Thought provoking piece about the life somewhere else.

Oboe & English Horn performed by Kristin Naigus
Tin Whistle performed by Jasper Blunk

Far Beyond The Stars

Steven Wilcken - Above The Horizon (Hybrid Epic Orchester)

Excited to share with you my 2nd track « Ekkaïa » (from my upcoming album) now available on all digital platforms.
Hope you enjoy :-)

Apple Music: http://itunes.apple.com/album/id/1629216942
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7MkCFgwkZkJa05ETxuVRuK
Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/en/album/326801127
Bandcamp: https://franckbarre.bandcamp.com/track/ekka-a

Licensing: www.fb-lazzaromusic.com

Ekkaïa

Vocals: Luke Standridge
Guitars: James Everingham
Programming: James Everingham & Luke Standridge

Atlas (feat. Luke Standridge)

"When meditation is mastered, the mind is unwavering, like the flame of a lamp in a windless place." 
       - Krishna Quotes from The Bhagavad Gita

A Lamp in a Windless Place

A personal piece that is based on the previously posted track "A Key to the Past". This particular track was inspired by the last section of the suite and turned into its own, very emotional piece of music. 

The track was originally inspired by the idea of an astronaut doing research on a foreign planet while exchanging messages with his wife every evening. The piece revolves around finding consolation in the thought of having someone out there, even in the most lonely days. Writing this was a ton of fun, especially with Taryn playing the violin parts so incredibly well!

Check out more of Taryn's work here!
https://www.youtube.com/user/SaphireRain42

The cover artwork for this track was commissioned by me and done by Niken Anindita, who already did the Dreams of Flight artwork a few years ago. Check out her work here!
http://megatruh.deviantart.com/

Lightyears from Home (feat. Taryn J. Harbridge)

Official demo for Century Strings Ensemble and Century Brass Ensemble sample libraries by 8Dio.

8Dio Century Strings/Brass Ensemble - Achilles

Mira

Magical adventure piece that pictures how a calm, unimpossing day suddenly becomes a great adventure. (Official Demo for EWQL Symphonic Orchestra PLAY)

Morning Adventure

Sometimes there are projects that take a little eternity. They'll get started, dropped and picked up again in a frequent manner and the as time passes by, you'll start to doubt that they're ever completed. 

Dreams of Flight is a piece that I started thinking about in 2008, I wanted to challenge myself writing a Symphony piece of extraordinary proportions containing powerful themes and clever orchestration, all packed into a Hollywood worthy production. The subject was storytelling through music, something a few listeners would often highlight in my arrangements. Filmmusic needs to tell a story after all, otherwise it could just be described as background music. I started this piece with a piano suite and wrote the first themes in 2009, when I actually began writing the track in 2010, I started to work on a feature film, marking my entrance into the commercial world of scoring. Due to these forthcoming commercial project the progress of this piece started to become negligible, there were times where I laid it down for half a year, picked it up again only to drop it again one week later. Luckily my experience and technical possibilities have evolved greatly during that time which enabled me to lift the quality of this track into new heigths. However, getting back into the piece after half a year wasn't easy sometimes and often left me with a headache.

The piece is portraying all sorts of excitements one could get from orchestral music. You'll spot some obvious influences like Powell's Dragon score as well as nods towards Zimmer and Alan Menken which have always been my favorites. However, with this piece I was aiming for a signature sound, with thematic quality high enough that one could easily mistake it for a suite to an animated movie. This piece was supposed to be used for my application at Berklee, but knowing what they charge composers I'm currently rather doubtful that I'll make an entrance there, it's just too expensive.

Dreams of Flight contains 4 movements, similar to a symphony but not following the rules excactly. So I want to use this term with caution.

1. Once upon a Nighttime

The piece makes a calm start with woodwind solos and light orchestration. This part was inspired by Irish Folk music, putting a strong storytelling aspect into the piece. It ends with a buildup that hints at the main theme.

2. Building upon Dreams

A typical montage arrangement introducing the main theme and its continuation. The second part was obviously influenced by Powell's Dragon score, ending with the "musical line of awesomeness", rowing a line of exciting themes.

3. Journey

At this point the piece will calm down and move back to a similar sound as heard in the first movement with the focus on wind solos. In the second part it goes back to the familiar montage sound, but with a lesser presence focusing on explorationary aspects. It ends with a buildup towards the last movement.

4. Limitless

The most powerful and epic movement, throwing everything around that was introduced in the former movements. Several ups and downs here with the focus to never run out of energy. It ends with the maintheme similar to the second movement.

This piece would've never been possible without the great players who performed in this piece. I'd like to thank everyone who had the patience and time to record for this piece!

Kristin Naigus: Oboe, English Horn, Tin & Low Whistle
Sean Lin: Clarinet
Daniela Koch: Flute
Berker Sen: Bassoon
Mario Hinke & myself: Some choir voices

Special thanks to: Robert Eisenhauer (for introducing me to a flute player), Toniko Pantoja (for keeping me motivated), Mario Hinke (additional motivation) and Eastwest Quantum Leap for their excellent libraries.

Dreams of Flight

Recorded Live at the legendary Air Studio in London.

The album is available on digital stores:
iTunes: https://goo.gl/pnAv97
Amazon: https://goo.gl/mSMoeW
GooglePlay: https://goo.gl/9yWN2g
Spotify: https://goo.gl/6ewFH1

Steven Wilcken - Above The Horizon (Hybrid Epic Orchester)

Steven Wilcken | Composer