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Subtitled, The Orwellian Overture [the translation from Latin meaning 'new order of the ages'], the production for Novus Ordo Seclorum was necessarily experimental and subject to much trial and error in the course of three months and 56 tracks. Its mood seeks to reflect a serious interpretation of our post 9/11 world and the threat from an increasingly Leviathan nanny-state encroachment upon our civil liberties in addition to the obvious external threat of terror. Your papers please! |
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| Composer: |
Leland Thomas Faegre |
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8.2MB |
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'After You' is an imaginative spy themed, sweaty-palmed swashbuckling rocker which is evocatively suggestive of various thematic opportunities for film or television. It was mixed with an orchestra lay-out in mind, with tympani to the left, strings to the front, and brass behind etc. Flamenco guitar, castanets, tamboura, sitar, horns, sizzling electric guitars and a reversed cymbal crash [sounding like a knife being sharpened] characterize this dramatic tension-tinged track. After You, I insist...
There is a patch on the Roland D-50 by the name of 'Breathy Chiffer' that was the inspiration for this composition. It came to me during a seminal period in the late 80's, and I knew that when I finished the original digital tracks, that the production would be tedious and experimental. Over 48 tracks later, 'After You' was almost five months in production. |
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| Composer: |
Leland Thomas Faegre |
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5.6MB |
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'Together, Around the Sun' had only a working title until just before I went into final production, though I always had a celestial interpretation as the divining guide throughout the creative process. The trumpet motif heard throughout the piece represents our infinite and circuitous planetary orbit as the quintessential living essence of our earthly experience. Slowly, the elegance and grandeur of its mission unfolds as cello, violin, French horn sections and various instrumental components enjoin the elliptical journey. As though comfortably seated upon the polar cap, the aural experience is an introduction to the eternal continuum of creation.
The only accurate recollection I have of this composition is that it was written late in the 80's or early in the 90's in what I have often referred to as the 'Roland Architecture Period. ' The piano part came first followed by the trumpet which was written in step mode much as Peter Townsend wrote the arpeggiated and recurring motif heard on 'We Won't Get Fooled Again.' Leaving only the drums and bass parts to be written completing the original sessions' arrangement, where it remained until the Spring of 2005, when I returned to where I had left the composition and to at long last complete the production. |
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| Composer: |
Leland Thomas Faegre |
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7.1MB |
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Parlez-vous Francais? Suggested by a girl of the same name, I remember my infatuation with her and with the composition as it came out on a baby grand piano somewhere in Southern California. Drawing upon my trip to France in August, 1998, and overwhelmed by the countryside in the north which bore the brunt of Nazi forces, I have included portions of President Charles de Gaulle's address to the people of France, as well as a generic lovers' conversation, to suggest perhaps that all is fair in love and war, and that both should be declared...
Written in 1975, and while I had an analog recording made a few years later, it wasn't until late in the 80's that I finally recorded the individual tracks in a digital format. But upon the completion of the basic tracks, no further work had been done until Michael French and I began to lay out its production in Studio B early in June, 2001. After laying out the basic instruments, we moved to Studio A and proceeded to create new tracks including many guitar parts, both electric and acoustic which had never been recorded. I had always envisioned a French ambience to the production to include French language dialogue as a way of creating that certain, yet elusive 'je ne sais quoi' of France. |
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| Composer: |
Leland Thomas Faegre |
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7.5MB |
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The introduction to 'Serengeti Serenade' features the Kudu [Antelope] horn. Described as sort of a French horn, The Kudu or Antelope horn is also heard at the end and is the hook of the production; Kalimba and various sundry percussion in addition to African choral samples build ever so gradually during the bridge or 'middle eight.' Though I have never visited the Serengeti, I believe this ambient soundscape encapsulates the African environment of the 'Dark Continent.'
On the Korg Triton, there is a patch described as 'Song of Africa' that served as the inspiration for this work. It is not unusual for pre-set patches to be quite enough to evoke a creative response and the Triton very much lived up to its reputation. This composition was another of those that wrote itself. Written early in 2002 on a recently purchased Triton LE, it remained without an instrumental chorus until late in 2004 when I began in earnest to arrange and produce what became quite a departure from my typical compositional style. Close your eyes and enjoy the Serengeti... |
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| Composer: |
Leland Thomas Faegre |
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| Filesize: |
7.1MB |
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'Pipes of Peace' [subtitled 'For God's Sake'] is a musical documentary of 'the troubles' that have held up the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of the people of the partitioned six counties of Northern Ireland for 30 years. Includes actual background audio of the BBC describing various sectarian terrorism in the British province...
