Music Composition

    

  I'm quite a ways out in regard to composing the music, but I have been speaking to someone about getting together on the music. Unfortunately our method of communicating is rather erratic, so I will just post here that, if we are moving toward that, then make sure we get together sooner or later on that. 

   I have much to do on the Libretto, so a rewrite is in order there and that will be my focus of attention. Normally, I would craft the Libretto as the music is being composed, but if we are not in communication about the music, then I will do the Libretto first and worry about the music later.

  I am working on crafting a new conception for the imagery needed for Act One, based on some new information that has come to me. I expect that I will compose some music after I get clear on the timing of Act One. I do have that capability. I say that in the light of rewriting the Libretto to accommodate some new design concepts.  If I lay down some music tracks, it will only be because nobody has stepped up to the plate before I get to that point.  I have a MIDI  EWI and keyboard to help with that.  Doing that is a long way off, I need to finish The Gnomes of New Hope first. but I am prepared to compose the music if I have to.  Although, I would rather not. Simply because I get easily distracted with so much to do and I fear I might not get it finished before I drop dead.

AG

Crafting the Backdrops

   One of the elements of a stage presentation ( for "I Am Alpha & Omega" ) is the Backdrops used from scene to scene. In a drama, musical or opera, that can be composed of one or many settings. 

   In this piece, the Backdrops for Act One: the Creation needs to be an active part of the progress of the storyline. 

   The initial stage presentation (in numerous revisions) was intended to use puppetry much like "Bread & Puppet Theatre". This concept was put aside when Disney used that effect in Lion King. 

   Now there is a new concept for expressing the creation. Much of this new concept comes from an earlier concept for a presentation in "Hemispherical Theatre", which may still be viable, as a new Cinema 360 facility was constructed within the last few years.

   The progress of the Revisions of "I Am Alpha & Omega" was such that, wanting to engulf the audience in the experience, I was thinking away from the standard proscenium stage and hence, I designed a "Hemispherical Theatre" for the presentation of the material and began to adapt the material thereto.

    It was not fully conceptualized, because the technology to do it was in a rapidly changing state of flux and I determined that I needed to wait until advancements became more fully realized. I came to understand that by the time I was in a position to implement the show, that the technical realities would be completely different than what I was working with. So I saw no point in continuing in the direction I was going.

   In Truth, there needs to be designs for multiple venues, taking into account the standards in the Industry.

    The realities that were facing me, were that computer advancements, remote control of stage equipment, new technologies and imaging capabilities, such as LCD as opposed to projection, to name a few were advancing much quicker than I could keep up with. They still are. Now we need to take into account the fact that an increasingly larger group of people have their own Home Theatres.

  So, returning to the existing script materials, I have studied the material for Act One and thinking about how to implement the core visual elements, I have come to this conclusion; I can build the conceptual imagery using PowerPoint. I have all the tools to construct a montage that will be used in the opening scenes. 

   So in order to advance, (beyond a Cinematic product) I will be setting up my A/V Editing Suite again, using updated equipment that will be linked to a Lighting Control Board, using both MIDI & DMX. Effectively, I can control video projection from the Lighting Board and go about setting all the Ques for Act One. 

   In order to effect the final design, I will be using stock photography to craft the "prototype" sequence. The imagery will likely be processed and layered into a film sequence. Once that is finished I will convert that over to paintings and create one or more new sequences, depending on the timing required. This painted backdrop sequence will be used as an element of the live theatrical stage show, Procenium or Hemispherical.

    This is all part of my process of setting up a sound stage with a green screen in my studio and linking my equipment together, so I can implement a prototype run on a smaller scale. 

  But I also intend on producing "Nunc Licet" on that stage, for video. NL originated as Act Three of A&O, but is now a separate play.

   I think this will be necessary to succeed

That's all for now. AG

General information about Communication

 

The Gnomes of New Hope
Zach & Zebby's Grand Adventure
production materials
(photo linked to blog)

       I am leaving this Post here because it provides basic contact information. 

    I need to inform you that more often than not, I do not answer my cell phone. I get too many solicitation calls and scams, so I either screen the call or let it go to voicemail. I figure if someone cannot leave me a voice mail or txt me, the call is not that important.  So, if it is important and pertaining to the theatre/film or other real business activity, which I often post about, then Please, do leave a message.

