Alison Theme [ Orchestral ]

Written: 2005-06/2023-25
Duration: ca. 33'
for orchestra (3 (dbl Pic.), 3 (dbl Eng. Hn.), 3 (dbl Bass Cl.), 3 (dbl C-bsn.); 4,3,3,1; timp +3; hp; kybd; strings)
Written for JoAnn Falletta and Mostly Modern Orchestra in honor of Mostly Modern Festival’s fifth season
For more information: https://robertpaterson.com/journey-of-a-dragonfly
Video: https://youtu.be/hZOVmC9R82M
Full Video: https://youtu.be/hZOVmC9R82M
Promo Video: https://youtu.be/FYH7xl2Uinw

PROGRAM NOTE
As a child, my parents vacationed at a summer cottage in Maine by a small lake. Often by myself, I would sit on a giant boulder and watch the lake and the wildlife for hours.

One day, a beautiful bright-winged dragonfly flew across the lake and hovered before me. I was startled and intrigued: its long, slender blue body glistened in the sunlight. Finally, it began to fly around the perimeter of the lake. It stopped every few minutes and hovered in place, almost as if waiting for me to follow it. I followed the dragonfly until sunset, imagining a world in which only the dragonfly existed, on its own terms, within its own world.

Years later, I hiked around the Niagara Gorge near Niagara Falls and explored Devil’s Hole Park. There is an opening on the side of a cliff called Devil’s Hole Cave. Interestingly, early Native Americans called it the Cave of the Evil Spirit and foretold subsequent disaster to anyone who dared enter the cave. The combination of the lake, the dragonfly, and Devil’s Hole Cave all came together and helped crystalize the idea for this work.

Journey of a Dragonfly begins as the sun rises; a foreboding darkness looms in the background, contrasting the Dragonfly’s graceful entrance into a world filled with the excitement of being alive. A gust of wind carries dandelion seeds skyward alongside butterflies and rainbow-colored wildflowers. Butterflies land on flowers before the Dragonfly ventures through a dark forest and emerges, only to be chased by five blackbirds. Weaving back and forth to try and escape, the Dragonfly flies into a narrow crevice as two of the blackbirds collide with trees. While still being chased, the three remaining birds retreat as the Dragonfly discovers a dark hole leading to a tunnel. The dragonfly speeds down the ghoulish tunnel and emerges at the end of the tunnel at the side of a cliff, hovering in place. It looks around in horror and sees a gigantic cavern and then Devil Town. After flying through Devil Town and witnessing tortured souls, a bomb factory, Attorney Alley, and the Devil’s Saloon, off in the distance, the Dragonfly sees Satan’s House on a hill and decides to explore. The Dragonfly enters the house and sees the Devil Child, the Devil Mother, and the Devil himself. Suddenly, the Devil Child catches the Dragonfly in a glass jar as the parents prepare dinner in the kitchen. The Dragonfly eventually manages to escape, only to be chased by the Devil Child and then by a group of hellish bats. After a chaotic chase, the Dragonfly finds the tunnel and speeds back toward the world above. Finally free, the Dragonfly finds a flat rock to rest. The tale concludes as the Dragonfly falls asleep, the sun sets by the lake, and the evening fades to black.

Journey of a Dragonfly was written for JoAnn Falletta and Mostly Modern Orchestra in honor of Mostly Modern Festival’s fifth season.

– RP

Movements:
1. The Lake: Sunrise
2. Dragonfly’s Entrance
3. Chase: Blackbirds
4. Descent Into The Underworld
5. Devil Town
6. Satan’s House
7. Trapped
8. Kitchen
9. Escape
10. Chase: Bats
11. Ascent To The World Above
12. The Lake: Sunset

Journey of a Dragonfly for Orchestra

I wrote this song in support of domestic violence survivors. Domestic violence is a huge issue in the US and elsewhere in the world. Please do what you can to support the National Domestic Violence Hotline or other organizations that empower women to live a life without fear. Call 1-800-799-SAFE if you're a victim yourself. Love, Hannah ❤️

Emily

One of my longest improvisations, so far. Probably the most intense one, too. I am absorbing and reflecting the rapidly changing atmosphere in our world. It is getting more and more hostile and dark. We should try to change this. I feel helpless and I begin to worry about our future. 

