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Firstly, it has been awhile. I have to say I've missed the companionship, the camaraderie this site offered, and I've thought of many of you often over the past couple of years. So many times my hand has lingered over the ENTER key after I'd typed in this website's address — only to close my browser with a sad sigh. I can't tell you why because I don't understand it myself. Poignant memories of better days, perhaps? I can say these past 2 years have been difficult for me (and loads of others, I'm sure). The pandemic, the lockdown, the isolation... it took a pretty heavy toll on my mental health. My muse has been utterly silent. Utterly silent. Not a single note written or even hummed. I began to wonder if my days as a composer had ended for good. Thankfully — as you obviously guessed — that turned out not to be the case, and I finally broke my composing fast with this choral piece of a poem by Tolkien. I can slowly feel the music begin to stir inside me once more. Anyway, enough about my sad, sorry life. I hope this piece brightens your day and lifts your spirits. I'm rusty and out of practice, but I cannot tell you how good it feels to stretch these old composing muscles again! The recording is a bit pitchy in places (I had to perform all of the parts myself); hopefully it won't damage your listening experience too much. Thank you all in advance for your time. If you have questions about the harmonies and scales employed here, all you need do is ask. (In fact, I don't even care if you listen. Just a comment from you telling me how life's been over the past 2 years would be simply amazing!) Ah, it feels good to be back, guys! Very good, indeed.

You look across the chasm as you take your first steps onto the dainty little bridge made of thin planks of wood and held together by feeble sprigs of bamboo. As you step onto the first plank, the bridge lazily absorbs your weight swaying back and forth with the wind. You cannot help but honestly doubt the bridge's structural integrity, but you have no choice. You proceed bravely across while the rest of your party waits behind, not daring to test the bridges' stability by crossing simultaneously. Will you make it across safely? I composed this short piece as my first foray back into composing after the end of the spring semester. I must say - it feels good to get back into music (I missed it). This piece is intended to be inspired by many of my favorite video game music tracks that I've been posting on this forum. The instrumentation is for a small orchestra with the only brass present being Horns in F, as well as Marimba, Glockenspiel, and Acoustic Guitar. I made the score and mp3 with Musescore 3 although I have recently downloaded Reaper and started messing around with it and downloaded some free string orchestra vst's but I don't yet have all the vst's I need for a full orchestra and for all the instruments I use for this piece. Let me know what you think and thanks for listening!

Hello! Thank you for your listen and comment. I’m just going to lightly touch on notation, but I do not plan on actually engraving the score and parts until I get comments from everyone like my teachers and the conductor I wrote this for. To that matter, alignment and the overall look of the score will be MUCH more professional. I take it pretty seriously when the piece itself is finished. If you look at PeterthePaperComposer’s response, you’ll notice that this style of fragmented, undeveloped themes is almost a staple in my music. I am not saying that as a point of ignorance; it has been an ongoing part of my writing, but I argue even now this piece is the furthest iteration of me pushing my musicality in all the ways you commented on. With every piece I write it becomes increasingly complex. My palette is not quite diversified enough, as I have been writing for just under 5 years. This last year I just started to take lessons and switched to be a composition major specifically so I have the time, resources, and support to work on these things you have pointed out. It is a long process, but, for where I am at, you would be surprised to see how much of a departure in simplicity even this piece is. I think it is why I am so proud of it. It might still be lacking, but it is a crazy improvement from previous large ensemble pieces. I appreciate your comments here and your listen!

Hi, Peter! This is an interesting piece. I'm not sure what to make of it musically as it never settled into a convincing tonality — but maybe that was the intended effect in order to compound the suspense? I noticed quite a bit of doubling and would've liked to have seen more sectioning of the instruments: the woodwinds doing "woodwind" things, the strings doing "string" things, and so on. I also wasn't able to visualize the hold-your-breath moments of crossing a flimsy bridge. To me, the suspense would be captured heartbeat to heartbeat and not in the driving rhythms you put forth here. But that's just me. Anyway, it's a nice piece and I'm glad you shared it with us!

Thank you! It might be difficult to tell, but the piece is harmonically centered around the diminished 5th (so, for example, the shared D#/Eb of E lydian and Ab major/minor). There are some chord progressions and harmonies that tend to lean more into heptatonic tonality, but, for the most part, the piece is octatonic. Good idea to find the lyrics! (I meant to do that before posting but I forgot.) As I recall, it makes its way into the trilogy via The Two Towers, and Samwise Gamgee delivers the poem. I agree that it reflects the fact that dark times are temporary, and that good will triumph in the end. It was probably a subconscious choice. I came across the poem recently and it spoke to me, sparked my inner muse for the first time in a while. I daresay it is indeed a personal reflection! Am I ever! I've read just about everything the man has written. Thank you for taking the time to listen and provide comment! Glad to see you're still here, too!

Hello, friend! Glad to see you're still here! (And thank you for the kind words.) I look forward to hearing some of your latest craftings!

What a tour de force of choral harmony! I love those major 7th #11 chords! And the harmonic ambiguity in the piece keeps things forever interesting. You make sudden changes in tonality that somehow fit perfectly (like for example going from E lydian into Ab minor). I read through your score trying to understand the words and I also found the poem online: https://allpoetry.com/Journey's-End. I am still not completely sure about the poem's meaning. I don't remember where in LOTR the poem is exposited. If it comes in the middle then it might be a hope that despite Sauron - "Above all shadows rides the Sun", meaning that it's a reminder that the dark times are just temporary and that the good will eventually win over. Maybe you chose to set this poem as a reflection of the troubles in your own life? It's a very enjoyable work - are you a Tolkien aficionado? Thanks for sharing and glad to see you're back!

this is amazing!!!!!!!! The last vocal harmony.... perfect! A bit pitchy though (jk) the years have been pretty good for me, just getting better at my craft (I think). Im glad youre back!