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Aranis II has no drums, but don’t let this put you down. This album rocks quite a bit. My favorite track is “Turbulentie”. Here it is:

This is a piece called “Jona”:

You can listen and purchase all Aranis albums at their Bandcamp site

This is an updated version of an analysis that I wrote back in 2002 shortly after the release of “Mysticae Visiones”. It is more “technical” than the analyses presented in the “Classics Choice” section, but still I hope it is well within reach of every progressive music fan.

Overview

“Mysticae Visiones” is a conceptual piece. It is based in the Rosicrucian concept of the Cosmos as explained by Max Heindel in his book “Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception”.

Many metaphysical treatises are based on an essential postulate: the evolution of the soul is achieved by the experience acquired along a series of incarnations. Put simply and briefly, the soul’s existence as a human being is a cyclic alternation between material and immaterial phases. Each phase in turn, goes through a series of stages. Mysticae Visiones is a musical representation of feelings and sensations experienced along the following stages (note that they are all multiples of 7):

Birth and Childhood

Transition from the immaterial to the material phase and human existence between birth and 14 years old. Some attributes of this phase represented in Mysticae are innocence, tenderness and curiosity.

Youth

Between 14 and 28 years old. Mysticae attempts to represent the most important aspect of this stage: the ability to dream.

Manhood

Between 28 and 56 years old. The music intends to convey the drive, energy and strength which are basic attributes of this stage, where an attempt is made to construct the dreams formulated in the previous stage.

Reflection

Between 56 and death, a gradual transition is made into a more serene approach to life. As death is approached, humans are more receptive to the idea of transcendence. This feeling, many times only subjective, puts humans into reflective mode.

Death

Musical representation of the transit between phases. The ideas presented in this section are exposed again during the Epilogue: death as experienced in the immaterial phase prior to a new incarnation.

Transition

According to some metaphysical schools, this stage is driven by a feeling of uncertainty, especially in cases of sudden and unexpected material death. Attributes of this stage represented in Mysticae are: anxiety, confusion, the desperate need to run somewhere, without knowing where to…

Meditation

The initial state of confusion gives rise to a meditative stage. All previous incarnations are remembered and the last material phase is analyzed from a broader perspective.

First, Second and Third Heavens

According to Max Heindel, heaven and hell (more precisely, purgatory) do exist in a certain way. After the meditation phase, the soul re-experiences its last incarnation. In the first heaven, the only moments experienced are those where some harm was made, either to oneself or to others. It is believed that one is capable of feeling, greatly magnified, what others felt or suffered as a consequence of our actions.

On the contrary, the second heaven only deals with actions that generated a positive effect, either to oneself, or to others. Again, one is capable of experiencing (magnified) the happiness and satisfaction felt by those affected by our good actions.

The third heaven initiates the process that ends in a new incarnation. It is triggered by the soul’s desire to execute an action, or a series of actions. This desire is the result of the previous two heavens: emerges the desire to complete a project, to amend a mistake, or to taste unexplored facets of the material existence.

It is believed that evolution as humans is completed when no further desire for material action is felt in the third heaven. In that case, soul’s evolution continues through forms of existence not linked to material incarnations.

Analysis

General Characteristics

Mysticae Visiones, as well as the reincarnation process, is based on a cyclical structure. With the repeat option activated in the CD player, if fades IN and OUT were excluded it would not be possible to determine the start and end point of the work. The piece is constructed upon a number of thematic entities: melodic, harmonic and rhythmic. The most important one is a harmonic entity based on an augmented decreasing fourth interval: A – Eflat. As explained in the musical analysis of “Starless” this interval made up of three whole tones (the Tritone) is very common in progressive rock. These two notes act as building blocks that represent the binary nature of our existence as humans: material and immaterial phases, birth and death, vigil and sleep, systole and diastole, inhale and exhale, etc. We will refer to this as the Main Harmonic Entity (MHE).

All parts in this piece are joined by the use of the thematic entities, but always include independent ideas that are specific to each stage and may not be presented elsewhere. The only exception is on the Epilogue, where all ideas are subordinate to the ones presented in the Prologue and Death sections in order to preserve the cyclical nature of the piece.

A non-concrete synthesized pattern is heard at the beginning of Prologue (track 1), the end of Epilogue (track 12) (transit from immaterial to material phase) and between Death (track 6) and Transition (track 7) (transit from material to immaterial phase). The lack of form in the pattern represents the void; the absence of form and consciousness during the transition between both phases.

Prologue

From the non-concrete pattern emerge the notes A – Eflat, the basic building block of the entire piece. A series of chords based on an Eflat pedal end with the same interval in preparation for the progressive appearance of all the soloists that will intervene throughout the piece. Voice and piano appear simultaneously, and again blend in the A – Eflat interval. The acoustic guitar appearance initiates a fragment that yields to the introduction of the main melodic entity. Bass, electric guitar and drums join in this preparation and the main melodic entity (MME) is presented:

the drums introduce the main rhythmic pattern entity that will be used along the piece, especially during the Transition stage. A variation of the MME is presented by the EW5 (emulating a sax) and the electric guitar, immediately after which the MME is presented as such by the flute. After a short trill, the flute introduces the subordinate melodic entity (SME1) that will play a major role during the immaterial phase and will not be heard again until Meditation:

The cello introduces and develops the independent ideas of the Prologue. The Prologue ends with the first formal variation of the A – Eflat interval (MHE). This variation is presented again during the climax in the Third Heaven, just before the Epilogue. In order words, the same variation of the Main Harmonic Entity is used to end the Prologue and to introduce the Epilogue. This MHE variation ends with a dual flute/EW5 solo, where the MME is used. Finally, the Epilogue concludes with a short piano fragment, based on the use of a whole-tone scale.

Birth and Childhood

From the A – Eflat interval, the material phase emerges through the sound of a heartbeat. This first part of a second subordinate melodic entity (SME2) is presented. This idea is formed by eight notes; the first four suggest a question, answered by the other four notes. On this stage, only the first four notes are presented. Unlike the other melodic entities, this subordinate entity will always be presented without variations, by the piano. The rhythm of the heart is used as the rhythmic pattern in this section. The piano appears with chords that follow the heartbeat, following a similar approach to “A Passion Play” where the heartbeat is used as the rhythm of the gigue presented in the Overture.

