Why don’t we start thinking of what we can put round the music? The reason we were originally interested in doing a film sound track is because the film supports the music - that’s to say, one’s awareness that this is music for a film stimulates the imagination to think pictorially and scenically, to connect the emotions of the film with the music. You just stop listening to a piece of music in the abstract and imagine the situation that it belongs to.

A strategy: there could be bits of dialogue trapped in the music - just short fragments in different languages drifting through.

Brian Eno, Letter to U2

Thus began my look into creating this new album, Movie Music. I chose two classics dating back to the silent movie era, Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and Carl Theodor Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc. Extracting dialogue from the films and placing it in and around the music my intent was to connect the music to the story. All music was composed by Bill Stevens.

Metropolis is a 1927 German expressionist science-fiction drama film directed by Fritz Lang, and written by Thea von Harbou in collaboration with Lang from von Harbou's 1925 novel of the same name. The silent film is regarded as a pioneering science-fiction movie, being among the first feature-length movies of that genre.

Made in Germany during the Weimar period, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and follows the attempts of Freder, the wealthy son of the city master, and Maria, a saintly figure to the workers, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes in their city and bring the workers together with Joh Fredersen, the city master. The film's message is encompassed in the final inter-title: "The Mediator Between the Head and the Hands Must Be the Heart".

Metropolis is a four movement suite…

Prelude - The Eternal Gardens
In The Depths
Intermezzo
The Mediator

The recitation of the spoken word is in German using Narakeet, an AI text to speech program using selected minimal text from the film to place the storyline in context to the original.


The Passion of Joan of Arc is a 1928 French silent historical film based on the actual record of the trial of Joan of Arc. The film was directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer and stars Renee Jeanne Falconetti as Joan. 

At the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris it is possible to see one of the most famous documents in the history of the world - the official record of the trial of Joan of Arc. If you turn over the pages, yellow with age, which contain the account of her martyrdom you will find Joan herself, not the military genius who inflicted on the enemy defeat after defeat, but a simple and natural young girl who died for her country.

The Passion of Joan of Arc is a one movement composition with the recitation of the spoken word in French, once again using Narakeet, an AI text to speech program. The text is based on only the responses that were given by Joan, without hearing the questions from her interrogators first. In her responses, you can conjure up the questions that were posed to her and her simple responses in and of themselves tell her story.

All translations can be found in the description of each seperate selection of music in this playlist.

Movie Music

The Passion of Joan of Arc, Carl Theodor Dreyer
Music by Bill Stevens from the album Movie Music
Spoken Word Narration using Narakeet, an AI text to speech program

From the movie The Passion of Joan of Arc

The original French text:

Je jure par les saints Évangiles de dire la vérité, toute la vérité et rien que la vérité concernant la mission qui m'a été confiée par le Roi des Cieux.

A la maison je m'appelle Jeannette…

Ici, on m'appelle Joan !

Dix-neuf… je pense.

Qui m'a appris le Notre Père ?

Ma mère…

J'ai été envoyé par Dieu pour sauver la France !

C'est pourquoi je suis né.

Ma récompense ?

Le salut de mon âme !

Oui, Dieu me libérera

et au moyen d'une grande victoire.

Je sais que Dieu viendra bientôt à mon aide de manière miraculeuse.

Vous demandez, suis-je en état de grâce ?

Si je ne le suis pas, que Dieu m'y mette.

Et si je le suis, que Dieu me garde.

Vous dites que c'est le Diable qui m'a trompé et que je suis seul…

…seul, avec Dieu.

Je préfère mourir plutôt que de nier les actes de Dieu et si je dois mourir, je vous implore de me faire enterrer dans une terre consacrée.

J'aime Dieu. Je l'aime de tout mon coeur.

Tu dis que je suis un enfant du Diable, mais je dis que c'est toi qui as été envoyé par le Diable pour me tourmenter.

Je n'ai rien fait de mal.

Ses façons ne sont pas nos moyens. Je suis son enfant.

La grande victoire sera mon martyre et ma libération définitive…

La mort.


The English translation:

I swear by the Holy Gospels to speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth concerning the mission which has been entrusted to me by the King of Heaven.

At home I am called Jeannette …

Here they call me Joan!

Nineteen ... I think. 

Who taught me the Our Father?

My Mother…

I have been sent by God to save France!

That is why I was born.

My reward?

The salvation of my soul!

Yes, God will release me 

and by means of a great victory.

I know that God will soon come to my help in a miraculous way.

You ask, am I in a state of grace?

If I am not, may God put me there.

And if I am, may God so keep me.

 You say that it is the Devil who has decieved me and that I stand alone…

…alone, with God.
I would rather die than deny God’s acts and if I should die, I implore you to have me buried in consecrated ground.

I love God. I love him with all my heart.

