Obsidian Reflections for Small Orchestra - Marco Polo Orchestra (Live World Premiere)

ECCE HOMO ( Extrait )

I'm putting the words here because, as is so often with rock, I can barely understand the singers' words ... and I wrote them! 🤔
 
Who could with just mere words describe
The dark deeps of the wisdom you bestow
On those who leave their fears behind
To meet you in your realm below.

Without the dark, there can be no growth. 
Seeds cannot germinate in the light. 
The great lord Pluto hears all those 
for whom the usual darts and slights
of human suffering 
are as nothing, compared 
to the unbearable lightness of being. 

At your Dark Majesty’s request
We lay this dedication at your feet.
The Lord of the Underworld, no less,
Our offering's here at your behest.

Who could with just mere words describe
The dark deeps of the wisdom you bestow
On those who leave their fears behind
To meet you in your vast realm below.

Who could count the blessings you rain
On the lives of those who understand
That with rebirth, like birth, comes pain
And suffering we must withstand.

At your Dark Majesty’s request
We lay your names at your holy feet.
Pluto, Arawn, Set, Shiva,
Hades, Pan and Gwyn ap Nudd.

Pluto

The Titan Atlas is well-known as the holder of the heavens. This was his sentence for his part in the war between the Titans and the Olympian gods for control of the heavens. He is also found in Roman myth concerning Heracles.
In one of the Twelve Labours, Heracles was required to get some of the golden apples that grew in Hera's garden tended by Atlas’ daughters. Heracles volunteered to hold up the heavens while Atlas got the apples from his daughters. When Atlas came back with the apples he tried to trick Heracles and free himself from the burden of his punishment. Heracles was no fool and pretended to agree, asking Atlas to hold the sky whilst he fixed his cloak. Heracles ran away with the apples. 
In some myths Heracles built the two great Pillars of Hercules to hold the sky away from the earth, liberating Atlas much as he liberated Prometheus.
Using this story as its inspiration, the piece is introduced with an orchestral tutti accent much like that used in Carmina Burana ‘O Fortuna'. This develops into a flowing melody over a reiterated ostinato. The music settles to a calm pastoral theme based on the initial tutti motif before returning to a recapitulation on the main theme.

Atlas

Written, arranged, composed, produced, originally performed by Jah-Femi Telewa

A sweeping blend of cinematic pop, orchestral soul and timeless singer songwriter energy… HE Dwells There rises like a score written for the heavens. The vocals reach upward, layered in light… the instrumentation moves like a prayer set to motion… a sound built for listeners who crave depth, beauty and something far beyond the ordinary.

Lyrics:
HE Dwells There
(00:00-00:28)
AHH HHH OOO AHHHHAA 
OOO AHHHAAA OOOO HAAAA 
AHHHHH OOOO AHHHHH
LAAAAA LAAAA LAAAAA
LAAAAAA LAAAAA
HAAAAAAA OOOO AHHHHH

OOOO AHHHHH

OOOOAHHHHH

HAAAAAAA OOOO AHHHHH

LAAAAA LAAAA LAAAAA
LAAAAAA LAAAAA

(00:29- 2:11)
HOW GRAND IS HE
HE WHO COMES TO BE
HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THIS ENTITY DIVINE 

WE SHOULD BE GRATEFUL TO DWELL BY HIS SIDE
WE ARE NOT EQUAL TO ONE GRAIN OF SAND

HEAVENS REJOICE,  RAISING THEIR VOICE
EVIL IS LURKING BELOW HEAVEN CHIOCE

HOW GRAND IS HE
HE WHO COMES TO BE
HOW BEAU-TIFUL IS THIS ENTITY DIVINE 


HOW GRAND IS HE
HE WHO COMES TO BE
HOW BEAU-TIFUL IS THIS ENTITY DIVINE

GLAD IS THE NOTION THAT FIND HIS ADVICE
CHIOST IS THE OCEAN WHO LOCKS UP ITS VICE

TRAVELLERS BE wise bout the TREASURES U SEEK
KNOW IT’s SAID THAT GOD’s LOVE’s Is UNIQUE

HE Dwells There

“Labyrinthine Sonata for Violin and Piano" was completed in August 2025 in Fairview, TX. Performance time is about 16 minutes. Printed and electronic copies of the score and parts will be available soon from www.CreativeSpiritOnline.com. The work is in one movement.

About this recording:
The engraving and virtual recording were produced using Dorico Pro 6. For the best listening experience, high quality headphones are recommended. This recording was mastered by EMastered.

Performance notes:
• Tempo, expression, and dynamic markings should be strictly observed.
• There is no key signature. Accidentals apply to the end of the measure or to the note or notes tied over the measure, and only to notes of the same pitch class, in the same octave.
• Hairpin pairs indicate a temporary volume change of one dynamic level.

The meaning of "labyrinthine" in this work:
•    Complex structure:  The term "labyrinthine" is used to describe compositions that have a complex, intricate, and difficult-to-follow structure, like a maze.
•   Intricate harmony:  Some pieces labeled "labyrinthine" feature dense harmonic systems that can be challenging for the performer to learn and understand.
•   Sense of searching:  The term can also describe a piece that creates a feeling of searching or wandering, as the music seems to pursue an elusive goal.
•   Resolution:  Despite the initial complexity, these sonatas often have a sense of logical development that eventually leads to a resolution or a clear conclusion. 

Contact information:
Robert John Brooks, Fairview, Texas USA
Email: robtjbrooks@yahoo.com
Web: www.CreativeSpiritOnline.com
Web: eMastered.com/profile/robtjbrooks

Engraving by the composer
Artwork by the composer
Copyright 2025

Labyrinthine Sonata for Violin and Piano

Simply childhood days

Just a little song about love.

