Lugete O Veneres

Hi - I'm new, so I hope this is posted in the right part of the forum - if not, no offense intended.

I was recently commissioned to write a theme for a TV series to be shown on The Discovery Channel. The series examines the state of German aviation technology at the end of WWII and how that has melded into modern aeroplanes. When I saw the initial rushes, they were using Peer Gynt but the director wanted something that was as close as possible to Orffs Carmina Burana without infringeing copyright.

As a place to start, I took a latin poem by Catullus (who also wrote the poem that Orff set to the Burana) and rearranged the words so they would fit with a regular rhythmic pulse. I concentrated on lines that contained the most syllibants and plosives, in order to give the choir the chance to be more aggressive with the singing.

I composed the piece in about 5 hours - thats a piano score, not the orchestration. I listened to a lot of Orffs work before starting, and decided to imitate his use of open fifths and octaves - to give the orchestra a more "power-chord" feel - ommiting thirds from the chords to create a less diatonically anchored piece. Like Orff, the piece is powered by the orchestral percussion, ornamented by the strings (both pizz and arco) and woodwinds, and has the blast of the bass trombones in the bottom end to conjure up images of inpending doom - or something.

Structurally, the piece works as an ABBC format - the repeated B section being a quieter and louder version of the same melodic/harmonic sequence.

My main issue I had during composition was how to really push the second B section, without resorting to orchestral cliche - I eventually opted to go for root-fifth-octave flutes and a surfeit of percussion. It isn't perfect - but the size of the budget meant I had to get back to other projects fairly quickly.

The orchestra is the inimitable Gigastudio Orchestral, and the choir are The Elmer Isler Singers - who also sang on the soundtrack to Schindlers List (this is where most of the budget went!!).

I'd be very interested to know what any of you think of the piece, and will certainly update you all when I know the air dates for the programme!

Joel

You must post a file, so we can hear the work. :(