You say that I am a child of the Devil, but I say it is you who have been sent by the Devil to torment me.

I have done no wrong.

His ways are not our ways. I am His child.

The great victory will be my martyrdom and my final release…

Death.

Tha Passion Of Joan Of Arc

Metropolis, Fritz Lang
Music by Bill Stevens from the album Movie Music
Spoken Word Narration using Narakeet, an AI text to speech program

From the movie Metropolis, Fourth Movement: The Mediator

4. The Mediator          (Der Vermittler)

Das Einzige, was die Arbeiter in Schach hält, ist ihre Erwartung an den ihnen versprochenen Mittler.

Die Ewigen Gärten liegen verlassen.

Und diese Frau, zu deren Füßen alle Sünden liegen, wird auch Maria genannt.

Dieselbe Frau, die die Menschen in den Tiefen als Heilige betrachten?

Sie wird ihren Glauben an den Mittler zerstören.

Morgen werden Tausende voller Wut und Verzweiflung fragen: Wo sind Ihre Kinder? 

Wir werden zusehen, wie die Welt zum Teufel geht.

Kopf und Hände wollen sich verbinden, aber sie haben nicht das Herz dazu.

Oh Mittler, zeige ihnen den Weg zueinander.

Der Mittler zwischen Kopf und Händen muss das Herz sein.


4: The Mediator

The only thing keeping the workers in check is their expectation for the Mediator promised unto them. 

The Eternal Gardens lie abandoned.

And this woman, at whose feet all sins are heaped is also called Maria. 

That same woman that those in the Depths regard as a saint?
She will destroy their belief in the Mediator. 

Tomorrow thousands will ask in fury and desperation, Where are your children?  We'll be looking on as the world goes to the devil.

Head and hands want to join together, but they don't have the heart to do it. 

Oh Mediator, show them the way to one another. 

The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart.

The Mediator

Metropolis, Fritz Lang
Music by Bill Stevens from the album Movie Music
Spoken Word Narration using Narakeet, an AI text to speech program

From the movie Metropolis, Third Movement: Intermezzo

3. Intermezzo          (Zwischenspiel) 

Heute erzähle ich Ihnen die Legende vom Bau des Turmbaus zu Babel.

Kommen! Lasst uns einen Turm bauen, dessen Gipfel bis zu den Sternen reicht!

Und auf dem Höhepunkt des Turms werden wir schreiben:
Groß ist die Welt und ihr Schöpfer!
Und groß ist der Mensch!

Aber diejenigen, die sich den Turmbau zu Babel ausgedacht hatten, konnten den Turmbau zu Babel nicht bauen.

Die Aufgabe war zu groß. Also zahlten sie den Lohn an Außenstehende.

Aber die Hände, die den Turmbau zu Babel bauten, wussten nichts von dem Traum, von dem der Kopf, der ihn erdacht hatte, geträumt hatte.

Die Lobeshymnen eines Mannes wurden zum Fluch anderer.

Es wurde die gleiche Sprache gesprochen, aber diese Männer verstanden sich nicht.

Groß ist die Welt und ihr Schöpfer und groß ist der Mensch
Für Kopf und Hände ist ein Mediator erforderlich.
Der Mittler zwischen Kopf und Händen muss das Herz sein.

Im Dom sieht Freder, wie ein Mönch an der Kanzel predigt.

„Wahrlich, ich sage euch: Die Tage, von denen die Apokalypse spricht, rücken näher!“

Die Hand des Mönchs zeigt auf die Bibel, in der geschrieben steht:

„Und ich sah eine Frau auf einem scharlachroten Tier sitzen, das voller lästerlicher Namen war und sieben Köpfe und zehn Hörner hatte.

Und die Frau war in Purpur und Scharlach gekleidet und hatte einen goldenen Kelch in ihrer Hand.

Und auf ihrer Stirn war ein Name geschrieben, ein Geheimnis:

Babylon die Große, die Mutter der Abscheulichkeiten der Erde.

Und ich sah die Frau, betrunken vom Blut der Heiligen.

Wahrlich, ich sage euch: Die Tage, von denen die Apokalypse spricht, nähern sich.

Alle sieben Todsünden, in ihrem Namen.

Der Tod überkommt die Stadt.


3: Intermezzo

Today I shall tell you the legend of the construction of the tower of Babel. 

Come! Let us build a tower whose zenith shall reach unto the stars! 
And at the tower's zenith we shall write: 

Great is the world and its Maker! 
And great is Man! 

But those who had conceived of the Tower of Babel could not build the Tower of Babel. 

The task was too great. So they paid wages to outside hands.

But the hands that built the Tower of Babel knew nothing of the dream of which the head that had conceived it had been fantasising. 

The hymns of praise of one man became the curses of others. 
The same language was spoken, but these men did not understand one another.

