Orphic Hymn to Mercury
Dec. 3rd, 2019 02:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tunesmythAs per the request of a few people at John Michael Greer's Ecosophia Magic Monday, I am sharing the music I composed for the Orphic Hymn to Mercury. The recording I've uploaded here is a rough demo, no claims or aspirations to professional quality at this time-- in fact, I was singing sotto voce so as to avoid waking the toddler.
Here is the sheet music. Click on it for a bigger version.
Anyway, I hope that somebody out there gets some use out of it, or at the very least enjoys it!
I doubt as to whether this is enough to make anyone decide they'd like to listen to more music by me; but I'll just mention that I'm the composer of the soundtrack to Giraffes On Horseback Salad, the movie that Salvador Dalí wanted to make with the Marx Brothers and Cole Porter. The strangest movie never made... until now. (Sort of.)
If you want to hear more Orphic Hymns by me, well, that'll have to wait until I write some.
Here is the sheet music. Click on it for a bigger version.
Anyway, I hope that somebody out there gets some use out of it, or at the very least enjoys it!
I doubt as to whether this is enough to make anyone decide they'd like to listen to more music by me; but I'll just mention that I'm the composer of the soundtrack to Giraffes On Horseback Salad, the movie that Salvador Dalí wanted to make with the Marx Brothers and Cole Porter. The strangest movie never made... until now. (Sort of.)
If you want to hear more Orphic Hymns by me, well, that'll have to wait until I write some.
Orphic Hymn to Mercury
Date: 2020-01-02 12:18 am (UTC)Happy New Year to you too.
I hope this goes through. This is my first attempt at replying to anyone other than JMG via the Dreamwidth platform. As you can see, I could not figure out how to answer your latest email, so I hope this gets flagged in some way by your feed. I'll try to let you know I sent it some other way.
I greatly appreciate your sending me both the recording and the sheet music. You have a nice voice and good pitch control.
When warmed up, I have about an octave and a half, so I can sing this, but I barely read music at all and am accustomed to learning by ear, which would take some time since there are few repeats. The style of it is not unlike a fragment of notated Hellenistic music that has come down to us. I happen to have learned that melody circa 1979 because an associate of mine created a ritual based on the Greater Eleusinian Mystery with music, and borrowed that melody for a song to the Kore.
Listening to your musical setting for this Orphic Hymn gave me the confidence that I can compose my own setting which would be easier for me to remember. I might have a look at more contemporary translations. I have not done any more work on this because my immediate need has passed (I was asking Hermes' help to find a misplaced object). I expect to be attending to the god more regularly this spring when I start on a long writing project, and will get back to composing (all I mean is making up a tune) then.
However, in the meantime, if you modify this setting or compose another one, as you say you are thinking of doing, please send it my way once you are happy with it.
I may be reached outside of Dreamwidth at the address of dbendr (at) (aol) (dotcom).