A limited television series, THE COMPOSITION OF TIME is a musical about two lovers searching for each other over many lifetimes.

Music composed and orchestrated by David Cornue, with lyrics by Sam Holtzapple. This demo is performed with a live orchestra.

THE COMPOSITION OF TIME (live orchestra)

Temporary & Unspeakable

Original songs and score by David Cornue

Vocalists: David Cornue, Milena Govich, Jason Paige
Musicians: David Cornue (guitar), Milena Govich (violin), Mike Datz (guitar), Joel Gottschalk (bass), Kiel Feher (drums)

Temporary End

Nods

Every Soul

SETUP: In Act One, Daniel composes a simplified version of this song on the spot when challenged by his new vocal student, Emma, to write a song that means something to him. She finds herself strangely moved by the obvious parallel to him and her--a fiery old man meeting a moody young woman--and suggests that he should write it down. Many years later, after Daniel has purposefully driven Emma away from him so she won't have to care for him while he dies and will thus be free to pursue her singing career in Australia, Daniel finally does write down the song.  He sends it to Emma in Australia.  Upon receiving it, she abandons her career to return to him.

This song blends together three different times and places:

1. From the Sands of Time--an endless beach that is anywhere and anywhen--Daniel, who is no longer living, watches young Adam abandon his vocal studies in Australia to head back home to Ms. Reynolds.   He is desperate to win her love, despite their drastic age difference and the terrible way they parted.

2. Emma 30 years earlier, singing the song in Australia after receiving it in the mail from Daniel.

3. Adam arriving at Ms. Reynolds' home in Oregon.  She's astounded and overcome by his return, her faith restored that he is Daniel come back to her.  Their embrace is the climax of the song.

DANIEL:
(watching Adam travel across the sea)
WHEN THE SUMMER SUN
MET THE AUTUMN MOON,
ALL THE WORLD STOOD STILL,
KNOWING WELL THAT SOON
HE WOULD SET, AND DIE,
AND SHE WOULD OWN THE SKY.
WHEN THE SUMMER SUN
MET THE AUTUMN MOON.

EMMA:
(reading the sheet music in Australia)
HE GAZED UP AT HER
FROM HIS DOWNCAST PLACE.
CLOUDS LIKE BLOOD-RED TEARS
DARKENING HIS FACE.

DANIEL:

"OH TO GIVE SUCH LIGHT,
AS SHE WILL GIVE TONIGHT--!"

EMMA:

SAID THE SUMMER SUN
OF THE AUTUMN MOON.

DANIEL & EMMA:

SHE GAZED BACK AT HIM
AND HER RADIANCE GREW.
AND SHE SMILED AND SAID
AS THE STARS BROKE THROUGH:
"SURELY YOU MUST KNOW
THAT YOU ARE WHY I GLOW.
WITH NO SUMMER SUN
THERE'S NO AUTUMN MOON..."

In this Instrumental Section...

Daniel and Emma fade away and the scene shifts to Adam arriving at the home of Ms. Reynolds in the middle of the night.  He knocks at the door insistently.  Ms. Reynolds, bleary-eyed, emerges from the bedroom in a nightgown and opens the door.  She has been distraught ever since he left.  Adam enters.  Beat.  She stares at him in disbelief. They embrace, and their surroundings fade away.  For a moment--as if in a dream--they are together on the Sands of Time alongside Daniel and Emma.

ADAM & MS. REYNOLDS:

WHEN THE SUMMER SUN
MET THE AUTUMN MOON,
ALL THE WORLD STOOD STILL,
KNOWING WELL THAT SOON
NOTHING ANYWHERE
WOULD MATCH THIS PERFECT PAIR:
HE, THE SUMMER SUN.
SHE, THE AUTUMN MOON.

17-year old Adam and 60-year old Ms. Reynolds walk hand-in-hand toward the bedroom, no longer afraid of their love for one another.

When the Summer Sun Met the Autumn Moon

SETUP: Daniel is bewildered to find himself propelled into another time and place (1658), where he watches a young Spanish soldier (Antonio) hide in a thick forest during the dead of winter... with his rifle drawn. Appearing out of the darkness is a beautiful French redhead (Constance), who bears a striking resemblance to Emma. Antonio and Daniel both watch in horror as Constance frantically tries to run away from an unseen soldier (offstage throughout), who forces her to stop, and threatens to rape and kill her. When she refuses his demands, a gunshot rings out and Constance seemingly steps out of her body to reflect on her life and imminent premature death.