Most of the section is based on piano and acoustic guitar. A short development section introduces a dual solo with flute and synthesizer. The section ends with a harmonic progression similar to the one that ends the Prologue, but modifying the scale so that this time it is ordinary (not whole-tone).

The heartbeat is not an effect. I recorded the heartbeat of my wife, and it is unprocessed in terms of rhythm. Note that the musical character of this section aims to portray the innocent and playful character of human beings at this early stage.

Youth

This section is strongly influenced by resources from the impressionist period. It can be considered as two miniature chamber pieces, one for piano, cello and flute and the other for voice and piano, bridged by a short symphonic intermezzo. Note that the solo piano fragment before the intermezzo, retakes the rhythmic heartbeat pattern used in the “Birth and Childhood” section.

The music creates an ethereal environment to represent the young person’s ability to develop desires hopes, projects and dreams.

Manhood

Drive and energy are represented in this section that takes most of its resources from jazz. It is based on two solos, first by the flute and then by the synthesizer, with a sort piano bridge. The flute solo is improvised. The synthesizer solo is written.

Reflection

The heart of this section is a guitar solo constructed upon the ideas presented in the previous sections. The way this solo is constructed, aims to represent the remembrances of an incarnation that is approaching its end. Explicit references are made of the Main Melodic Entity, as well as ideas from the Birth and Childhood section. The harmonic foundation of the solo, is based on the Main Harmonic Entity as shown by the bass pattern between 00:25 and 00:55.

Death

The solo in the previous section fades and the heartbeat reappears. The second subordinate melodic entity (SME2) is presented, but this time answered by the second group of four notes. The section is based on a symphonic arrangement in AB form, that is reduced as death is approached. Before reaching transition, music is reduced to a single note from a single instrument. The heartbeat, progressively loosing strength, finally stops leaving only the non-concrete synthesized pattern, representing the void. At the end of the A section, the guitar presents another subordinate melodic entity (SME3). This melodic entity, just as it is heard now before the transit from the material to the immaterial phase, will only be heard again before the transit from immaterial to material existence, during the Epilogue. Section B is based on the Main Harmonic Entity – the lower strings follow the decreasing A – Eflat interval.

Transition

This section is equivalent to the first instrumental section in “A Passion Play” where the music depicts Ronnie Pilgrim’s despair as he starts to wonder in this new strange environment.

In Mysticae Visiones, anxiety and confusion are represented by the obsessive recurrence of ideas and the use of polyrhythmic layers. The drums take the rhythmic entity presented in the Prologue and the EW5 (emulating a sax) is used as a percussive element. The first section, where guitar, flute and piano play the same tune in unison, can be regarded as a tribute to Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Times, where this resource is used in piece VI: Danse de la fureur, pour les sept trompettes.

Meditation

Anxiety fades and finally the soul is at peace with its new state. As described in the Overview, previous incarnations are remembered and the last material phase is analyzed from a broader perspective. This last human life, exposed under the light of previous incarnations, is represented in this piece by a vocal arrangement based on the use of the same voice, overdubbed. A unique voice, representing a single soul, but four parts representing previous human lives that are blended in a single experience where time and space are undefined. The vocal arrangement fades out and the soul starts preparation for its immaterial existence through the Three Heavens. The piano presents the second subordinate melodic entity, never heard again since its introduction in the Prologue, and blends it with the Main Melodic Entity. This piano exposition is followed by an EW5 solo improvisation that signals the beginning of the Three Heavens. The piano accompaniment during the solo is based on the use of SME2, which will be used extensively throughout the Three Heavens.

First Heaven

The entire section, in ABC form with a short introduction and a coda, is constructed upon ideas that aim to reflect the characteristics of this First Heaven: the soul experiences, in a greatly magnified form, all the suffering and harm caused to others during its last incarnation. This is the Rosicrucian equivalent to the Christian’s purgatory.

Multiple references to MME and SME1 are used, including rhythmic and melodic variations. Explicit references to these instances are excluded in order for the listener to find them for himself. The introduction is based on a synthesizer solo that presents a melodic entity only used in this section. This new entity is blended with SME1 and MME, giving rise to section A where guitar and drums play a leading role. The first five bars present meter changes according to the following pattern: 4/4, 5/4, 4/4, 4/4, 6/8. The rest of this section, in 4/4, ends with an abrupt change to 3/8 at the beginning of section B which begins with the melodic entity presented in the introduction. A short drum pattern divides sections B and C. The predominant feature of section C, in 6/8 tempo, is a polyrhythmic structure where bass, drums, organ, piano and synthesizer have different syncopation. It can be subdivided into two subsections, featuring a synthesizer and an organ solo. Again, an abrupt meter change to 4/4 introduces the coda, based on a variation of the Main Harmonic Entity.

Second Heaven

This second heaven, Rosicrucian’s equivalent to Christian’s Paradise, follows the process of the previous stage but this case the soul experiences, again greatly magnified, all the joy experienced by others as a result of its actions.

The main resource used in this stage is a free-form imitation (as opposed to other imitation forms like canon and fugue, which are subject to rules). The main theme from Meditation is retaken and developed in conjunction with the presentation and development of the Second Heaven’s main theme. All the solo instruments used in the piece are presented sequentially, in the following order: cello, synthesizer, electric guitar, flute, EW5 (emulating a sax), and voice. Once a solo instrument is introduced, it remains adding to the imitation scheme and contributing to the harmonic structure. The result is an increasing cycle that ends with a final section where all six soloists share the leading role. Take note of the piano chords in the four bars just before the cello presents the Second Heaven’s Main theme. They introduce a Subordinate Harmonic Entity that will be used extensively in the Second and Third Heavens (again, no explicit reference will be made in this analysis).

