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Claire De Lune

Princess Mononoke Symphonic Suite - 01 The Legend of Ashitaka

Princess Mononoke Symphonic Suite - 03 Departure to The West

The single best piece of classical music ever composed.

Bach - Cello Suite No1 in G Major (Prelude)

Leo A. Kempinski (German/American 1891-1958) composed “Heavy (con moto) Tension” in 1922 as part of the "Incidental Symphonies - Half Reel Dramatic Illustrations" series for the Photo Play Music Company, 1520 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 

The cover sheet explains that the Incidental Symphony series was "compiled with the purpose of solving the difficult problem of eliminating Monotony when accompanying Dramatic and Agitated Scenes of unusual length" and modestly proclaims the series to be "Master Compositions that may justly be called THE ACME of Perfection."

The piano part was "Fully Cued" and could be used alone or as a simplified score. The composition is in 12/8 time, a compound quadruple time signature sometimes used in classic rock (think R.E.M.'s 'Everybody Hurts'). The tempo is "Allegro ma non troppo" - fast but not too much. To achieve intensity but avoid a rushed, frenetic feel we've recorded it at 124 BPM. 

Kempinski's career extended well into the audio recording age, and in the 1940s he led the "Leo Kempiski Continental Orchestra" at Columbia Records - https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/mastertalent/detail/108230/Kempinski_Leo_A

This recording of Kempinski's "Heavy (con moto) Tension" was produced by @MLucas in North Judson, Indiana USA in April 2025 using OMR. The OMR process begins with a digital scan of the original theater orchestra sheet music. The scans are converted into music xml using SoundSlice and then assembled into a score in a professional music notation program. The resulting score was imported into Logic Pro as MIDI. In Logic, each part was assigned a sampled sound and then the project was edited and mixed. All the notes in our recording are in the original music, but we've arranged the piece to add more dramatic variation by silencing some instruments in selected passages.

Cover art by MLucas using his photograph of a rainy night time street.

Public Domain, No Rights Reserved.

Heavy Tension (Leo A. Kempinski)

Spirited Away (Original Soundtrack)

Composed and performed by Joe Hisaishi

The Dragon Boy - Joe Hisaishi

Mugen

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