Great is the world and its Maker and great is Man 

Head and Hands require a Mediator. 

The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart.
In the cathedral, Freder witnesses a monk at the pulpit who preaches.

"Verily, I say unto you: the days of which the Apocalypse speaks draw nigh!" 

The monk's hand points to the Bible, in which it is written: 

"And I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, having a golden cup in her hand. 

And upon her forehead was a name written, a mystery: 
Babylon the Great, the Mother of Abominations of the Earth. 

And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the Saints." 
Verily, I say unto you: the days of which the Apocalypse speaks draw nigh.

All Seven Deadly Sins, on her behalf.

Death overtakes the City.

Intermezzo

Metropolis, Fritz Lang
Music by Bill Stevens from the album Movie Music
Spoken Word Narration using Narakeet, an AI text to speech program

From the movie Metropolis, Second Movement: In The Depths

2. In the Depths          (In den Tiefen)

Deine großartige Stadt, Vater und du, das Gehirn dieser Stadt und uns alle im Licht dieser Stadt…

...und wo sind die Menschen, Vater, deren Hände deine Stadt gebaut haben?

Wo sie hingehören...
...in den Tiefen.

Und wenn sich eines Tages diejenigen in der Tiefe gegen dich erheben?


2: In The Depths

Your magnificent city, Father and you the brain of this city and all of us within the light of this city...  

...and where are the people, Father, whose hands built your city? 
Off where they belong... 

...in the Depths. 

And if those in the Depths one day rise against you?

In The Depths

Metropolis, Fritz Lang
Music by Bill Stevens from the album Movie Music
Spoken Word Narration using Narakeet, an AI text to speech program

From the movie Metropolis, First Movement: Prelude - The Eternal Gardens

Prelude/The Eternal Gardens          (Auftakt/Die Ewigen Gärten)
Der Mittler zwischen Kopf und Händen muss das Herz sein.

Tief unter der Erde lag die Stadt der Arbeiter.

So tief unter der Erde wie die Stadt der Arbeiter lag, so hoch über ihr ragte der als „Sons‘ Club“ bekannte Komplex mit seinen Hörsälen und Bibliotheken, seinen Theatern und Stadien.

Väter, für die jede Umdrehung eines mechanischen Rades Gold bedeutete, hatten ihren Söhnen das Wunder der Ewigen Gärten geschenkt.


1. Prelude/The Eternal Gardens

The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart. 

Deep beneath the earth lay the City of the Workers. 

As deep beneath the earth as the City of the Workers lay, so high above it towered the complex known as the "Sons' Club", with its lecture halls and libraries, its theatres and stadiums. 

Fathers, for whom every revolution of a mechanical wheel meant gold, had bestowed upon their sons the wonder of the Eternal Gardens.

Prelude The Eternal Gardens

Bill Stevens has been driven by a quote he attributes to Miles Davis, “I have to change”, but he will be the first to tell you that his music is embedded in a deep understanding of history brought to the present and beyond. He is always thinking about the process of creation, finding the new, pushing boundaries both in his playing and especially in his compositions where he has always looked to follow the voice inside of him toward his own spiritual path throughout a life in music. 

Although Bill’s current music is based in sound and color through electro-ambient sound settings that often utilize spoken word, fine art inspiration and field recordings, he also has a robust back catalog of straight ahead Jazz, modal Jazz in an ECM style with an emphasis on Impressionistic harmony and Romantic based melodies, free Jazz and avant-chromatic funk.

It has been a journey with many accomplishments (signed by iti Records, grants from the Seattle Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Humanities, conference speaker and guest performer in Norway and Australia to name a few), but there have been challenges on the path as well (years of overcoming a distinct fear of performing, a break from the exhaustion of maintaining a career in music that turned into a six year sabbatical to a debilitating almost career ending bout with bells palsey that affected his ability to play the trumpet. Bill refers to his sound on the horn today as a ‘fragile beauty’). But Bill’s middle class upbringing in Syracuse, NY taught him the value of hard work, that anything worth caring about as much as he cares about his music is worth fighting for. It was out of these trials that Bill began to commit toward sharing his love of music with a younger generation in the New York City public schools. Bill has worked to inspire and provide his students with creative experiences through his love of music, performance and composition.

Bill wants his fans to know how important they are to him. He always ends his newsletter by saying, “Thank you for being the most important part of my music”. For Bill this is not just a slogan, but his mantra. He genuinely cares about the lives of the people who listen to his music by often saying that his mission each time he performs or each time someone listens to his music at home is to transport them away from their daily grind, to have them momentarily forget about their job, issues at home, whatever the case may be to find a moment of relaxation and inner peace transforming them through instrumental abstract concepts as a fuel to empower and enlighten.

Movie Music

Bill Stevens Music