Third Heaven

The Third Heaven emerges from the Second Heaven with a syncopated 4/4 pattern over a running bass. The thirst for action that triggers a new incarnation is represented by a synthesizer solo, merged with a guitar solo constructed upon the melodic entities presented throughout the piece. A variation of the Second Heaven’s main theme, blended with a variation of the MME in conjunction with a variation of the MHE, from 1:01 to 1:17 yield a climax that ends with the variation of the MHE referred to in the analysis of the Prologue.

Epilogue

The Epilogue starts with the same ideas presented in the Prologue, introducing a harmonic change from 00:32 to 00:44 to blend into the Death section, but now exposed under a new light. This re-exposition of Death is initiated by the last appearance of SME2. Bear in mind that birth in a new incarnation, is preceded by some form of death in the immaterial phase. As mentioned in the Death analysis, SME3 is again presented as a unifying entity. This melodic entity is meant to be identified with the idea of death, experienced both in the material and immaterial phases. Finally, the decreasing A – Eflat interval appears in conjunction with the non-concrete synthesized pattern that fades out: again – the void.

This is a previously unreleased video with our performance of Mysticae Visiones at Gouveia Art Rock Festival in 2007:

Credits

Music written and arranged by Carlos G. Plaza Vegas. © 2002 All Rights Reserved

Omar Acosta: Flute, EW5
César García Forero: Guitars
Francisco Ochando: Cello
Carlos Plaza Vegas: Keyboards, bass, drums
Carolina Prieto: Voices

Although not the majority, a huge amount of people believe that what we think and feel is nothing more than a mirage created by chemical/electrical processes in our brain, called synapsis. Our most profound emotions, reflections, insights, are a result of a complex neurological network. In the case of great works of art, some scientists believe that these are a result of brains that have a special configuration. Even though our artificial intelligence devices are still uncappable of creating a symphony comparable to, say, Beethoven’s 9th, it is just a matter of time until they do so.

It is no secret that I am a firm believer in the existence of an intelligent universal source of which we all form part of. One of the main reasons for this profoundly engrained belief is my experience as an artistic creator.

I have written music since my early teens, from rock tunes to classical chamber music, to complex symphonic rock pieces. And in many cases, the creation process has been linked to the manifestation of an intense “condition” that is extremely difficult to describe. It is a sort of trance, where things happen in a dream-like state that cannot be remembered afterwards. I can honestly say that I don’t remember the precise moment when some of my favorite passages were written.

So, before explaining the process that I follow when writing music, or rather, in order for this description to make sense to you, I have to tap into some metaphysical considerations.

My personal view of the Cosmos is relatively simple to explain. Let’s start by clarifying a key term. The source of everything that exists is God. This is quite straightforward even for agnostics or atheists in the sense that we can link the primordial infinitesimal point from which the Big Bang originated, to this “entity”. However, from this moment onwards, the discrepancy begins. In one direction, God is the origin of all physical manifestation but there is no awareness, no intelligence. After the Big Bang, everything happens by a combination of chance and laws of physics. On the other direction, this “entity” is aware of its existence and this physical environment that we call Universe has been created with a specific purpose.

Obviously, I’m inclined to follow the second direction.

Let me go back to what I stated in the first Phaedrus article “Tonality and the Purpose of Life”:

To be able to play the piano…

So, in my view of the Cosmos (shared by millions by the way) God is manifested in everything that we perceive, from a grain of sand to a galaxy. A consequence of this consideration is the concept of “Oneness”. Our separation is an illusion; we are part of the same universal stream of consciousness much like individual waves are part of the ocean.

This last concept is key to understanding my view of the creative process. An inspired artist taps into this universal stream of consciousness and during the creative act, it is nothing more (and nothing less) than a vehicle through which this universal consciousness manifests. We become more or less competent scribes and whatever ends up being the artistic creation is a combination of what came through us, and the contamination created by our technical limitations and our attitude. What I mean by attitude is that quite frequently our mind gets in the way and distorts the idea that surged spontaneously. I don’t want to imply that the rational decisions are negative, quite the contrary, they are an essential complement to what arrives through pure inspiration. But the fact is that we mold, or change, the raw material received based on rational (which includes cultural) and technical considerations.

A fascinating way to link the universal stream of consciousness to the creative process is by observing the characteristics of works of art that we call masterpieces. They are the result of highly inspired artists that had the perfect combination of “receptive disposition” of this consciousness stream (good antennas) and technical competence (proficient scribes). When these works are subject to meticulous scholar analysis we find all sorts of “embedded intelligence”: climaxes that coincide with the “Golden Ratio”, motives that appear in the most unexpected places (expanded, reduced, transformed into harmonic progressions, mirrored, etc.), structural relationships that look more like the work of an architect, illogical but highly effective timbrical combinations, etc. Some of these are purposely included by the artist but a vast amount, are just there. Do you think that all of the details discussed in the musical analysis published so far in Phaedrus were all intentional? I can assure you that they’re not. Let’s take an example from “Close to the Edge”. Conceptually, the piece explores the physical and spiritual aspects of sentient beings, from an initial state of conflict between these two fundamental aspects of our existence, to an illuminated state where both aspects are reconciled. The initial state is described musically by conflicting tempos between the rhythmic and melodic sections of the band. In order to describe the illuminated stage, the rhythmic pattern is trimmed in such a way as to achieve a synchronized rhythm with all the band playing at the same beat. Unless proven wrong (and please let me know if you find evidence in any article) I’m certain that this was not done on purpose.

I could go on for pages on end describing instances of this “embedded intelligence” of which the composers were not aware of. I have a superb example in my own experience:

Sometimes an idea is triggered by a musical passage from someone else. The 4th movement of my “Concerto for Piano and Electric Ensemble” was inspired by the first chord pulses of the “Allegro” from the “3 Danzas Concertantes” by Alberto Ginastera. Compare the initial measures of both pieces:

Allegro from “3 Danzas Concertantes”:

Allegro from “Concerto for Piano and Electric Ensemble”:

Now the interesting, or rather incredible part is that I seemed to tap into the same consciousness stream where Ginastera took his inspiration from. Why? This is what happened:

Most of the 4th Movement of the “Concerto for Piano and Electric Ensemble” is based on this simple motive:

It appears for the first time in the bass:

Then by piano and synthesizer:

Also in the minimalistic section:

And is the main motive in the Coda:

Approximately one year after writing this movement, I was listening to the radio and I came across the “Pampeana #2 Opus 21” by Ginastera which I had never heard before. Imagine my surprise when I heard this:

Of course, this could be just a coincidence. However, I have always been a firm believer in “Ockham’s Razor”:

Among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected.

