synth : Kyoko
handbell : Japan Handbell Players
supported by Gflat Japan

Nun Komm'der Heiden Heiland BWV 659 / J.S.Bach

The Composer Speaks:

I always knew that I wanted to be a musician when I grew up. Admittedly, there were times around the age 7 or 8 when I thought that that maybe I could become a scientist for, as a child of the 60s and besotted with space and rockets, science was a very big and popular part of my childhood. There were also times, somewhere around my first big double digit birthday, when I felt so alone and detached from children and adults alike, that I seriously wanted to be a horse - not that I particularly liked horses but it seemed easier than being me. Throughout all this though, playing in the background as it were, being a musician was the thing I really dreamed of being, and it was playing music that made me feel alive.

After the age of 11, I hated school so much that I simply stopped going. I educated myself by watching programmes for schools on the TV and reading encyclopaedias and the like. It was around this age that the classical music that I had listened to previously gradually gave way to more modern influences, mainly European bands, generally the stranger the better. At 13 I played my first gig, and at 16 I officially ‘left’ school and I threw myself whole-heartedly into music.

I’ve always written my own music; the songs of my youth have gradually given way to more instrumental compositions and now at 65, and edging ever closer to 66, lo and behold, I’m not only a musician but also a composer. The fundamentals of being a musician these days are so very different to when I first began; in those days I wanted to be successful and rich and so famous that I could have my own studio and be left alone to record and release music whenever I felt like it. Nowadays, although I’m neither remotely rich nor famous,  I do have my own studio, am more or less left alone and I can release music whenever I feel like it - so I guess, in a way, I’m living the dream; I’m living in Dreamtime.

This simple composition appeared beneath my finger tips as I sat in my studio thinking about all of the above; with the old nursery rhyme running through my mind that accurately says it better than I ever could:

“Row, row, row your boat 
gently down the stream;
Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily
Life is but a dream” 

Dreamtime

I'm excited to share "Spiralling," a deeply melancholic soundtrack piece I've created, inspired by Requiem for a Dream. This track captures the raw emotional journey of a gradual unraveling of the mind, blending haunting piano, evocative strings, and ethereal choir elements. As an indie producer working with fellow amateur artists, I aimed to craft a cinematic and immersive experience that resonates with listeners who appreciate introspective and atmospheric music. I hope you connect with the emotions behind this piece and enjoy the journey it takes you on 🎹🎻🎶✨🖤.

Fe

Joel Bille