[Verse 1]
It sounds like a story told long ago,
How Love moves the universe, oh so slow,
and pulls the stars and worlds apart,
with musical magnetism's flow.
Here sea gypsies, the wild, the free,
whirl in line dances, silver streams
of atoms weave into higher dreams,
Love’s golden silence sings supreme. 

 [Chorus]
But then Love finds its perfect grace.
It finally awakens, conscious and true,
when it joins the human soul's embrace.
It learns who it is through me and you,
as in our eyes, the heavens unfold,
perfection blooms where two worlds meet
a tender fire, a story told—
in rhythm to our hearts’ own beats.


[Verse 2]
Within our souls, Love meets the storm,
the differences that drive us apart,
Longings ache and shadows form,
trials that tear our tender hearts.
But tribulations water the stream.
Through our tears, Love’s rudder bends
along the silver river of dreams
as it follows our songs to eternity. 

 [Bridge]
And now at last, our foreheads bow
and touch, in surrender... oh so sweet,
bliss in our hearts where gongs resound,
we found Love where two worlds meet.
In sacrifice, we give our all,
our lives are now under passion's call—
Eternity’s bell in death's soft sigh,
In harmony, we’ll never say goodbye. 

[Chorus]
Once it has found its perfect grace,
Love awakens, conscious and true.
It joins the human soul's embrace
to learn who it is through me and you,
as in our eyes, the heavens unfold.
Perfection blooms where two worlds meet.
A tender fire, a story told—
In rhythm to our hearts’ own beats.

© Copyright, music and lyrics by Annie Dieu-Le-Veut, November 2025. All rights reserved.

Where Two Worlds Meet

INTRECCI  D' AMOROSO  CANTO  (sulla sponda di un madrigale)"
Il testo costituisce una libera parafrasi del Sonetto 164 dal Canzoniere del Petrarca, presente nei "Madrigali guerrieri e amorosi"- Libro VIII - di Claudio Monteverdi: "Hor che'l ciel e la terra" - "Così sol d'una chiara fonte viva".
Dal punto di vista musicale ho cercato di  utilizzare alcuni passaggi dei due madrigali di Monteverdi filtrando gli elementi tonali con nuove prospettive che verranno evidenziate nel corso della composizione. A questo scopo ho creato situazioni armoniche legate a percezioni che si appoggiano  su modulazioni classiche , ma che, intrecciandosi ad altri e nuovi parametri musicali, vengono trasformate da cambiamenti di natura ritmica e timbrica per sollecitare emotivamente una memoria. A me interessava, infatti, andare oltre l’equilibrio di una forma per inventare una fiaba amorosa che, nel suo raccontare, alludesse ad un mondo musicale scomparso, ma ancora in grado di eccitare la fantasia timbrico-figurale, legata ai suoni e al mondo fantastico di quell'epoca passata, come se quest'ultima fosse la nostra infanzia dell'immaginazione percettiva che ora ricerca una nuova identità.

S Simonini Intrecci d amoroso canto NED Ensemble dir A Mannucci

Mi Pequeño Pueblo was written by Eric Segui in the mid 1990s whilst he was a member of Los Yanitos.
This arrangement was at the request of a friend. The lead vocalist is Eric Abudarham. Musical arrangements, music production and backing vocals are by me.
Jamás olvidaré
Mi pequeño pueblo
Que hace muchos años
Me viste nacer.
Jamás permitiré
Que te hagan daño
Con tantas calumnias
Sin saber porqué.
Gibraltar, Gibraltar,
Pueblo que eres libre y social.
Gibraltar, Gibraltar,
Pueblo de nobleza y humildad.
Eres una Roca esplendorosa,
Muchos te quisieran ya tener.
Bañada por el mar Mediterráneo,
Y por el Atlántico a la vez.
Gente de diversas religiones,
Siempre nos supimos entender.
Racismo nunca fué nuestro problema,
Unidos siempre nos llevamos bien.

Mi Pequeño Pueblo

MI Pequeño Pueblo

“Mea ultio sicut inceperat. My revenge is just begun,” is a quote from Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’.
In studying the elements which make up Horror/Supernatural cues I turned to #ComposerCloud tutorials. The form of the piece is closely modelled on this. It seems clear that the prevailing structure and indeed some of the timbral elements are becoming a bit of a cliché, which is not to be confused with a lack of originality, but rather provides tools and a framework for exploiting this style of cinematic cues.
For the visual experience go to 
https://youtu.be/j3zrkXO7IzM
Photography and Cover Artwork © JM Gomila.

Mea Ultio Sicut Inceperat

Studied Clarinet and Theory at the Gibraltar Music Centre. Played clarinet in the local municipal band, Youth Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra.  Toured with a rock band as lead guitarist. Sang in the Tenor section of the Calpe Singers. Founder member of the Band of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment rising to Warrant Officer 2nd Class, appointed BSM. Musical Director of local productions of West End musicals. Conducts the “Calpe Band” and the “Gibraltar Band and Drums Association”.
Studied Music Education in UK. Taught in local schools becoming Headteacher at a Primary school.
Have written some processional, concert and military marches, including one for His Majesty the Sultan of Oman. I have received special mention at the  International Maurice Ravel soundtracks contest. One of my pieces is available on Ablaze Records. Another was premiered in Dallas. Some of my work is featured at AudioSparx. My compositions cater for different ensembles and genres.
Open to commissions.

Atlas

JM Gomila - Contemporary Classical Composer

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