Let me digress for a moment: I think we all agree that our eyes are highly sophisticated artifacts. Vision in general has an amazing amount of advanced engineering built into it. Among several hypotheses that explain the development of this mechanism, I will choose the 2 main ones:

• No one designed it. It was created by chance, through millions of years of trial and error and natural selection.
• It is the result of two forces: a cognitive force that orients molecular organization with a specific design purpose, and a natural selection process that refines and modifies the molecular organization based on the characteristics of the environment.

I believe that the second option is more in line with Ockham’s Razor. It is simpler to assume that a highly-sophisticated artifact was designed, rather than saying that it came out of nowhere, by chance.

So, we have a couple of hypothesis to explain the joint use of such a specific melodic motive, written by exactly the same composer that initially inspired my work:

• Coincidence
• We both tapped into the same stream of consciousness

My choice is clear.

With this elaborate metaphysical introduction, I can now explain how I go about writing a piece.

Sometimes a new piece of music is completely developed from scratch. But other times artists resort to their “private arsenal”. What is this? Bits and pieces of musical ideas that are developed and stored waiting for the appropriate moment. They are sudden bursts of inspiration: melodies, rhythmic patterns, maybe even a single chord. You rush to whatever you have handy, jot down the idea, and deposit it in your private arsenal for future use.

With or without an arsenal, the fact is that you sit down with the intention of writing a new piece of music:

I’m in front of a white piece of paper (or an empty Sonar file in my case). What next?

This depends on whether the piece is pure music, or descriptive in some way. An example of pure music would be again the Concerto for Piano and Electric Ensemble. Descriptive music could of course be based on a wide variety of extra musical elements: a poem, a story, a picture, a movie, or even an abstract concept. I have written pieces for some of those. For example:

• “Hades” from “Fragments of Light” is based on a poem by Nathalye Engelke.
• “Simurgh” is based on an ancient story as narrated by Jorge Luis Borges in his “Book of Imaginary Beings”.
• “Mysticae Visiones” is based on the Rosicrucian cosmological conception.

When the music is descriptive, obviously this sets a predefined framework. It is a tricky situation because I don’t like to put barriers to my inspiration. Fortunately, if I have the right mind-set and attitude, the ideas that start to flow are coherent with the chosen extra musical material. Let me give you a concrete example:

When I read the story about “Simurgh” I immediately created a movie in my mind. I imagined the different scenes and let music spontaneously emerge from them. As the plot evolves, one knows beforehand the type of music that would be suitable. In that case, one can go back to the arsenal of previous musical ideas and select an appropriate one as a starting point or, again, let inspiration do its work.

The first note in a new composition may come from one of 3 sources:

1. My private arsenal (this is how “Simurgh” was started, for example)
2. I listened to a piece of music by someone else and that has sparked some musical ideas (for example “Mars Pentacle” was triggered by “The Fly-Toxmen’s Land” from the album Rhythmix by Univers Zero)
3. I just sit there and wait until something happens.

The third case has become the most frequent one because of Phaedrus, since I need to provide new pieces for every Phaedrus issue. I feel like Haydn in the Esterhazy’s Palace:

When I sit down to compose, I start with a meditation session. I “tune up my antennas” and start to wait for the signal. What happens next is that I follow what project managers call the CPM: the Critical Path Method. I go with the first impulse I have, not knowing beforehand where that is going to lead me. So, if the first thing that comes to mind is a bass pattern, I leave the keyboard and pick up the bass. Or it may be a drum pattern, so I might just sit on the drums and develop the pattern with no harmonic or melodic cue whatsoever. But, since I’m predominantly a keyboard player, the first idea usually comes in the form of a specific melody or harmony.

The next step is what I call the “Fantasy Stage”. I let inspiration do its stuff and I will not question what is coming out of it. In this process, following the CPM, I will move from a melody, to a harmonic pattern, to a bass or drum pattern. In other words, I zig-zag my way through the new composition letting inspiration lead the way until I feel that my antennas have received all they were supposed to receive, at least for the moment.

So, I start the next phase: “Mold the creature”. This is when mind and technical skills start to work for the first time. I look at patterns, try to understand what is happening. If I came up with a melody, I start to see what harmonic structure would be suitable. Sometimes, if what I have is the harmonic structure, I start to develop and refine it, including drums and bass, hoping that it will trigger the melodies that should be attached to that harmony. Fortunately, in most cases, the melodies start to arise spontaneously.

Of course, this is the ideal situation. Sometimes I spend a whole morning working on maybe 15 seconds of music and the next day I discard everything except the initial idea and start the process all over again.

Until I started the Kotebel project, the composition process was artisanal – the old-fashioned way: I would manually write the score using an acoustic piano as my main tool. This is how I wrote all the classical chamber music in the 90’s. However, when I decided to use Kotebel as the main vehicle for all my compositions, I soon realized that using a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) was far more efficient. I selected back then (year 2000) a software called “Cakewalk Home Studio”. Since these programs are sophisticated and hard to command, I’ve been using that product ever since. I’m currently using Cakewalk’s Sonar Professional edition.

I cannot get too technical but I must explain the difference between MIDI and audio tracks. MIDI (Music Instrument Digital Interface) has been around for many years. Basically, what it does is to record performance information rather than an actual sound. In other words: what note is played, how hard, for how long, did I use a sustain pedal or any other modifier (like a portamento wheel for example) etc. So, you don’t capture sounds but “events”. On the other hand, audio tracks are simply digital recordings of a sound. DAW’s allow you to use both types of tracks simultaneously.