Improvisation_180925_This is our World

wednesday sketch 1

The first composition of the AEON album.
Complex patterns somehow feel effortlessly transparent and true.

Drums, keys, guitar, sax and bass by UPFUSION.
Composed and mastered by UPFUSION.

Lucid

A quiet moment for those who need calm. Nocturne for One drifts between wakefulness and sleep — a gentle piano piece written for the still hours of the night. Each note fades into silence, inviting peace, reflection, and rest.

Nocturne for one

Lukisan Kehidupan

Ma maison/My house:  un rêve, un cauchemar, une petite balade du côté du Cap Vert ;
a dream, a mightmare,  a little tune near Cape Verde

My House 
I’ve lost my house / I’ve got nothing left
I’ve lost my mind / and that’s no small thing
I’ve forgotten where I come from
oh, how good it was
I’ve forgotten the morning light
…
In the living room
there were mirrors to make me pretty
sofas and lace everywhere
Persian rugs , watercolor paintings
porcelain cups with little flowers

In the garden
there were children and songs
little huts and hedgehogs’ hiding spots
friends passing through all year long
and colors swirling all around

I’ve lost my house / I’ve got nothing left 
I’ve lost my mind / and that’s no small thing
I’ve forgotten where I come from
oh, how good it was
I’ve forgotten the morning light

In the bedroom
there were pillows and feather duvets
bouquets of perfume that smelled so sweet
long white sheets for fabulous nights 
and others for the end of life

I’ve lost my mind / I’ve got nothing left
I dreamed of a house / that’s no small thing
might as well forget where I come from / maybe that’s best
This morning I’m looking for the light

My house
is just a few walls made of concrete
gray everywhere, from floor to ceiling
mushrooms growing even without rain
at night the cockroaches find shelter there

The garden
is now the kingdom of trash
Rubble, bicycle and car carcasses
Climbing frames like prisons
Rats …running across the grass

I’ve lost my mind / I’ve got nothing left
I dreamed of a house / that’s no small thing
might as well forget where I come from / maybe that’s best
This morning I’m looking for the light


Ma Maison (with translation)

Relaxed. This one is truly relaxed. Recorded just a minute ago. It is past 10 at night. It is dark outside but my garden is lit up in beautiful yellow and orange gaslight colors. I always wanted the lights that they have in Spain and in Italy. I have recorded this one also on video. You will be able to see it on my YouTube channel sometime tomorrow. Oh, by the way: It is a free and spontaneous improvisation. Like always. Please enjoy! Do not forget to like and to comment. It helps. (photo credit: I shot this picture in late September at central station Firenze, Italy) 

Improvisation_201125_Relaxed

Prison Cell for Two Percussionists
Duration: 10'
Publisher: Bill Holab Music: http://www.billholabmusic.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=103_137&products_id=1347
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beD4-L0qgpI
For More Information: https://robertpaterson.com/prison-cell

PROGRAM NOTES
Prison Cell is a ten-minute percussion duet that musically, theatrically and symbolically represents a prison cell. The work centers around variations of a traditional, tonal theme and an original, more dissonant theme. The original theme and its variations are taken from a tone row built on the scale degree one half step above the tonal theme. This tonal theme is continuously alluded to through modulations, variations, chromaticism and dense, slowly evolving rhythmic and chordal structures. When the central, tonal theme is finally introduced, it is never completed, creating tension that is prolonged through the second half of the piece. The tonal theme eventually becomes immersed in the tone row and gradually fused into the original theme. The mutated, skeletal rhythmic motive of the tonal theme is all that remains.

The percussionist inside the set-up represents a prisoner. The percussionist outside the set-up plays two roles: when walking behind, this player represents the oppression of the cell; when walking in front, the player represents influences on the cell by outside forces such as prison guards. The tubular chimes represent the bars of a cell.

Prison Cell

Solo piano improvisation, music for media, sound finder, photographer, sounddesigner, father and family man
Traveling between classical and contemporary music, Jazz and filmscore. Loving electronic music, too. Real music has no boundaries. Please follow and feel free to comment.
Profile photo by (c) Anatol Kotte, 2024
Design by JDS  Joniel da Silva

Improvisation_201125_Relaxed

MARCUS LOEBER

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