Requiem of Sichuan

[Matt S (matthewschwartz)]

Recorded with the intent of it being a straightforward solo piano piece, but my computer and mic are pretty poor so there was a lot of distortion in the recording.

Since I couldn't get rid of it, I decided to play along and amp up the distortion for a massive Nine-Inch-Nails soundscape. I'd say it worked pretty well, if you're into that type of music.

This isn't necessarily "accessible", but not for reason of atonality. Rather, the soundscape is very harsh and intense (if you listen to this and think your speakers are croaking, that's really just the music itself), and the rhythms are very distorted and jolted.

The reason, of course, is that this is a requiem, and it seemed more proper to record some improper music to reflect a fully improper tragedy.

This is rather ambient and atmospheric, so instead of listening to it and waiting for "things to happen", just try closing your eyes and letting the music envelope you.

Well, here's the actual music:

Requiem of Sichuan (http://www.zshare.net/audio/1328587903e2ca3a/)

Thanks for checking this out. I look forward to receiving your feedback/comments/criticism.

[Sherry Crann (sherry)]

Howdy Matt,

Definitely atmospheric, and the distortion was very effective, especially toward the end of the piece. I'm sure that's how anyone going through a catastrophe would feel - things are distorted beyond understanding.

I found the contrast between the highly distorted sections at the end, and the quiet melodic parts interspersed with it to be poignant, like finding those quiet moments of normalcy between the sometimes overwhelming task of dealing with the present reality following a calamity.

ttfn,
Sherry

[Matt S (matthewschwartz)]

Hey Sherry,

As always, thanks for letting me know what you think about my music. =]

Might I say that you have an excellent aptitude for comprehending the true *gist* of music and expressing it perfectly in words. Heck, I think I'm going to cite your posts whenever I have to describe my songs. ^_^

Anyways, I'm glad you "got" it. I don't know if you already knew, but Sichuan is the part of China that was most destroyed by the awful earthquake a few weeks ago, so the rhythmic jaggedness is geologically metaphorical. =D

[Sherry Crann (sherry)]

Howdy Matt,

I think in my haste to get ahead of the storms coming through last night, I forgot to hit the final "Post" button, so I'll try a repeat here http://www.notation.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif

I figured your requiem was for the folks in China who have undergone such a devastating tragedy. I can only relate in a small way from our house fire last year. While we all got out safely, the clean up and recovery period had many of those "quiet melody amidst the maelstrom" moments. So, from a very small sampling in my personal life, I can feel the emotional impact of your composition, and how that must translate on a much larger scale for the inhabitants of Sichuan. Perhaps my own little experience is what gives me a bit more empathy with this piece. I certainly pray for God's peace for them such as I've been able to experience. I can only imagine what they're dealing with.

Your composition shows an empathy that is well developed. Do you have other compositions that have been inspired by other events? I find that events in my life tend to spur my musical creativity, or at least what I think of as my musical creativity ;)

ttfn,
Sherry

[Matt S (matthewschwartz)]

Actually, it's interesting that you mention it, because, well, my music usually goes through a very long writing process, full of editing and revising, and usually the music starts out purely as music for music's sake, but every now and then a piece of music will come to embody something other than just music, and then I start to see the music in a "programatic" context.

I have casual interests in history and literature, so oftentimes those will shine through when I start to think in terms of my music "meaning" anything.

Actually, most of my music used to have descriptive titles. Aka, that "Jazz Nocturne" used to be called "lurk late, strike straight, sing sin, forever", based on a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks. And the "Snegurochka Overture" used to be called "little feet with little toes", because it was the first "track" of an "instrumental concept album" that followed a WWII soldier throughout his life (including pre-war and post-war).

Sure no one's interested in that, though. >_<