When I compose, I use MIDI tracks. There are several reasons for it:

• I may not know what instrument to use. I know the melody, but I’m not sure if this is going to be a piano or an organ.
• DAW’s automatically show MIDI events in conventional music scores. Even though they are not precise, they are readable. Therefore, I can read the music that I just composed in a traditional music score.
• I can change whatever I want, down to the very last note or event (a sustain pedal, for example).

So, I prepare several MIDI tracks in advance:

• Melody track
• Harmony track
• Bass tracks (MIDI and audio)
• Drum track

I have everything prepared so when in “inspiration mode” I can quickly change from melody to harmony, to bass, to drums. I have MIDI and audio bass tracks because sometimes I have an idea for a bass pattern that includes physical features like glissandos or a slap. In that case, I directly record the bass performance in the audio track. But other times it’s just a note pattern, so I play it with the keyboards and record the real bass afterwards.

So, you can imagine the first rough cut of the piece in the screen: MIDI recordings that zig-zag along the different tracks leaving empty spaces all around. Inspiration in pure state.

This is when “molding the creature” begins. After listening to this first version, I may start to “listen” to parts of it with a specific timbre. So I start to make my first arrangement decisions: this melodic line is an organ. I set up a MIDI organ track (that is, a MIDI track that has assigned an organ sound to it) and I copy the melodic line to it. I continue with this process, populating the score vertically with different instruments.

The famous saying: “Composing is 10% inspiration and 90% transpiration” holds true in this case. A lot of rational and technical decisions are made in this phase. For example, the instrument’s range must be taken into account. If a melody has notes in the range below middle C, then flute is not an option unless I decide to move it an octave higher.

More often than not, during this process of “populating the score vertically” inspiration knocks on your door and you go back into “intuition mode”. This may imply scratching part of the arrangement or taking the piece into an entirely new direction. I usually follow a rule of thumb: if I receive a very strong idea, I will follow it even though rationally it makes no sense. Because eventually, you will understand that it made all the sense.

The next phase is to determine what portions of the song should become a final product. Some parts might still be a bit fuzzy in terms of the idea itself or the arrangements while others are crystal clear. So, I make final recordings of those segments if they are made up of instruments I play (keyboards, bass, drums). As the other parts become less “fuzzy” I record them as well, leaving everything in its final form except instruments played by other musicians.

By the time the guest musicians record their parts, all the other instruments have been set to their final performance. Some may still be MIDI tracks, but the performance is the one that will go to the final mix.

The process I have just described is more applicable to Phaedrus than to Kotebel. In the latter case, I generate a template as a starting point to work on the arrangements. The template has all the parts that I consider essential to preserve the intention of the composition, but some parts may just be suggestions for the musicians to work on. The difference between the original template and the final version in the album is enormous. The musician’s contribution to the final arrangement is very important.

Another key difference is the use of metronome. All Kotebel albums after “Omphalos” have been recorded live in the studio, with no metronome. In Phaedrus case, since I play the rhythmic section, I have to use a metronome to hold everything together.

Before the final mix, I generate wave files for all the MIDI tracks with the final sound, as if they had been recorded that way directly. Believe me, there is no way to tell if you directly recorded that track as a wave file or if it was previously a MIDI track. Of course, this only applies to digital instruments that use a MIDI interface: sound modules, virtual and real synthesizers, electronic keyboards, etc. Acoustic and electric instruments (bass, guitars, flutes, clarinets, drums, etc.) are directly recorded as audio tracks.

For the mixing process, I use a combination of hardware and software: Sonar Professional in combination with a PreSonus 24/4/2 AI mixer and several processing units (for example TL Audio Fat-1 compressor for the bass).

Mastering is sometimes done in-house or subcontracted. But this is out of the scope of the article.

The process I have described is very personal. As you know, most progressive rock pieces are written as a collective effort. The musicians go to the rehearsal room with ideas that are used as a basis for jamming. From these jam sessions emerge ideas that start to evolve into final pieces. The articles “About Starless” and “Improvisation in Progressive Rock” expand on this collective composition process.

In my case, since I was trained as a classical musician, I don’t feel comfortable with the collective approach. I welcome the collective effort when working on the arrangements, but writing the piece is for me a personal endeavor. Having said this, there is an exception: “A Bao a Qu” from the forthcoming “Cosmology” album by Kotebel. This piece was written by Adriana Plaza Engelke and me, but it was not a collective composition but a sequential one. One of us wrote the piece up to a point, and gave it to the other one who finished it. Later we both worked on the arrangements. It will be interesting to see if fans are able to identify who wrote each part…

There are other aspects to consider during the composition process. They will be described in a future article.

Download

MP3

Because of the complexity of the work and its tight connection with the lyrics and the plot, I recommend that you listen to the audio while reading the text. The audio portion has been prepared based on this approach.

Welcome to the 7th edition of “Classic’s Choice”. Today we bring you “Passion Play – Part 1”.

In my opinion, Passion Play is one of the most underrated albums in the history of classic progressive rock. The first thing that we must keep in mind is that, more than a concept album, Passion Play is a musicalized stage play. One of the reasons why many people dismiss the album is because the lyrics are “too dense”. However, even though some images may be difficult to assimilate in the context of the play, the overall plot can be followed without too much effort.

The way in which the music portrays the events of the play is rarely matched in the history of progressive rock. And in this particular case, this achievement is even more remarkable if we take into account the fact that part of the work is based on ideas recovered from the “Château D’Isaster” sessions. Whole fragments were used, that were finished works with different lyrics. Despite this, Passion Play did not become the Frankenstein that one would have expected. On the contrary, the work is tight and very coherent.

Since this is music to a stage play, we must analyze the work, from a musical point of view, based on motives (leitmotifs) and the evolution of the plot, rather than trying to find an overarching form to the overall structure of the piece.

Therefore, we must start by understanding the plot.

In summary, the play describes what happens between death and birth: the journey of Ronnie Pilgrim through his afterlife. Quoting Tim Smolko from his book “Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play – Inside Two Long Songs” (page 124):

Interviewed by Bryan Matthew on “Jethro Tull Story, Part 3”, Ian Anderson says:

In order to follow the plot I will use Neil Thomason’s excellent analysis which can be found in his Ministry of Information website.

