics, Eucalyptus is based on on her thesis - in particular the Eucalyptus genes she sequenced for her work. The DNA strands were converted into the melodic material for these four dances.

These excerpts are recorded live from the premiere.

Performed by:
Deborah de Graaff
Nattanan Low
Peter Smith
Sue Newsome

IV - Generation - Dubstep (excerpt)

III - Branching - Minuet And Trio (excerpt)

II - Sequences - Tango (excerpt)

I. - Double Helix - Paso Doble (excerpt)

Dedication from Fragments of Solitude
based on The Solitudes by Luis de Gongora, trans. Edith Grossman (2012)

As first piece of the cycle, Dedication is the pilgrim’s setting out point for the journey into solitude and the self. This piece is simple, a blank canvas, and will serve as a contrast with Wandering, the final piece, which uses the same text and melody influenced by the rest of the cycle’s material.

Here we discover innocence.

Lyrics
Text from The Solitudes by Luis de Góngora
as translated by Edith Grossman

Dedication to the Duke of Bejar (lines 1-4)

Steps of a wandering pilgrim are these,
The verses my sweet muse dictated to me:
in perplexing solitude
Some lost, yet others enlivened and inspired.

Credits
Composer: Cameron Lam
Author: Luis de Góngora
Translator: Edith Grossman

Soprano: Amelia Golding
Piano: Alison Cameron
Sound Engineer: James Passfield 

Dedication (Fragments of Solitude)

Offering from Fragments of Solitude
based on The Solitudes by Luis de Gongora, trans. Edith Grossman (2012)

Offering features the singer as the pilgrim, being subsumed by the tidal ocean (the piano) as the waves roll in and the water rises and falls. At various points the singers gives in to the ocean before emerging grateful for the stable rocks underfoot.

Here we discover resilience.

Lyrics:
Text from The Solitudes by Luis de Góngora
as translated by Edith Grossman

The First Solitude (lines 28-33)

He kisses the sand, and from the shattered ship
the spare and meager fragment
that brought him to the beach he offers the rocks:
even crags confess themselves
flattered by signs and shows of gratitude.

Credits:
Composer: Cameron Lam
Author: Luis de Góngora
Translator: Edith Grossman
Soprano: Amelia Golding
Piano: Alison Cameron
Sound Engineer: James Passfield
Photographer: Hayden Shepherd

Offering (Fragments of Solitude)

Liquor from Fragments of Solitude
based on The Solitudes by Luis de Gongora, trans. Edith Grossman (2012)

Liquor is part bawdy tavern song and part reflection on the beauty of nature and dawn. Either a warning against or exaltation of the various forms of fantasy or escape we seek in solitude.

Here we discover escapism.

Lyrics:
Text from The Solitudes by Luis de Góngora
as translated by Edith Grossman

The First Solitude (lines 321-328)

Liquor that Aurora wept
-if nectar is what she weeps -
before the Sun, is dried
by the bee, early riser
to sip at flowers and drink crystal drops,
in cells of liquid gold, in honeycombs
contained in the gallipot
carried by a mountain lad.

Credits:
Composer: Cameron Lam
Author: Luis de Góngora
Translator: Edith Grossman
Soprano: Amelia Golding
Piano: Alison Cameron
Sound Engineer: James Passfield
Photographer: Hayden Shepherd

Liquor (Fragments of Solitude)

Rest from Fragments of Solitude
based on The Solitudes by Luis de Gongora, trans. Edith Grossman (2012)

Rest can be considered to be a chant or a mantra, it focuses you inwards into listening and following your own breathing and by extension someone else’s. Allow space between each breath.

Here we discover stillness.

Lyrics:
Text from The Solitudes by Luis de Góngora
as translated by Edith Grossman

The First Solitude (lines 572-583)

A spacious circle made a peaceful center
for more avenues than a star has beams
of white poplars or perhaps of alders,
and this is where the Spring
-shod in Aprils, clad in Mays-
brings the gleam of crystal waves
to flinty rock rimmed round with jonquil blooms.
This center, then, the shaded
destination was of cowherds proximal,
delicious object of those come from afar,
where, even more weary than the traveler,
the road came to a rest.

Credits:
Composer: Cameron Lam
Author: Luis de Góngora
Translator: Edith Grossman
Soprano: Amelia Golding
Piano: Alison Cameron
Sound Engineer: James Passfield
Photographer: Hayden Shepherd

Rest (Fragments of Solitude)

Fortune from Fragments of Solitude
based on The Solitudes by Luis de Gongora, trans. Edith Grossman (2012)

A somewhat off-kilter hymn or prayer for another traveler.

Here we discover generosity.

Lyrics:
Text from The Solitudes by Luis de Góngora
as translated by Edith Grossman

The First Solitude (lines 897-903)

May the response of Fortune
to your farming be applause.
To the importune plow,
to the troublesome hoe
may a grateful field produce
for you – in uneven days –
well-threshed gold and nectar pressed.