   But I need to warn you, if the call is a robocall or one of those relentless solicitations, I will just hang up. I have important work to do and cannot tolerate these kinds of inane interferences. That goes for both my cell phone and my office line.  AG

ARCHIVE

  To those who are communicating with me via apps on my my phone... I have misplaced my cell  phone. Therefore I have lost the ability to communicate via those apps.  So I suggest using methods that I can access via computer, (image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail.com), Facebook (Messenger, WhatsApp, LinkedIn) direct mail to my studios address (Image of the Mind Studios, 1325 Industrial Boulevard, Building Three, Southampton PA. 18966), or my office Phone line (412-502-9182). I will delete this message if I find my cell phone. Truth is; I lost it in my shop somewhere. AG

The Libretto, writing notes;

The Libretto

An Epiphany (5/5/24)

    As I mention below, I discovered I can work on the script using an older workstation and that definitely moves things forward.

   So, right out of the box, the text says "Let Us make man in Our image."

   What does that mean? Us and Our? Well, I have numerous explanations for this, but all of the require complex discourse. The Lord enlightened my mind to understand that; the Us and Our refers to the Alpha and the Omega. The all encompassing composite of the Heavens and it's Creator.

A little elucidation is in order; 

   The Mind of God transpires outward and downward from the ultimate essence of Being - first to the Celestial Degree, then down to the Spiritual Degree, and then finally into the Ultimates of the Natural Degree. 

   Man, in the Natural Degree created hell, by willfuly, though inadvertently, perverting his understanding of Truth. Because of his propensity to the sensual nature of the Natural Degree, he sought Truth and drew his conclusions from his natural perceptions. Thus, his separation from (even) the Spiritual Degree, (let alone) The Celestial Degree, blocked his influx from the Heavens and the Wisdom of God. Because God's influx comes to man down through the heavens to him, man's propensity for sensuality blocks influx. Yet God's mercy prevailed (indeed it still does) but not without vastations. The depths of hell, because of the connection to man, are encompassed in the Omega, the ending, intended to be the outermosts of Creation. It was man's choices that created hell and infused the deepest hell into the outermosts of Creation.

   So all that is and was, beyond the Natural Degree; is the Us and Our, because the Creation of man refers to his creation in the Natural Degree, which is the outermost, the foundation and the ultimate of Creation.  

   The Spiritual and Celestial Degrees had an array of created beings in them, who were not men, but rather; Angels, Archangels, Seraphim, Cherubim, and even Nephilum, none of which were human.

   Mythology might even point to other non-human creatures, if one may choose to expand those horizons.

   "Let there be Light" refers to Natural Degree Light, as Heavenly light is inherent in the existence of the Celestial and the Spiritual Degrees, and comes directly from God's Essence, although in varying intensity, in accordance with it separation from God by descret degrees.

   In the Natural Degree, a natural sun, moon and stars were required, which are only correspondential, because the sensual nature of the natural degree corresponds the the Spiritual and Celestial and is manifested in appearances.

   Hence, the darkness present could only be remedied by use of a correspondential sun, since anything in the Natural Degree cannot even deign to approach God in His Divine Essence, which indeed neither can the Spiritual or Celestial, but even less so can the Natural.

  God in the garden approached Adam & Even by virtue of the same body he had when He visited the Natural Degree in human form, as Christ,  after mankind perverted the Natural by allowing falsity and evil to prevail.

   This is all part of the Libretto, conveyed in representations crafted with Artistic License.

   I will integrate this (expanded) explanation into the script. Of course in a more proseic fashion.

AG

In wíll add to this post as needed.

Alpha & Omega Script

The Libretto (script)

(5/4/24)

   So, I have been somewhat distressed by the difficulty I have had trying to transfer the script materials up to my main workstation.

   But then, I realized that I don't really need to transfer the script. I can just work on it on the older computer that I used to write it. Duh. So I printed out the first scene.

    Well, that worked out pretty good. So far, I updated some production notes in  the script and had a chance to review the last revision. I am pretty impressed with what I saw. It's not the way I envision it now, but it's a good foundation for creating an updated Libretto. 

   My recent thoughts are towards creating a sample using PowerPoint. I'm considering the improvements that have been made since the last revision in 1999 and I am inclined to make adjustments to the concepts to take this into account.

