Hantise

Hello dear composer friends, young and old.

Here is my last composition, for voice (bass/baritone, but possibly Alto/mezzo), Bassoon, and piano.

poem by Stuart Merryll "Hantise"

I use a very neo-impressionist French language here, and you will probably recognize my musical inspirations. I know, I know, I'm at least a century late, but the poem agree itself so well to this type of language that I couldn't resist it. It is a continuation of another text by the same poet that I had already set to music a few months ago "nocturnal", in the same spirit.

You will be able to follow the English translation that I tinkered a little for the occasion (it is subtitled in the Youtube video).

Thank you in advance for your listening and your comments and valuable advice!

Recording my voice with AKG 414 XLS,
Piano : Spitfire audio BBCSO Pro (sample Steynway D)
Bassoon : BBCSO Pro (leader)
Mixed on Reaper
Visual effect is based on my manuscript as usual, mixing on Davinci Resolve Studio 18

Very friendly!

Hello

A beautiful piece. Nothing matters a hundred years later. Music is music.
The style is very well represented. I like it when the piano goes for the high registers.....
Good voice too.
 

21 hours ago, Luis Hernández said:

Hello

A beautiful piece. Nothing matters a hundred years later. Music is music.
The style is very well represented. I like it when the piano goes for the high registers.....
Good voice too.
 

 

Thank you very much for listening!

Kia ora Krisp,

Wow, just wow. Ive been getting into vocal music recently and this is definitely right up my alley. I love the dark mood here, and your Lyric Setting is suberb. 

Well done,

Nga Mihi,

Arjuna

I love impressionism, and dark music too 😅. So like @expert21 this is also right up my alley. Your harmony is really well developed, and i like the walking rhythm that I am hearing throughout the song. I also really like the chords that conclude the piece, and it's incredibly haunting the way you leave the listener in suspense towards the end.

I am very happy that you like my work!

As after every small project, I am now in the dark before starting a new one.

If I were brave I would simply clean my manuscript to have a beautiful score available...

I'm also thinking of making a making off video since I was sometimes asked.

Hi Jean,

I always enjoy the dark elements in your music. The opening bassoon melody in 0:20 is so captivating combined with the dark mood of the piece. After 2:24 that high register bassoon is terrifying with the "air" and "whirlwind" in the lyrics. The piano here is very colourful despite its chordal texture since your harmonic colour is absolutely amazing with the neo-impressionism. Your voice is very recognizable for me, as it immediately reminds me your singing in your "Chanson Triste".

31 minutes ago, Krisp said:

If I were brave I would simply clean my manuscript to have a beautiful score available...

I find it more fashionable and chic to have it this way rather than a beautiful score to be honest! Your manuscript gives me a feeling of longing and time lapse which fits your music.

The thing I like in this most is that the music and the lyrics combines together so well and the mood in your music is not something artificial at all. It is reflecting both the poem and the French Existentialism in a musical way. 

Thx so much for sharing!

Henry

Another very nice comment from you!

I know how much your attention to all my little details was sustained during your listening and it touches me a lot. You know, I can admit that in writing, I always keep in mind that some listeners such as you will have a real concern for details and a very precise, attentive listening, telling me that what is perhaps a little hidden will still be heard!

Thank you, a thousand times!

10 minutes ago, Krisp said:

I know how much your attention to all my little details was sustained during your listening and it touches me a lot. You know, I can admit that in writing, I always keep in mind that some listeners such as you will have a real concern for details and a very precise, attentive listening, telling me that what is perhaps a little hidden will still be heard!

I think my concentration depends on the level of the piece and how much I get into the piece, and your pieces are always ones I will pay 100% concentration given how good and distinctive they are. There are for sure many things to learn from you especially since you are very mature in your writing and we have distinctively different styles, thus I will have to have my ears open for the entirety of your music in order to learn all those effects and techniques you are using.

Henry

That was simply superb and you have a wonderful voice!  The only thing that didn't quite work for me was when the bassoon doubled the vocal line around 1:49.  I might have left that to the piano instead, so you could play with different octaves.  But that's a pretty minor quibble.  The whole thing was beautifully done.  Polish up your score so people can play this lovely piece!

Oh! Thank you! Your comment makes me very happy. You are probably right about this double. I add that when I recorded the voice (in re Recording) I did not activate Basson's track. I then realized that there was a small difference in appreciation of tune and rubato between the bassoon (virtual) and my (real) voice. This drift may contribute to a certain discomfort at this time of the piece. I left, telling myself that after all these shifts were relatively frequent in the real life of musicians.

But I think your suggestion is excellent: the climb is already present in the right hand of the piano which is a harmonized octave lining. Maybe I could have made a "16 feet" in the left hand, and let the bassoon play a big bass tonic a little textured with apoggiatures with lowered su tonic for example.

I think it's too late for me to resume this work. Once the parts are posted, I generally refrain from retouching them, preferring to accept slag and imperfections. It's also the same with all my work and particularly in a vocal piece posted on YT (Autumn twilight). Here it is the sound mixing that does not satisfy me with a piano singing balance that is not worked enough. I have tested several other mixes, and treatments to better melt the whole but I will leave the initial version as it is.

Regarding partitions, it's always the same problem... I'm running out of time! But one day maybe...

Have a Good day