Credits:
Composer: Cameron Lam
Author: Luis de Góngora
Translator: Edith Grossman
Soprano: Amelia Golding
Piano: Alison Cameron
Sound Engineer: James Passfield
Photographer: Hayden Shepherd

Fortune (Fragments of Solitude)

Death from Fragments of Solitude
based on The Solitudes by Luis de Gongora, trans. Edith Grossman (2012)

Death deals with the struggles of remorse, self-judgement and reflection which come with time spent alone. The repeated death chants are as much thinking music as a dirge for the dead.

Here we discover remorse.

Lyrics:
Text from The Solitudes by Luis de Góngora
as translated by Edith Grossman

The Second Solitude (lines 149-155)

Die, beloved enemy,
let my fault die, and your disdain, too late
a penitent, keep for it
a mere sigh that makes my death content
though it is not follow by
a fleeting or indifferent or weary
tear that dries before it is even wept.

Credits:
Composer: Cameron Lam
Author: Luis de Góngora
Translator: Edith Grossman
Soprano: Amelia Golding
Piano: Alison Cameron
Sound Engineer: James Passfield
Photographer: Hayden Shepherd

Death (Fragments of Solitude)

Live recording from the premiere of my EWI concerto, Electric Phoenix, written for Peter Smith.

Performed by: Peter Smith, Strathfield Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by: Sadaharu Muramatsu
Recorded by: Jayson McBride
Cover Art by: Peak Distapan

Electric Phoenix [Live] Sample 3: Cadenza & Coda

Live recording from the premiere of my EWI concerto, Electric Phoenix, written for Peter Smith.

Second theme, inspired by the Heliopolis of the Egyptian myth.

Performed by: Peter Smith, Strathfield Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by: Sadaharu Muramatsu
Recorded by: Jayson McBride
Cover Art by: Peak Distapan

Electric Phoenix [Live] Sample 2: Heliopolis - City of the Sun

Live recording from the premiere of my EWI concerto, Electric Phoenix, written for Peter Smith.

First theme, inspired by Shakespeare's poem Phoenix and the Turtle.

Performed by: Peter Smith, Strathfield Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by: Sadaharu Muramatsu
Recorded by: Jayson McBride
Cover Art by: Peak Distapan

Electric Phoenix [Live] Sample 1: Phoenix and the Turtle Dove

Jacaranda for two bass clarinets and piano (2012)

Like many Australians I’ve grown up surrounded by jacaranda trees the purple blooms heralding Christmas and the end of another year. For me the jacaranda symbolises both the mania of the end of the year (exams, Christmas retail and all of those ‘last things’ to finish) and also calm reflection on the year that has been. This piece pits these feelings against each other, sometimes in sequence, generally blurring and fluidly moving between them and occasionally overlaying them and finding their commonalities.

Jacaranda was written in November of 2012, inspired by the jacaranda blooms at Sydney Town Hall, and is perhaps a meditation on my conflicting feelings as I stood amongst the crush of Christmas shoppers watching the old tree in bloom, quietly, slowly, rustling in the wind.

Bass clarinets: Susan Newsome, Peter Smith
Piano: David Howie

Jacaranda

Here's a sneaky preview for you all

So because I’m a sucker for punishment, I’m looking at doing another series of Magic-inspired pieces of music like [Mana Cycle](https://cameronlam.bandcamp.com/album/mana-cycle).

This time, however, I’m asking Tumblr for inspiration.

Many suggested a Magic: the Gathering card they’d like me to BOTH write a piece about and build a deck around. I’m aiming for for five decks with theme music. Dedications, bragging rights, and a copy of piece go to the chosen suggestors.

Congratulations to Anafenza, the Foremost and her nominator @stormshot

Foremost (sketch)

Foremost | Composer: Cameron Lam | Artist: Inudono 
(https://inudono.tumblr.com/)

Inspired by Anafenza, the khan of the Abzan clan from Magic the Gathering's plane of Tarkir. Anafenza's iron will and determination leads her people through the sandy desert they call home.

Suggested by Tumblr user, Stormshot

So because I’m a sucker for punishment, I’m looking at doing another series of Magic-inspired pieces of music like my previous album, Mana Cycle.

This time, however, I’m asking you all for inspiration, so pick a card, any card!

Voting is currently underway for the remaining cards to inspire the rest of album. Check me out at cameronlamcomposer.tumblr.com to cast your vote!

After the Shuffle

Foremost (Anafenza, the Foremost)

"The epic concerto is a wonderful exploration of the contrabass's colours, bringing to life this myth in both dizzying detail and ambitious scope." -Angus McPherson, Limelight Magazine

Score and parts now available from the Australian Music Centre: https://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/workversion/lam-cameron-yggdrasil-the-world-tree/33610

Performed by Sydney Conservatorium of Music Wind Symphony, Sue Newsome (contrabass clarinet), John Lynch (conductor)
Recorded by David Kim-Boyle for the Sydney Conservatorium of Music
Music Composed by Cameron Lam
Yggdrasil Cover Art by Luke Moseley

Program Notes:
Yggdrasil was born in the void, between world worlds of fire and ice…
This concerto based on Norse myth of Yggdrasil, the World Tree, which connects the nine worlds of Norse cosmology. It plays host to many of the great myths of this culture such as the hanging of Odin and Loki’s betrayal of the Frost giants. Here though, I’ve chosen to look at things on a larger scale – the creation and destruction (Ragnarok) of the worlds with which Yggdrasil is tied.

