This is my entry for Ryan Leach's April 2024 composing competition. The task was to compose a piece to a picture of Mont Saint Michel behind a field of flowers (with a max. length of 90 seconds).

For the composition process I pictured the following story / imaginary movie in my head:
A little boy travels to Mont Saint Michel to join the monastry as a novice. On his way he passes a beautiful field of flowers. He's cheerful, light-footed and almost dancing.
When he discovers the monastry in the distance he gets overwhelmed by awe.
In the last passage, we see the boy growing up in the monastry and becoming an educated, well respected young monk.

The Little Novice

I am hugely thankful to Axel for his absolutely spellbinding and sublimely beautiful orchestration for my solo piano piece! It has been a great honour and pleasure to collaborate with such a highly talented musician and composer.

Please listen to Axel’s marvellous music here: @axel-m-501052973

Below you can also find a short fascinating story that Axel wrote for our composition.

Thank you very much for listening to this music, and we do hope that you will enjoy it!

Credits:

Piano: Anastasiya Ihnatovich
Orchestration: Axel Menningen

You can find the video "Lux - Light and Darkness" here:

youtu.be/3NxdqY6mg9Y?si=0yY9rNMtLipCtLhl

__________________________________

Light and Darkness

On a cold, moonless night, Light and Darkness met in a deserted forest. The Light was nothing more than a weak spark, barely more than a glow. The Darkness was all-encompassing, thick as ink and impenetrable.

Darkness: "What are you doing here, little spark? Can't you see this is my realm? I devour everything that comes in my way."

Light: "I may be small, but I am still here. And as long as I exist, I am a sign of hope."

Darkness laughed deeply and thunderously, like an approaching storm.

Darkness: "Hope? You are nothing! A small breath is enough to extinguish you."

The Light flickered slightly, but it stood firm.

Light: "Perhaps you can extinguish me, but even in my disappearance, the memory of me remains. And wherever there is a spark of hope, new light can arise."

The Darkness was silent for a moment, then it thickened even more to suffocate the Light.

Darkness: "Try it then. I have already extinguished countless lights, and each time the night only became darker and more powerful."

The Light now shone a bit brighter, as if nourished by an inner strength.

Light: "Maybe you underestimate me. Every flame starts small, but it can grow and become stronger. It can bring warmth and light, even into the deepest darkness."

Darkness began to seethe, feeling that the Light was not weakening but growing stronger.

Darkness: "What nonsense! You will suffocate in my embrace!"

But the Light now glowed with a definite strength, its glow growing into a flame.

Light: "I am the light of hope and renewal. Even if you envelop me, I will break through. For where there is light, darkness cannot exist."

With these words, the Light spread further, its rays piercing through the Darkness, piercing it like a thousand tiny arrows. The Darkness whimpered, retreated, unable to bear the growing brightness.

Light: "It is time for you to retreat. Your grip is not infinite. Where there is light, darkness cannot exist."

The Darkness retreated further and further, until it was only a shadow in the corners. The Light now shone bright and clear, filling the forest with a warmth that had previously been missing.

Darkness: "You may have won, this time. But I will always return."

Light: "And I will always be here to push you back. For just as the day follows the night, so does light follow darkness. And in every battle, I will triumph again."

The Darkness finally disappeared, and the forest was bathed in warm, golden light. The Light had triumphed, and with it, hope returned to the world.

Lux - "Light and Darkness" (Ft. Axel Menningen)

Lux - Light And Darkness (Ft. Axel Menningen)

method: created across multiple platforms: audacity, samplitude, polyend tracker mini (the 'breathing' sound is actually an extremely slowed down percussive instrument from the tracker's firmware)
narration: a nightmare, it is just a nightmare, do not worry 
image: based on a photograph taken at Naturkundemuseum Leipzig, originally showing the sketch of an excavation site

poem / copyright jo richter:

I can hear it breathing
it seems to be catching up
items somehow disappearing
despite the latch, despite the strap

shattercone

shattercone - the first verse

Collab Noxpox https://soundcloud.com/noxpox15

https://soundcloud.com/noxpox15/noxpox-jammin

NoxPox Jammin (AudioBake mix)

More on the 667th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Neighbor of the Beast — The Assignment: What’s it sound like when the devil lives across the street? — at https://disquiet.com/0667/

Devil Dwells Over The Road (disquiet0667)

Rocktober track/day 13!
Just something not too complicated,  atmosphere was most important.
This will be part of my Book of Spells series! Practical sadness.

***

Qui penserait à quelque chose comme ça ?
De nuages ​​rouges au-dessus de la terre.
La mer est noire, les vagues jaunes.
L'herbe semble morte.
Et où sont les insectes ?
Les fruits pourrissent, les animaux sont partis.
Ce n'est plus notre monde.

***

Who would think of something like that?
Red clouds over the earth,
the sea is black, the waves yellow.
The grass looks dead.
And where are the insects?
The fruits are rotting, the animals are gone.
This is not our world anymore.

13 Qui Penserait (À Quelque Chose Comme Ça)

"Two Page" Etude. Op.165. (2024)

Leaves that fall and fade

Still exploring the wonders of my favourite new instrument ... All the sounds you hear in this haiku realisation are from Sumu ... Somewhere along the line there's a wooden gate and a marimba inside that extraordinary plugin to create this soundscape ...!

Resplendent
the kite soaring up above
the shanty town

Among the four great masters of Japanese haiku, Kobayashi Issa was the most prolific: during his lifetime he wrote over 20,000 haiku, hundreds of tanka, and several haibun. If you want to find out more about this prolific author I suggest you check out this database of his haiku.

Haiku by Kobayashi Issa: http://haikuguy.com/issa/

To find out more and participate, visit https://www.naviarrecords.com/haiku-music-challenge/

more halF unusuaL

halF resplendenT [naviarhaiku569]

6Dec24

My naviarhaiku570 track 
https://naviarlab.tumblr.com/post/768930810231472128/naviarhaiku570-washing-up-the-mountain
:D

waters unseen [naviarhaiku570]

Even though afar
a feeling of coolness comes
from those mountain pines

Kagami Shikō was a Japanese poet, considered one of the ten outstanding disciples of Matsuo Bashō. He was in turn the master of the famous poetess Fukuda Chiyo-ni.

Originally from the present-day Gifu Prefecture, Kagami Shikō became a monk at Daichi-ji Temple, and in 1690 he became a pupil of Bashō, later accompanying him on some of his journeys and recording his last will in 1694.

After Basho's death, he kept travelling around Japan, writing several essays on haiku and collections of writings until his death in 1731.

 Haiku by Kagami Shikō

Picture by Nathan Dumlao

Feeling of coolness_Naviarhaiku575

Welcome tσ th!s εvσlving space … inspired by thε playful sp!rit of hai (meaning “fun” or unμsuΔl, like in haiku) …

I dig around thε edges t0 uneΔrth non-mμ§ic musics — sliding into nσ!§ε, glitch, chΔnce, Δ$MR, and σther soundwσrlds that feel oddly familiar in their oddity …

✨👂 L!§†εn cΔrεfu!l¥ … 👀 εxplσrε dεεpl¥ … 🎵💫

And for the full hΔlF unμ§uaL trεΔ†ment for your eyes Δs well as your εars, check σut the Yσutubε channel… ░▒▓█ ᵒ(≧▽≦)ᵒ ░▒▓█▒░

Thanks f0r joining thε journey! Your support kεeps this all afloat — HUGΣLY Δpprec!Δted 🙏🥰

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