   I expect to spend more time on rewrites, now that I have it working on my old OS 9.2 Mac 6500. I'm also going to revisit my G4 machines, of which I have three. They all need to be brought back to life, not only for the sake of moving Alpha & Omega (and other files) up the line, but also to access the Digital Performer files that were created using the G4 QuickSilver.

   In any event "I Am Alpha & Omega" is on the move again. This time, the goal will be to publish the Libretto and then to move forward with the music while the Libretto is being refined to accommodate both the new staging and the music.

More to come.

AG

Archive (4/37/24)

   I was asked "What's the plan?" It has to be this; determine the relationship between Writer/Lyricist and Composer so that the Libretto can be restructured to accommodate the creative propensities of those engaged in a collaboration. 

    If that is not addressed at this stage, then the Libretto will be strictly based on the Writer's perspectives as it is transferred to an updated workstation.  That process will engage a rewrite, since that last update was 1999.  In the new update, Lyrics will appear, some of which are already written, but not integrated into the Libretto. But integrating lyric should be in conjunction and agreement with the composer.

    The previous version of the script started to exceed the technical capabilities of imagery control, which at that time was undergoing extreme changes with the more extensive use of DMX, MIDI and the expansion of programs like Digital Performer. So it became clear that the writing needed to pause, until some technology was refined.

    I had gone through this conflict of technology with film, photography and video and that process threw my filmmaking into a tailspin, so rather than getting caught in this changes again, I put the development on hold for that reason; to allow technology to become more stable. But also, I had a few sections that I skipped over, sketching them out because I couldn't resolve certain design issues.

    I now have a few new ideas about the technical design issues in Act One and how to transition into Act Two, which has been predominately drama and dance, thinking that I may add musical theatre into that Act, in the form of lyrical music, which would lead into Operetta. The real challenge is the new mission for Act Three - something along the lines of High Opera. All of this being based on the literal form of the Word being integrated with the Spiritual Sense, and that being derived from the Church of The New Jerusalem teachings.

    So overall, the music will transition from a basic form of music to Symphonic and with the introduction of actors bring dance into the picture with a blending of drama transitioning from the spoken word into the lyrical expression of singing and that singing transitioning upwards toward High Opera. 

   So the. Creative Art aspect of theatre will run parallel to the Creation of the Universe as it expresses the Creation of the Mind of man and his/her relationship to the Heavens and God. Of course, this will express the balance between Heaven and hell, Good and evil, Truth and falsity.

   This would be an updated synopsis of the project as a whole 

     I am planning on diving into a rewrite, but truthfully, I cannot really get down to it fully, until the book publishing for The Gnomes of New Hope; Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure is finished.  Once that layout is finalized, I will be turning to setting up my new music workstation with the upgraded components and a new Mac processor. If I do not come to an agreement with the composer I have been speaking with for "Alpha & Omega", then I need to be prepared to do it myself.

AG

Archive (4/27/24)

     So I'm thinking about what it's going to take to recover the script and update it to the new objectives I have for it. I do have some ideas about delivery of God's dialogue, which I think could work really well. But getting the script converted over into an updated file format is going to be difficult. I don't seem to have Part Two. Part One appears to have more than one Act. I think I might have divided the piece into three plays. I'm not sure,  I distinctly remember having written certain portions of the play, but they don't seem to be included in the files I have. I'll just have to keep looking. I'm sure I have a hard copy somewhere.

   I am going to take a greater degree of Artistic License than I have heretofore. I think mainly because I was leaning more heavily on a poetic style in the more recent work. Being that Act Three will take shape as an opera, I think it's appropriate to review the earlier writings and allow a more abstract aesthetic style to emerge. I'm not sure what that will actually be, but I have a feeling about it.

   I do recall thinking that Act One was more technical theatre in terms of it's design, while Act Two was predominately intended to be dance & drema. I'm seeing more expression taking place in a dream state, giving more latitude to the dance.

   I have to say, it's uncertain how this will turn out. A concentrated effort will have to wait until after The Gnomes of New Hope is finished, at least the book publishing aspect of that project.

