SATB Journey's End

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.

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!

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!

3 hours ago, Left Unexplained said:

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!

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!

1 hour ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

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).

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.

1 hour ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

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.

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.

1 hour ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

Maybe you chose to set this poem as a reflection of the troubles in your own life?

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!

1 hour ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

It's a very enjoyable work - are you a Tolkien aficionado?  Thanks for sharing and glad to see you're back!

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!

I just loved the melodic line(s) and exquisite harmonic movement ... quite beautiful indeed.  And you sang each line too~! Wow ....

Mark

6 hours ago, MJFOBOE said:

I just loved the melodic line(s) and exquisite harmonic movement ... quite beautiful indeed.  And you sang each line too~! Wow ....

Mark

Thank you, Mark! As to the singing... only the tenor and bass voices are unaltered. I sang the soprano and alto parts an octave lower and bent the pitches an octave to achieve those "lovely" female voices, lol.

A great return after a bit of a pause!  This looks a bit intimidating on the page with so many accidentals and crunchy chords, but because so much of it moves by step or skip, it's really very approachable, and the piano part does a good job of supporting and setting up changes in harmony.  You have a nice mix of textures here, from lovely melody, as in the sopranos' measure 5, to impactful chords, as at measure 17, and polyphonic play between the voices that still preserves the listener's ability to understand the text.  The harmonic language is wonderfully appropriate to the poetry and to Tolkien's mood in the whole trilogy.  Well done!

Since you've taken so much care with this piece, it might be worth the time to add a few more dynamics or expressive markings to the piano part, if you can manage it without things being too squished.  (And if you aren't just dying to start working on your next piece, now that your creativity is flowing again). 🙂. 

A most interesting piece. A poem that comes across to me as rueful and a little weary. But what harmonies and, if you constructed the vocal parts you have a remarkable sense of pitch. It would need a well trained choir to sing. Notable is the variation in texture for example the build-up across the phrase between bars 52 and 55. The close seems particularly poignant.

Certainly an accomplished piece.

It hasn't been too bad here. I can sympathise about the effects of lockdown - our town orchestra had to stop along with a contemporary youth dance troupe with which I did some work. Neither have recovered yet. I also dried up - well, almost though I came up with a couple of experimental pieces. But I got by I suppose. I'm still not in the composition mind-set. Perhaps my composing time is up. It remains to be seen.

Good, however, to say hello to you again and hoping you stay well and ease back into music. Your works here were always memorable. 

On 6/2/2022 at 4:47 PM, pateceramics said:

Since you've taken so much care with this piece, it might be worth the time to add a few more dynamics or expressive markings to the piano part, if you can manage it without things being too squished.  (And if you aren't just dying to start working on your next piece, now that your creativity is flowing again). 🙂. 

Good point! I very much neglected the piano part in the score. I'll make some revisions in case, you know, a choir ever decides they want a ridiculous non-diatonic piece. Thank you for the comments and taking the time to listen!

7 hours ago, Quinn said:

A most interesting piece. A poem that comes across to me as rueful and a little weary. But what harmonies and, if you constructed the vocal parts you have a remarkable sense of pitch. It would need a well trained choir to sing. Notable is the variation in texture for example the build-up across the phrase between bars 52 and 55. The close seems particularly poignant.

Certainly an accomplished piece.

It hasn't been too bad here. I can sympathise about the effects of lockdown - our town orchestra had to stop along with a contemporary youth dance troupe with which I did some work. Neither have recovered yet. I also dried up - well, almost though I came up with a couple of experimental pieces. But I got by I suppose. I'm still not in the composition mind-set. Perhaps my composing time is up. It remains to be seen.

Good, however, to say hello to you again and hoping you stay well and ease back into music. Your works here were always memorable.

Thank you, @Quinn! No perfect pitch here, but I'm very good at doing I'm told. Play this note, I can sing it back, that sort of thing.

Sorry to hear about the troubles with the town orchestra / youth dancing troupe. I've found it difficult to compose if there isn't a possible venue for performing, and perhaps it's the same with you. Hopefully you've just hit a dry spell, though. I do enjoy your music!

Thanks for taking the time to comment and listen! Cheers!