The play is structured in four acts:

• Overture
• Act One, Scene One: Ronnie Pilgrim’s funeral
• Act One, Scene Two: Wandering in limbo
• Act Two, Scene One: The memory bank
• Act Three, Scene One: Heaven
• Act Three, Scene Two: Hell
• Act Four, Scene One: Where now?
• Act Four, Scene Two: The Ferry.

Before analyzing each section, I would like to point out the use of several motives used throughout the piece that are key to the coherence of the piece as a whole. Tim Smolko identifies 6 main motives:

Motive 1 is the rhythmic pattern of the heart beat:

Motive 2 is probably the easiest to distinguish:

This is Motive 3

This is Motive 4

This is Motive 5

The last motif is the phrase “Passion Play” repeated along the entire work.

So, let’s get on with the Overture and its music.

Overture

Neil Thomason gives a good description of how the Play started during live performances in 1973:

This is the original movie played at those concerts:

As mentioned already, the piece is cyclical and starts and ends with a heartbeat. The Overture, also begins and ends with a heartbeat and introduces two of the principal motifs that will be used throughout the piece. Notice that soon after the heartbeat (that is, Motive 1) is easily heard, a soprano saxophone introduces Motive 2:

After the initial effects, we find the first stroke of genius in the piece: instead of a dark ominous atmosphere to depict the death of Ronnie Pilgrim, what we find is a lively gigue in 9/8. It is a macabre dance of death in baroque style!!:

Remember again the rhythm of motive 1:

This rhythmic motive, linked to the heartbeat, is the basis for the Overture’s main theme:

The rest of the gigue is also based on a development of motive 1.

After the gigue, at the end of the Overture, we hear the heartbeat slowing down and decreasing in pitch until a door bang clearly indicates the end of Ronnie’s transit on earth:

By the way, no other Tull’s album features Anderson’s abilities as a sax player more extensively than in Passion Play.

Act One, Scene One: Ronnie Pilgrim’s funeral

Scene: A winter’s morning in the cemetery. A group of mourners stand around a grave. As the curtain rises, RONNIE, a ghost, rises from the grave and joins the congregation, listening to his own eulogy.

Instead of a line-by-line analysis of the lyrics, I will just highlight those that are particularly relevant for the understanding of the section. For a detailed lyrics analysis I refer you again to Neil Thomason’s article.

The wonderful phrase: “The silver cord lies on the ground” summarizes perfectly the lyrics of this section.

The form of this scene is:

A-A’-brief interlude- B (free form with recalls of Motive 2)

Sections A are a description of the funeral scene as seen by Ronnie.

Section B shows Ronnie’s reflection of the life that just ended – his achievements, mistakes, disappointments, etc.

Section B has a very important verse:

Thomason’s interpretation is quite accurate:

Note the clever modulation to support the phrase: “crowding in a different key”. Does it sound familiar?

It’s the Neapolitan cadence over the dominant chord. He uses it to move from D flat Major to A major, and then again to modulate to F, the tonality of Act One, Scene Two.

The last verses in all the stanzas in sections A and B are based on Motive 2.

A

“Do you still see me even here?”
(The silver cord lies on the ground.)

{ “And so I’m dead”, the young man said
over the hill (not a wish away). } Motive 2

A’

My friends (as one) all stand aligned
although their taxis came too late.

{ There was / a rush along the Fulham Road.
There was / a hush* in the Passion Play. } Motive 2 (* notice the effect that supports the word hush)

Brief Interlude

B

Such a sense of glowing in the aftermath
ripe with rich attainments all imagined
sad misdeeds in disarray
the sore thumb screams aloud,
{ echoing out of the Passion Play. } Second part of Motive 2

All the old familiar choruses come crowding in a different key:
Melodies decaying in sweet dissonance.

{ There was a rush along the Fulham Road
into the Ever-passion Play. } Motive 2

With all these elements in mind, let’s listen to Act One, Scene One:

Instrumental 1

This instrumental section serves as an interlude between both scenes of Act One.

Tim Smolko divides the piece into 6 climax cycles. We will be referring to them as we progress in the piece. The first climax cycle goes from the beginning of the vocals in Act One, Scene One, to the end of this instrumental section. 3 dry beats in the snare drum’s rim provide the cue for a section that, like the Overture’s gigue, start in 9/8. However, notice how in 00:24 they suddenly move to an 11/8 beat until the end of the section. Again, this is one of the few passages in Tull’s discography where you will appreciate Anderson’s ability as a sax player.

This instrumental section describes the moment when Ronnie finally moves away from the physical realm and assumes his new state. The acute change in rhythm and the intensity of the passage are excellent ways to depict Ronnie’s despair as he starts to wander in this strange new environment. He finally reaches limbo.

Act One, Scene Two: Wandering in limbo

Scene: The empty desert of Limbo. RONNIE wanders aimlessly, until an ANGEL arrives to guide him on to the next stage of the afterlife.

An angel escorts Ronnie, and although he didn’t believe in gods or angels, she is compassionate. According to Thomason, the verse:

Represent the words of the prophets in the Bible. I believe that thinking about “illuminated words” contained in a leather bound book is more fitting because it could apply to any creed or religion. At any rate, the importance of this phrase is that this gift triggers Ronnie’s reflection on who he is – about good and evil and his acts while on Earth. The wonderful phrase:

Indicates that Ronnie, who’s life on Earth was not remarkable, starts to understand that he is important and that he must pursue the understanding of who he really is.

The form of this scene is a simple strophe:

Intro-A-B-A’-B’

Notice that sections B are based on motive 2:

You will see that the brief piano introduction is also used at the end of part I. This piano phrase is superimposed with motive 2 on “ever-smile” and again, modified, on “to be found”.

Brief piano introduction

A

And who comes here to wish me well?
A sweetly-scented angel fell.