AG

Archive

   You can read the history in other postings below, but this is to communicate some current thoughts/discoveries about the script.  I was relieved to find some files on an older OX9 computer I have, and today I was delving into the files that I have there and doing so on that operating system.  I can say I was surprised to find that Act One has been updated to integrate New Church philosophy with the Literal Sense of the Creation. I do recall writing both Act One and Act Two to have this element included in them, but so far though, I have been unable to find all those materials. Although the file for Act Two is there, I have not found the portions of the script that I  remember writing.  The file for Act Three is empty, because I removed that Act and used it to create "Nunc Licet", so that was expected.  What wasn't expected is that only portions of Act Two seem to be present. I know that I was using multiple computers to write this, one of which was a laptop that is now dead. So it seems I will need to be looking through all my old files to try to find all the materials that were written.  At worst, I will need to reconstitute it from what I remember.

   I have begun to write Act Three, I say write but I mean transfer over to a computer and restructure the material to be formatted for the stage.   The core material for Act Three has a very abstract form compared to Acts One & Two. What I can say is that the first half of Act One leans heavily on Technical Theatre to convey it's visual aspects, being that it is intended to represent the formation of the Universe and the World.

I will continue this later. AG

An analysis of the Musical Structure

  Here are some thoughts about the musical structure of "I Am Alpha and Omega". This is purely conjecture, because it must be founded in the Libretto, where the musical elements will be more clearly defined in the next Revision.

    I see the music as developing toward being predominately Symphonic, not starting out that way, rather introducing an assortment of styles being both instrumental and vocal in nature. The concept needs to run in syncopation with the visual representation of The Creation, adding elements to "create" a composite.

   Since there will be a divergent theatrical structure, both visual and dramatic, the music will need to be flexible enough to accommodate the texture of the piece. This means that the symphonic nature would take on a wider definition of movements, that are not necessarily tied to one another in a conventional contiguous sense. 

   It is possible that musical numbers that are not part if the symphonic structure may be interjected in-between the movements of the symphony. If that is the case, those numbers need to transition out of the previous movement and lead to the next movement or number. In any event if there is a sequence of numbers, the last one needs to be tied to the next movement in the symphony. So it would be that numbers may exist in-between movements.

    There was reference to a Requiem. If there is a Requiem involved, it needs to be encompassed within the Symphony and come forth out of the same.

    The Third Act needs to generate forward into an Operatic format, but that format could merge back into a Requiem as a concluding expression. The introduction of musical numbers (as in SATB musical theatre or solo performance formats) needs to be reserved for the centre portions of the piece. The exception being in the Operatic format of the Third Act. In that context, the SATB of the Opera comes from the Heavenly Hosts.

    I think that the conclusion of the piece need to be introduced with Acapella SATB probably leading into a Solo that points to the symphonic climax. I also think that the numbers that are presented in Acts One and Two need to be incorporated into the Symphonic Climatic approach, while leaving room for an Operatic expression that is distinct from those numbers, yet sets the foundation for the Symphonic expression. So, the musical theatre numbers are the external of the orchestral structure, while the Symphonic elements, probably the Requiem, forms the foundation of the Operatic expression, allowing the Operatic aspect to build the internal, the substance of the Symphonic expression, yet still leaving room for the Requiem aspect to emerge.

   I hope that makes sense. AG

 

Kudos to the photographer here. The image is reversed, but it's still awesome.

"I Am Alpha & Omega"

 Well, I managed to transfer the original script materials, which were done on OS9 over to OSX. I had to use a G5, because the Zip Drive I just bought, although it connects via USB, it will only run under Classic. I thought it was worth a shot, so a hundred and fifty bucks got my script materials transferred over into a workable computer environment. Unfortunately, the files went over as Unix files, which only TextEdit can open. That means no formatting.  At least I don't have to type it ALL over again.

So I've begun reviewing and editing the script that has already been written. I expect that I will make additions or alterations, in part based on my studies when I wrote "Nunc Licet".

Having begun to transfer written notes on Act Three, I see that I have prose that is very much more abstract then the earlier work and I like it. It has been literally decades since I last worked on this. The files that I am transferring are dated 1999. I have grown as a human being and I have different perspectives from when I first wrote this at age 21, or even in 1999 when I was 45 years old that's a 24 year span.  I am 69 (soon to be 70) another 24 year span and I am picking up the project again.

 For those of you who are familiar with New Church Philosophy and 

the Science of Correspondances, that is The Threefold Essence.

As I progress in reviewing the script, I will post more thoughts here as I progress.

AG