Forbidden Horizon
This orchestration was composed for a video game trailer. It captures the mood of each preview section highlighted in the video, yet stands on it’s own as a strong, complete, and coherent composition. Each section of the composition is named to reflect the mood of each video preview to which this entire piece of music was composed. There is fascination and wonder, there is joy, there is fear, there is lucidity and calm, there is ferocious terror. It’s all here and lurks just over the Forbidden Horizon.
Exotic and awe-inspiring, Arrival speaks to the powerful and mysteriously attractive enchantment of new surroundings. The landscape is wondrous and strange, yet oddly familiar. There are unknown possibilities and predicaments, excitement and fear, adventurousness and cautious reserve.
Wondrous Stories is a soothing piece akin to a lullaby. The beautiful melody is played by a Persian Ney flute and supported by an Armenian Duduk double reed woodwind. These sonic combinations provide a ligneous timbre that evokes the quiet serenity of an ancient forest. Beautiful things abound with oddities never before seen. We look with wide-eyed wonder and amazement.
The fight or flight reptilian response is on full alert and the adrenalin is pumping. Brass, Strings, and Percussion chop and grind, symbolizing a wretched and frenzied mayhem. The anxiety, tension, and uncertainty are expressed in the continuous rise of the melody, climaxing in a dramatic cliff hanging percussive punch. Something evil has arrived.
A driving percussive intro sets up the dramatic entrance of the Strings, Brass and Woodwinds. The melody soars joyously with tingling excitement and wonder, like an unveiling of truth, and a glimpse of a lost world to behold.
A thematic extension of Discovery. Revelation is a statement of calm clarity. A sweeping harp glissando rises and falls, a cascade of lucidity and serenity. The full picture puzzle has revealed itself piece by piece and is an eloquent, beautiful whole.
Raw, powerful, terrifying, primal, unnerving, and disconcerting. Forbidden Land is a glimpse of the ferocious underbelly of Revelation. Something Evil will come, as every yang has its yin.
This Piano reduction is a subtler version of Discovery and Revelation. It is no less vivid, but is a gentler presentation, calm and serene, beautiful and sublime. The sparseness of the performance suggests all is a distant memory. There is a sense of reflective melancholy that coalesces with a reminiscent and contemplative mood.
A gentle pulse from the Strings, Brass, and Woodwinds evokes a calm and soothing sensation that draws the listener into a tranquil state. A feeling of relaxed satisfaction and contentment swirls around us, but, there is a dark underlying tone as well. The hefty weight of the Basses suggests all is not as serene as it seems.
Tranquil and floating, Wondrous Stories of long lost ages echo and cascade in the memory. They are placid and omnipresent, a reminder of the beauty that once was and could yet be.
Darkness lurks in the silent but powerful undertow of sinister shadows. It is unseen, but its omniscient presence is felt, pulling hard on the virtues of the sound mind and body.
Serene and pensive, there is a feeling of balance and contemplative repose. The melody is optimistic and dignified, conveying self-assurance and trust.
Gently pulsing and swirling strings conjure soft winds, lightly lapping waves, exotic flora and fauna, and sweet smelling air. The landscape is inviting, the sky is clear, and the sun warms our skin. It is a comforting place to stop and rest a while.
There is a deliberate drive and the tension mounts. The full bore of evil is not upon us yet but there are signs and signals. Something is not right; the spine tingles as the scent of the sweet air is tinged foul.
Strings and Piano share the motif of quietude and awe. There is a profound awareness and understanding that is tinged with a hint of subtle despondency.
Sparse but sharp Percussion punctuates a feeling of uneasiness in a new environment. A grinding, biting, bass pedal adds to the feeling of apprehension. Juxtaposed against this backdrop, a beautiful voice sings an unknown song of welcome. Hidden just underneath this welcome we can also discern a dire warning.
The woodwinds alone somewhat temper the glorious feeling of Arrival to one of indifference. There is an Eeyorish sentiment projected, a lack of enthusiasm and a plodding quality. Things may not be what they seem.
The Brass is weighty and thick, slow and trudging. The feeling is similar to the Woodwinds in their temperament. What was once pure bliss has decrescendoed into something ostensible.
This version of Arrival is haunting and foreboding. The beauty, wonder and awe are supplanted by wariness, hyper vigilance, and unease. Something evil may be coming, but uncertainty as to what, where, and when is concealed at this moment.
This feels as a precursor to the evil that will come, and is the swan song of the peace and quietude that has existed before. It is a warning call of the wickedness that is rising. It is not fully upon us, it is over the hill and far away, brewing in intensity like a tornado. But it is advancing in full force.
These are the war drums of the wicked, the march of the malevolent, and the advance of the ignoble. There is no doubt left as to when. The time is now.
Beautiful and peaceful, the Persian Ney flute and Armenian Duduk sing a song of gentle repose, like lullaby, or a calm, warm breeze that soothes and lulls the listener into a restful slumber.
The Brass plays a subdued, modest fanfare that heralds the rediscovery of wisdom from a time past. There is a yearning to bring it to light and to implement what was known. There is also a sense of restriction in that the knowledge is forbidden, or not yet ready to be fully revealed.
The Brass plays a subdued, modest fanfare that heralds the rediscovery of wisdom from a time past. The Percussion provides a subtle push forward in the reveling of knowledge, to put it into play, as if the restriction is lifted. But be warned, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
We have entered a Forbidden Land and it surrounds us. The drums are driving, frenetic, and terrorizing. Swooshes and crashes emanate from the ferocious underbelly of the land, the depths of which are unseen, but omnipresent and omniscient.