James F. Lowrie, cello
Elizabeth Cottrell, clarinet
Joy Risher, flute

Arranged by Christopher L. Saraga for the original soundtrack to the stage play "Reformation" by H. Paul Moon (1993)

Khristofor Saraga wrote this music in his early 20s. It sounds weird at first, even weirder when you know the original tune, but in his formal counterpoint there's a haunting prescience and melancholy that divines some other world of harmony. The last twenty seconds in particular take a modal turn that feels weirdly conclusive even if it's wrong. Chris knew how to play with boundaries, though he was usually going for the joke; I could lose track of time, listening to him improvise when issued the challenge to riff on the Dies irae or some John Williams "Naughty," as we'd call "Johnny Boy's" endlessly recycling leitmotifs. Chris learned these skills in community with pipe organ pedagogues like Herbert Geisler and Rudy Inselmann, and our mutual friend James Lowrie who's now greeting Chris in Heaven, but all these men were divining progenitors like Bach with the weekly work ethic of ornamenting church music.

Khristofor Saraga did not write this music with a scowl or some evident sadness. I remember the night well; I'm pretty sure it was even a foggy night of that inland coastal Irvine clime. I had been nagging Chris to finish writing his portions of the incidental music score to my overambitious frosh turn as a playwright, not least on behalf of musicians Joy Risher, Elizabeth Cottrell and James Lowrie so that they could bloody rehearse in time for opening night. Chris might have been avoiding me that day in truancy, but as I walked up to his dormitory window, there he was, hunched over a tiny kitchen table with staff paper and pencil. And: no piano at all to plunk it out. These were notes in his head. Next, he had to endure my wailing praise about genius talent, but he only giggled back about merely writing a ditty, and scooted the paper across the tabletop.

Khristofor Saraga left too soon, just like James. I've hardly met anybody since then with whom we could ramble on about music for hours without any of us checking our watches. Something I love about music, though, is that it never dies. It is patient and kind, and it doesn't concern weight problems and family problems and having money and being cool. Chris: I'll see you again after a few more measures of music. For now, thanks for your ditty.

Reformation (Original Soundtrack)

Ein Feste Burg (arr. Christopher L. Saraga)

H. Paul Moon is a filmmaker based in New York City and Washington, D.C. whose works concentrate on the performing arts. Films include “Sitka: A Piano Documentary” about the craftsmanship of Steinway pianos, “Quartet for the End of Time” about Olivier Messiaen’s transcendent WWII composition, and an acclaimed documentary feature about the life and music of American composer Samuel Barber that premiered on PBS.  Moon has created music videos and concert films for numerous composers ranging from Moondog to Steve Reich, and four opera films set in a community garden.  His film “The Passion of Scrooge” was awarded “Critic's Choice” by Opera News as a “thoroughly enjoyable film version, insightfully conceived and directed” with “first-rate and remarkably illustrative storytelling.”  He also was cinematographer for director Josephine Decker's “First Day Out” in the anthology film “collective:unconscious.”  Moon’s films have been screened to live audiences at over two hundred film festivals around the world, with several awards and museum exhibitions.  Highlights include works featured in exhibitions at the Nevada Museum of Art and the City Museum of New York, PBS television broadcasts, and the Venice Biennale.  As a NYSCA grant recipient, he is currently producing the BOWERY MUSIC + POETRY + FILM series at Bowery Poetry Club.

Ein Feste Burg (arr. Christopher L. Saraga)

hpmoon