CONSTANCE:

EMPTINESS
WHERE I STOOD.
A VACANT PATH.
A BARREN WOOD.
AND GRAY THE NEVER CHANGING SKY,
AND GRAY THE NEVER BROKEN SILENCE
EVERYWHERE I STOOD.

WINTERTIME
WHERE I STOOD.
THE BLOOD-RED FROST
HAD COME FOR GOOD,
TO BURY ALL THAT ONCE WAS GREEN,
TO WISH IT BACK WOULD ONLY MEAN MORE
EMPTINESS
WHERE I STOOD.

[An underscored dialogue section is not included on the demo.]  

In the dialogue section, Constance suddenly finds herself back in her body, surprised to be alive.  We quickly discover the shot was fired by Antonio, who has come out of hiding to stop the unseen soldier and protect Constance.  The soldier returns fire, hitting Antonio in the leg.  More soldiers are heard approaching.  Antonio tells Constance to run, but she refuses to leave him to die.  As she grabs his hand to help him to his feet, their connection is immediate and powerful.  They look into each other's eyes as the scene shifts.

Daniel realizes that the two lovers are him and Emma in a previous lifetime.

During below, Constance takes Antonio to hide in a stable.  The two sing in harmony over a passage of time, where she tends to his wound... and the two fall deeper and deeper in love.

[The demo is a solo version of the song.  Antonio's harmony not included.]

CONSTANCE:

SO THERE I STOOD  / (A: SO THERE I STOOD...)
RESIGNED TO ONLY REMEMBER
A FLOW'RING WOOD
WITH BUTTERFLIES FILLING THE APRIL AIR.

CONSTANCE & ANTONIO:

SO REAL I THOUGHT I'D LOST MY SENSES--
WHAT PLACE WAS THIS, AND WHEN?
SO REAL THAT TO REGAIN MY SENSES
I TURNED AWAY, AND THEN--

BUTTERFLIES...
WHERE I STOOD.
FOR YOU CAME WAND'RING
THROUGH THE WOOD.
IT COULDN'T BE, THIS CHANGE OF SCENE,
AND YET IT WAS, THE GRAYS WERE GREEN,
AND WHERE I STOOD,
AND WHY I SING:
SPRING!

By the song's end, the dead of winter transforms into spring, with Daniel witnessing the vision from afar.

Where I Stood

SETUP:  Misty oceanside cliffs.  Felicia... wary of, and yet intrigued by Claude -- a withdrawn and disfigured stranger who has appeared on her cliffside property in the predawn hours -- consents to let him walk along the cliffs to watch the sunrise.  She insists on accompanying him, however, and as they walk she tells him why she loves living in this isolated place, and why she lives there alone.

FELICIA:

STEEP AS THE CLIFFS ARE, THEY COMFORT ME.
EACH DAY I WALK HERE AND FEEL SO AT PEACE.

IT'S LIKE I WALK ON AIR
AS I GO,
SKY ABOVE,
SKY BELOW.
I WATCH THE CLOUDS ERASE,
UNBEREFT,
THE WORLD I LEFT
TO WALK ON AIR...

FOG HID THE VIEW WHEN I FIRST ARRIVED. 
NEVERTHELESS I COULD SEE I WOULD STAY. 

SO THE CHOICE WAS MADE
AND THOUGH I’M ALONE I’VE FOUND
HAPPINESS.

HAPPINESS LIES IN THE AFTERMATH.
NOT IN THE CHOICE BUT THE CHOICE AFTER THAT.

YOU EITHER WALK ON AIR,
LIGHT OF HEART,
FREE OF DOUBT
FROM THE START.
OR ELSE YOU BEAR THE WEIGHT
OF REGRET
AND NEVER GET
TO WALK ON AIR...

IT'S LIKE--
GRAVITY...
GRAVITY...
GRAVITY.
WE MAKE OUR OWN WITH EACH CHOICE WE FACE.
WHAT WE HOLD ONTO AND WHAT WE LET GO...

Gravity

David Cornue