The work splits the ensemble into three parts Yggdrasil (our contrabass clarinet soloist), Fire: the primordial world of Chaos (woodwinds) and Ice: the primordial world of Stasis (brass). Through combinations of these elements we see the stories of Yggdrasil unfold; the birth of the giant Ash tree Yggdrasil, Rattatosk the squirrel running up and down its trunk spreading nasty rumours the eagle who lives in the canopy and the serpent who lives at the roots, the ancient Norns (fates) tending to the Well of Destiny from which Yggdrasil’s roots drink. These stories culminate in the ultimate cataclysm, Ragnarok literally “Twillight of the Gods”, and Yggdrasil’s rebirth from the ashes of that destruction, marking the beginning of a new world.

The stories of Yggdrasil have echoes throughout array of modern fantasy literature from Dungeons & Dragon to The Alchemyst series by Michael Scott to the Marvel Universe (Thor).

This is the first Australian concerto for contrabass clarinet and wind symphony, and as best as my research can tell the first one worldwide. It is the fifth in a series of clarinet-based works written for Susan Newsome and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, all about trees. Other entries in Jacaranda for bass clarinet duo and piano, and Eucalyptus: Genetic Dances for clarinet quartet. The series is called Arboretum.

Yggdrasil is currently being recomposed for contrabass clarinet and symphony orchestra (another world first I believe) in anticipation of 2018 Orchestral premiere.

Score available soon from www.kammerklang.com

Yggdrasil: The World Tree [Live] (Contrabass Clarinet Concerto)

An excerpt from the live recording of Kodama's premiere by the Orange Symphony Orchestra. This excerpt depicts fourth tree, represented by the percussion section, marked as the West Kodama - the dusk of transformation. 

Photo of Byng St in Orange by Megan Duckworth (@megsjaned on Instagram)

About Kodama:
Kodama (木霊) refers to a tree sprit in Japanese mythology. Over the course of history these personifications have changed from a singular God of the forest, to something akin to Greek dryads, to the pixie or goblin-like creatures made famous in the West by Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke.

When David Shaw commissioned me to write this work for the Orange Symphony, I wanted to write something that reminded me of home, of the Orange I grew up in. I remember three things vividly: brisk winds, colourful everchanging trees, and deep-rooted communities.

This piece draws upon my deep love of mythology and fantasy. The world begins barren and empty, with the only hints of changing being the Kodama melody echoing through the winds. Each family of instrument sprouts its own tree in turn; North – Heavenly & Ethereal, East – A dawn chorus of birds, South – Energetic & Vibrant, and West – The dusk of transformation. These trees grow together to become a single forest, a single diverse community, before we are blown away on yet another wind…

Credits:
Composer - Cameron Lam
Performed by Orange Symphony Orchestra, 
Concertmaster: Lorraine Moxey
Conducted by Ben MacPherson OAM
Recorded by James Buchanan

Kodama (Tree Soul): [Live Excerpt] - performed by Orange Symphony Orchestra

A repeating choose-your-own-adventure song. What do we feel guilty about when we grieve?

The Art of Disappearing is a song cycle meditating on the nature of grief. Slowly transforming from stasis - where is everything is arresting and alien - grief doesn't leave. It becomes an important and empathetic part of us, as we learn to move again.

The fifth portrait album from Sydney composer, Cameron Lam, weaves together the timbre and expressive depth of mezzo soprano Jenny Duck-Chong (Halcyon) and the vibrant connection of the Geist String Quartet to paint a delicate response to the rhythmic and intensely musical poetry of Sarah Holland-Batt's first book, Aria.

Lyrics:
How could he bear that golden weight?
How could he wander the small villages singing,
leading the slow consoling eyes of the goats
and the slumberous herdsmen to the place
where nothing enters or falls, and even the simplest
beauty endures? How could he go out crying
"my love is dead" in a world where surely everything
was her, and her? In the end, Orpheus did not sing
for love. He sang for the instant he forgot
who he was and had been, for those few notes
shining shapelessly above the strings.
credits
from The Art of Disappearing, released May 28, 2019
Composer: Cameron Lam
Poet: Sarah Holland-Batt

Mezzo soprano: Jenny Duck-Chong (Halcyon)
Geist String Quartet:
Violin I - Sonia Wilson
Violin II - Mia Stanton
Viola - Hayasa Tanaka
Violoncello - James Larsen

Audio Engineer and Producer: Jayson McBride
Cover Art: Luke Moseley
Record Label: Kammerklang

Cameron Lam - Composer

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