B

{She laid her head upon my disbelief
and bathed me with her ever-smile.} Motive 2

A’

And with a howl across the sand
I go escorted by a band

B’

{of gentlemen in leather bound
NO-ONE (but someone to be found).} Motive 2

Let’s listen to it:

Instrumental 2

This short instrumental interlude is based (like much on the Second Act) on material from the Château D’Isaster sessions. Ronnie’s desire to understand who he really is, propels him to ACT TWO – The Memory bank. This section has 2 contrasting parts, the first more intense (diabolic?) the second one based on acoustic guitar more gentle (celestial?). A musical representation of the duality that Ronnie will experience during his transit in the afterlife.

We reach Act II – The Memory Bank.

Act Two, Scene One: The Memory Bank

Scene: a small but comfortable theatre with a cinema screen – the next morning.

From this moment until the end of the piece, what happens in Passion Play bears a striking resemblance with Max Heindel’s “Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception”. This book was the basis for my piece Mysticae Visiones; although the musical languages are very different, the conceptual framework is the same. According to Max Heindel, after death we see all our past life. More than seeing, we re-experience all our life and get to feel what other felt as a consequence of our actions (good or bad deeds). According to Heindel, since we are not limited by the sensations of our physical body, we experience the joy or pain we caused but multiplied by a thousand-fold. He believes this is what Christians call “purgatory”.

Ronnie enters a cinema room where several judges force him to revisit his life. Peter Dejour (the duty receptionist of the afterlife) presents Ronnie’s life to the panel of judges.

A lot of the music and lyrics in this act were taken from Critique Oblique (The Château D’Hérouville Sessions – more commonly known as Château D’Isaster Tapes). Looking at the lyrics from a general standpoint, we see that they portray the process of the judges asking Ronnie to revisit his life, forcing him to look closely at the darkest and most intimate episodes. Ronnie is assessed as an ordinary middle-class Englishman with more lights than shadows.

What I just described is enough for our analysis purposes. Again, if you want a detailed line-by-line analysis, click here.

From a musical point of view, let’s break down this long act in major segments:

PART 1 – Instrumental Development – PART 2 – PART 3 – INSTRUMENTAL CODA

Part 1

The form of Part 1 is:

Intro – A – Motive 3 – A’ – Motive 3 – B – Motive 3 – A’’ – Motive 3 – B’

Notice that Motive 3 appears between every vocal section.

Intro

A

All along the icy wastes there are faces smiling in the gloom. [The judges]

Motive 3

A’

Roll up roll down,…
… Feeling unwound?
Step into the viewing room. [Dejour asks Ronnie if he is relaxed, unstressed and ready to proceed.]

Motive 3

B

The cameras were all around.
We’ve got you taped you’re in the play. [All of your deeds have been recorded]

Here’s your I.D. (Ideal for identifying one and all.) [Interesting reference to the fact that we are part of a Whole. Direct reference to the concept of Oneness.]

Motive 3

A’’

Invest your life in the memory bank
ours the interest and we thank you. [Ronnie’s “moral solvency” is scrutinized]

Motive 3

B’’

The ice-cream lady wet her drawers,
to see you in the Passion Play. [The judges are eager to watch Ronnie’s life]

We’re now ready to listen to Part 1:

Instrumental Development (The judges enjoying the film)

This section is mostly a reinterpretation of Critique Oblique. Note that the first segment is based on Motive 3 – listen to the organ playing the motive in the background.

The second segment is based on the development of the following motive:

And the third segment is a wonderful flute (I should rather say flutes) improvisation.

Note that the entire section, until the brief drum solo, is in 11/8. The easiest way to count it is to follow the bass pattern.

According to Smolko, the second climax cycle goes from Act One, Scene Two to the end of this 11/8 section.

Part 2

The form of Part 2 is:

Intro – A – interlude – B – B’ – interlude – B’’ – B’’’ – Coda (Vocal + Instrumental)

Intro

This instrumental introduction is based on a complex rhythmic pattern based on two 12/8 bars + one 9/8. If you have not paid attention to the instruments interplay, please take a moment to do so.

Their tight playing under such a complex beat is simply amazing:

Here’s the rest of PART 2

A

Take the prize for instant pleasure,
captain of the cricket team
public speaking in all weathers,
a knighthood from a queen.

[Ronnie is a typical middle-class man, who indulged on pleasures without thinking about moral consequences, was reasonably successful in his endeavors and was happily married]

Interlude

B

All your best friends’ telephones
never cooled from the heat of your hand. [But he abused of his friends]

B’

There’s a line in a front-page story,
13 horses that also-ran. [So maybe Ronnie’s success was at the expense of others…]

Interlude

B’’

Climb in your old umbrella.
Does it have a nasty tear in the dome? [Ronnie’s self-image is challenged by the judges]

B’’’

But the rain only gets in sometimes
and the sun never leaves you alone, [but it seems that on average, his good deeds outweigh the bad ones]

Coda Vocal

you alone, you alone, you alone, you alone, you alone. [now, unshielded, he must face the scrutiny of the judges]

Coda Instrumental
The instrumental part of this coda is based on the material from the Intro, with and equally impressive interplay under the odd-rhythm. The section is extended to create a suitable conclusion for Part 2.

We are now ready to listen to the rest of Part 2:

Part 3

The form of Part 3 is very interesting. It introduces new material, which is mixed with elements from Part 1. Motive 4 is presented, and then is combined with motive 3 which belongs to Part 1. This yields to a modified reprise of section B from Part 1. So, in summary, the contrasting section of this part is not based on new material but rather on a modified version of material from Part 1. This way of combining ideas from different parts provides coherence to this long and complex act.

