Ethno Balkan (Folk Dances)

Blagoeva Kopanica

Written by D. Liebner
Lyrics and melody by Julia J.

Cry Cry Cry

What would it sound like if Bela Bartok got the blues while collecting folk songs in Brazil and met Sergio Mendes along the way?
I often ask silly questions like this, but to answer it, I wrote a tune called "I Dream of Freedom".
The dream theme appears in the soprano and bass and is harmonized differently every time.
The freedom themes are set to the bouncy Bossa Nova rhythm.
If you notice, it's all set the blues progression.  Ha!

I Dream of Freedom

Never give up your dreams, as improbable as it all seems!


Cathedral of Dreams

Wassertanz

This song is inspired by a verse in the Song of Solomon. It is instrumental rather than vocal. 

It uses the Locrian mode. This mode is quite beautiful, not forbidding or devilish, as some would have it. The diminished triad with its tritone is plaintive and expresses the longing that the verse communicates. There is a section in the Dorian mode (with its symmetrical intervals) and another section in the Lydian mode (an intervallic reflection of the Locrian mode. 

Yes, it is dance music: can you imagine being inspired by a chain of someone's neck or the look of someone's eyes? It accents beats one and four to give it an off-balance feel. 

May all your triads be diminished!

Vulnerasti cor meum, soror mea, sponsa:
vulnerasti cor meum in uno oculorum tuorum
et in uno crine colli tui.

My sister, my spouse, thou hast wounded mine heart:
thou hast wounded mine heart with one of thine eyes,
and with a chain of thy neck.

Du hast mein Herz verwundet, teuerstes Mädchen,
mit einem Blick deiner Augen
und mit einem Haar in deinem Nacken.

Vulnerasti Cor Meum

Red haired lady leads a life I never see
Setting suns and lonely lovers free. . .

Mane of Flame

Touch Without Touch

This song was commissioned by a friend! She wanted a gift for her beloved. She wrote the poem and I wrote the music. It has a sad/glad sound to it, corresponding to the words.

Together the Joy

Verse 1
We had a dream, yes we had a dream
But nightmares of reality had control
Long did we drift in that lonely stream
Much loneliness and pain were the regular toll

Chorus
No more despair, much to forgive
Soulmate, the key to the ultimate life
Someone to share, someone to give
Together the joy, for all of our life

Verse 2
Train of our life, running out of track
The accident from birth finally made right
Heart and spirit, that we do not lack
True life, body and soul finally aright

Chorus
No more despair, much to forgive
Soulmate, the key to the ultimate life
Someone to share, someone to give
Together the joy, for all of our life

Bridge
As Phoenix we rise, new love and new life
New world of wonder, but the loss is great
Old life and the new, conflict and strife
Puzzle of life, so elaborate

Chorus
No more despair, much to forgive
Soulmate, the key to the ultimate life
Someone to share, someone to give
Together the joy, for all of our life


Together the Joy

Elizabeth Anderson - harpsichord
Györgi Ligeti (1923-1006) - Hungarian Rock (1978)
Recorded at Move Studios, Melbourne
Available on Move Records CD MD3179

Bizarre or baRock

Hungarian Rock - Györgi Ligeti

This music was inspired by a composition called "Hungarian Rock" written by the composer Gyorgy Ligeti in 1978.

According to biographer Richard Steinitz in his book "Gyorgy Ligeti: Music of the Imagination", Ligeti wrote the piece as "'ironical remarks' to Ligeti's students 'who always wanted this kind of retro music.'" 

Ligeti dedicated it to harpsichordist Elisabeth Chojnacka (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdzvk1BJOBQ).

The right hand knits elaborate melodic lines, whilst the left hand crochets a one bar ostinato - "176 times". It is written in a tricky 2+2+3+2/8 meter.

There are many lively interpretations of this piece (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac6oPaxjVQc). 

However, I chose to write an entirely new piece, using the ostinato as a starting point. Of course, it's written in Hungarian minor. Instead of "rock", it is electronic "dance", with progressive rock overtones, harmonics and sidebands.

The rhythm is not so bad once you get used to it. I'm sure: you can dance, you can dance, everybody's taking a chance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjPau5QYtYs).

Hungarian Dance

Music comforteth like sunshine after rain. . .

I Dream of Freedom

LikeSunshineAfterRain

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