The music was written in a loft, on a baby grand on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe [While performing at Squaw Valley] in the week up to Christmas, 1983. It was originally recorded in late Summer and early Autumn 1986 at Central Recording Studios, Bower View, Athlone, Co. Westmeath, Ireland in an analogue environment in two sessions. The first session for piano, drums, bass and the BBC audio background, and for the subsequent session, I found an Uilleann and Scottish piper for the representation of the two religious traditions heard in the track.
For the remix completed 07/06/02, I re-recorded some drum parts, added dulcimer, harp, tin whistle and church bells [for invective] which adds considerably to the dynamic. I never considered the composition in the context that it exists now, and it is my fondest hope, that the senseless civil war in Northern Ireland can have an ultimate resolution... |
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| Composer: |
Leland Thomas Faegre |
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7.5MB |
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The compositional depiction of 'Gypsies of Galatia' developed along the harmonic structure of the introduction of the track. The I vi ii IV chord pattern established in the introduction creates the architecture for the production, and the instrumentation was selected to reflect the cultural imagery of gypsies that I had witnessed while living in Ireland. A modal motif [played by a dulcimer and uillean pipe] provides a platform that made possible a confluence of instruments that also includes medieval or Praetorius bagpipe [named after the 16th century German musicologist, Michael Praetorius], bodhran, castanets and tambourine to musically illustrate the nomadic nature of Galatian tribal history. Violas, violins, low whistle, drums and bass complete the palette of this production.
I wrote 'Gypsies of Galatia' on a Kawaii K3 while living in Ireland in 1986-87. For the most part unknown as the historical origin of Celtic culture, Galatia 278-25 BCE came into existence when the territory was given to the two groups of Gauls by King Nicomedes I of Bithynia. It was perhaps my most prolific period [initial tracks for 'Pipes of Peace' were recorded there], being immersed in the environment of Celtic culture and imagery. But it was not until Christmas Eve 1989 that I first digitally recorded the basic tracks which have changed very little from their original parts. Late in 2002 and through mid-year 2003, I produced this composition in addition to 'New Age Symphonia' and continued the production of others as Studio 'B' was being upgraded... |
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| Composer: |
Leland Thomas Faegre |
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7.0MB |
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As a rainbow appears and arrests our vision, so too does the production of this composition. Aurally as delightful as a rainbow is visual, 'Through a Rainbow' engages the listener to imagine its beauty as though one was witnessing its splendor for its naturally brief, yet spectacular duration. Choir, cello, viola, violin and French horn sections adorn this evocatively impressionistic arrangement, which also includes 'water droplets,' bursts of 'weather,' drums, fretless bass and harp...
Written late in the original 'Roland architecture' period that for me concluded around 1991, it was 'lost' probably as the result of a corrupted floppy and had to be re-recorded early in 2002. Fortunately, I had a cassette version of the track and was able to refer to it for every detail that I could not recall. Returning from Studio A one Saturday in early Spring 2003 I had the good fortune of actually going through a rainbow that straddled California's 210 freeway as I drove home in late afternoon. It was a remarkably beautiful event as they always are, but for me the event became the obvious title of this very bucolic composition |
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| Composer: |
Leland Thomas Faegre |
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3.9MB |
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Although originally a keyboard composition, typically the guitar becomes as important; and in this instance the projects full production came to be more symphonic than originally considered. It draws upon orchestral instruments including French Horn, Harp and Timpani that are incorporated within a 'New Age' production genre. Compositionally erudite and uplifting, 'New Age Symphonia' is an anthem of anticipation for our age...
On a splendid Spring Saturday in 1994, drummer and good friend Dan Titus and I produced and recorded this rather infectious track developed around a patch on the Roland D-50 called Landsat. I remember the day very well because on my way to his studio a new release [The Division Bell] by Pink Floyd was playing on the radio and the year's new perennial grass was on display as the Vernal sun glistened upon, and the wind attempted to blow over, its natural blade green carpet.
Dan added drums and timpani and the entire track came together in a few hours. But it was not until October of 2002 that I began a serious production that I thought could be accomplished in about six weeks. Lamentably, it was not completed [due to other working tracks and studio upgrades] until June 14, 2003. Not unlike a photograph, 'New Age Symphonia' captures a moment of my musical history...
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| Composer: |
Leland Thomas Faegre |
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7.2MB |
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