 |
Sheet Music: ScoreThe Final Hour : for studio orchestra, narrator and electronics / Stuart Greenbaum.by Stuart Greenbaum (2017)
|
Product details
I have always been drawn to the idea of concept albums. Four that have been notably influential for me are Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells (1973), Jean-Michel Jarre's Oxygene (1976) and Pat Metheny Group's The Way Up (2005). The overlapping tracks and unifying themes intensify the cumulative experience.
In May 2012 I asked long-time collaborator Ross Baglin if he would write a text based on a title concept 'The Final Hour'. I wanted to create a commentary about the perception of the passing of time in our modern new-millennial lives. An hour of time (not just the final hour), and by extension, the duration of a life. I used the text Ross created as a structure for an instrumental studio orchestra with electronics and narration of the text. It is 60 minutes long (to the nanosecond) in 10 overlapping sections in an arch form proportioned around the Fibonacci series.
There is a 2-second gap between two half-hour parts as a nod towards flipping a vinyl record over to the B-side.
I wrote the short score on study leave in the second half of 2013 and orchestrated those lines that could be represented in notation (1,495 bars). Having made it this far, the idea of realizing it in sound seemed a bridge too far and I promptly put it aside for 2 years. But early in 2016 I caught up with Luke Howard and showed him the score. It occurred to me that Luke would be the ideal person to push the recording project forward (not only as a musician but as a producer). And he was interested and available so work re-commenced, including Luke's suggestion to add a rhythm section (keys, bass and drum kit), orchestrating the string section, producing instrumental parts, setting up MIDI and audio technology and developing a strategy for recording. This involved rendering synth lines and recording each individual musician track-by-track, layer-by-layer. This continued on into 2017. By the end of 2018 recording was complete and the work was mixed and mastered.
Published by: Australian Music Centre — 1 facsimile score (237p. -- A3 (portrait))
Difficulty: Advanced
Duration: 60 min.
1. prelude (1 min) -- 2. pulse and presence (3 min) -- 3. memory jar (5 min) -- 4. speeding car (8 min) -- 5. fate (13 min) -- 6. city towers (13 min) -- 7. thistle seed (8 min) -- 8. stationary trains (5 min) -- 9. the atmosphere (3 min) -- 10. coda (1 min).
Composer's number: GRT 166.
Includes programme notes, performance directions, and copy of text.
Revised 2018
Radiophonic work at this stage (could conceivably be played live).
Typeset edition.
This edition produced 22 Dec 18.
ISMN: 979-0-720205-08-3
Related products
This work is also available in the following products:
CD: The Final Hour / Stuart Greenbaum ; Ross Baglin, text ; John Stanton, narrator.
- Browse other works for Radiophonic music
- Browse other works by Ross Baglin
User reviews
Be the first to share your thoughts, opinions and insights about this item.
To post a comment please login