The form is:

Intro A (Motive 4) – A – vocal Interlude – A – instrumental development – Intro to B from Part 1 (motives 3 and 4 combined ) – B’ from Part 1 – A’ – Coda/Outro (vocal + instrumental + vocal)

Intro A

Section A from Part 3 is based on Motive 4:

A

Lover of the black and white it’s your first night.
The Passion Play, goes all the way, spoils your insight. [Ronnie’s ethical and moral views are challenged]

Tell me how the baby’s made, how the lady’s laid,
why the old dog howls in sadness. [The judges enquire about profound aspects of Ronnie’s life which he is conscious about]

Vocal Interlude:

And your little sister’s immaculate virginity
wings away on the bony shoulders
of a young horse named George who stole
surreptitiously into her geography revision.
(The examining body examined her body.) [And they show Ronnie other aspects of his life that either he didn’t know or couldn’t control]

A

Actor of the low-high Q, let’s hear your view.
Peek at the lines upon your sleeves
since your memory won’t do.
Tell me: how the baby’s graded*, how the lady’s faded, [*note how the snare drum reinforces the word “graded”]
why the old dogs howl with madness. [The scrutiny continues]

Instrumental Development (starts at 1:44 in the audio example)

Intro to B from part 1 (motives 3 and 4 combined) (starts at 2:16 in the audio example)

B’ from Part 1

All of this and some of that’s the only way to skin the cat. [The judges see that Ronnie has made a number of compromises throughout his life]

And now you’ve lost a skin or two,
you’re for us and we for you. [The dissection process has ended. Ronnie has been a witness of his own life and is now prepared to continue his journey in the afterlife.]

The dressing room is right behind,
We’ve got you taped, you’re in the play. [The judges now have a thorough understanding of Ronnie’s last incarnation.]

How does it feel to be in the play?
How does it feel to play the play?
How does it feel to be the play? [and they want to know what Ronnie learned from his recent life on earth.]

These three last verses demand a bit of reflection. The first two are rather straightforward: how does it feel to be alive, to be a part of life. The third encloses a profound mystical concept: how does it feel to BE life. Anderson puts a strong accent on the word BE and this is quite intentional. Again, the lyrics refer to being one with all creation. The concept of Oneness. Ronnie finally understands that he is not part of the play. He IS the play: “You’re for us, and we’re for you”…

A’

Man of passion rise again, we won’t cross you out:
for we do love you like a son, of that there’s no doubt. [Ronnie is invited to continue his journey. He is loved, no matter what decisions he took in life]

Again, a profound metaphysical concept is contained in this few verses:
Man of passion rise again: Our desires, passions, projects, is what propels us through physical life and triggers our need to incarnate.
We won’t cross you out: You have free will. You will continue to evolve, no matter what you do.
for we do love you like a son, of that there’s no doubt: You are loved unconditionally.
No one brings pain to Ronnie but himself, through his own decisions. His passage through the purgatory will be pleasant or painful depending only on how he exercised his free will. The purpose of this scrutiny is not to award or to punish, but to allow him to learn. To understand who he really is.
This idea is reinforced in the next verses:

Tell us: is it you who are here for our good cheer?

Coda/Outro Vocal 1

Or are we here for the glory, for the story, for the gory satisfaction
of telling you how absolutely awful you really are?

Quoting Thomason:

Coda/Outro Instrumental
According to Smolko, the third climax cycle goes from the end of the 11/8 section in Act One, Scene Two to the end of this instrumental section.

Coda/Outro Vocal 2

There was / a rush along the Fulham Road.
There was / a hush in the Passion Play. [The court adjourns, the cinema is emptied and Ronnie continues his voyage in the afterlife]

With all this information, let’s listen to Part 3:

Instrumental CODA

The first thing to note is that Motive 1, the hearbeat, returns but not the pumping sound of the physical heart but its rhythm, played by the guitar. Ronnie’s “spiritual heart” is full of life and ready to proceed with his journey. His next stop is Heaven and the music of this Coda very effectively describes his transit as he approaches Paradise.

Notice that the heartbeat motive played by the guitar serves as a harmonic pedal. For an explanation of what a harmonic pedal is, I refer you to the Starless analysis.

This ends the first part of the analysis of “A Passion Play”. We will continue the analysis of this masterpiece in the next edition of the “Classics Choice”.

Resources

This analysis would not have been possible without the solid foundation laid by Tim Smolko in his book: “Jethro Tull’s Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play. Inside Two Long Songs” 2013. Indiana University Press.

Of equal importance is the splendid, accurate and detailed lyrics analysis provided by Neil Thomason.

In this link you can download a pdf version of Max Heindel’s “Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception”.

“A Passion Play” art cover images were taken directly from my personal 1974 vinyl copy of the album.

The background music used is:

• The pieces “Docks”, “Beached”, “Sasquatch” and “Durkik” from Camel’s live album “Coming of Age”
• The pieces “My Heart Deserves a Holiday” and “Tramontana” from the album “Random Acts of Happiness” by Bill Bruford’s Earthworks
• The piece “The Sparrow” by the Japanese band Fantasmagoria, from their album “Day and Night”

Unfortunately, since this amazing work was so poorly received by the critics, “A Passion Play” was soon removed from Tull’s live repertoire so there is very little in terms of historical documents. These are 3 videos taken from Jethro Tull’s YouTube channel:

This is “Critique Oblique” from Château D’Isaster Tapes. Very interesting to see how Anderson was able to incorporate this material into the plot of “A Passion Play”:

As part of this long-term project to put music to all 22 major arcana, I’ve been learning more about this intriguing world of the Tarot. It turns out that some arcana are more closely related to each other than the rest. This, from a musical point of view, is fantastic because it allows me to use common motifs to create “musical subgroups or suites” where these related arcana are bundled.

My plan is for all the pieces to share at least one motive – let’s call it the “Tarot” leitmotif (I wonder if some of you have detected it already) and then use other motives to create these groups.

It turns out that “The Strength” is closely related to “The Magician” and “The High Priestess”. Therefore, we can regard this group as the first “Suite” within the Tarot project. Since the Fool presents the “Tarot” leitmotif, all 4 pieces written so far are thematically related.

“The Strength” features the amazing César G. Forero (Kotebel) on guitars.

Download

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Credits

Music written and arranged by Carlos G. Plaza Vegas. Guitar solos by César G. Forero.

César G. Forero: Guitars
Carlos Plaza: Keyboards, bass, drums.

© 2017 Carlos G. Plaza Vegas. All Rights Reserved

Description of the “La Force” arcanum is taken from the book “Tarot de Marsella” by José Antonio Portela (in Spanish). © 2015 Sincronía JNG editorial, S.L.
www.sincroniaeditorial.com

“La Force” picture taken from my personal deck of Rider-Waite Tarot cards.