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This section of the OmniCosm Sound Library features a selection of Tone Poems by Adolf Schaller. |
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This section of the OmniCosm Sound Library features a selection of Tone Poems by Adolf Schaller. |
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Please be sure you have calibrated the volume settings on your speakers or headphones before downloading a selection. |
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Tone Poem
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| "Virial Suite: The Cosmic Blizzard"
Suite for Orchestra and Choir in 3 Movements |
File
Size: 67kb Running Time: 07:42 |
NEW
A well-known anonymous saying goes, "Time is Nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once." The other side of the coin is equally true: "Space is Nature's way of keeping everything from occupying the same place." How matter arranges itself into the spectacular array of forms we see in Greater Nature has long been a fundamental question. The term "virial" (rhymes with "serial") refers to any system of particles which are acted upon by external forces and each other. All of the material contents of the Universe are subject in some way to one force or another and are bound to mutually interact under these influences: a simple concept in physics known as "The Virial Theorem" describes how matter arranges itself into a hierarchy of objects across a vast range of scale - from clusters of galaxies to stars to the formation of planets...even familiar aggregations such as raindrops or snowflakes which condense out of earthly stormclouds are subject. The composition celebrates this "Cosmic Blizzard" the wonderful and diverse ways in which matter congregates under the unity of a single set of simple laws. A piano version is available in the Solo Piano section. The complete composition is in 3 movements and the rest will be posted in the near future, along with a descriptive note. |
| "Elegy for a Troubled World" | File
Size: 73kb Running Time: 07:44 |
The
complete composition is in 3 movements, and is dedicated
to all victims - directly or indirectly - associated with
the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack. The 1st movement was composed in August/September of 2001, completed on the morning of September 11, 2001, just hours before the attacks, and the original conception was not significantly altered by this event. The rest of the composition will be posted in the near future, along with a descriptive note. |
| "The Pageant of Life" Suite for Orchestra in Seven Chapters |
This is a large orchestral work - a "suite in 7 chapters" - recountiing the evolution of life on Earth. Adapted from sketches originally composed during two main periods, from 1975 to 1978, and from 1982 to 1986, these midi transcriptions represent the first orchestrated versions of the score of a prospective film originally conceived by the composer in 1974-1975. Remaining chapters will be posted along with detailed programmatic notes on the composition as they become available. | |
| Chapter One | Coming soon - 1. Origins: The Cauldron; 2. Birthpangs: Early Trials and Tribulations of Life on Earth. | |
Chapter Two |
File Size:134kb Running Time: 16:31 |
Experiment and Elaboration: Molecular Variations on the Theme of Cumulative Natural Selection. |
Chapter Three |
File Size: 99kb Running Time: 10:34 |
1. Life Under the Sun: Stromatolites Carpet the World; 2. Setbacks and Somnolence - Fire and Ice; 3. The Great Thaw |
Chapter Four |
File Size: 155kb Running Time: 14:01 |
1. The Cambrian Explosion and the Burgess Shale Formation: Life Embarks on the Macroscopic Adventure of Multicellular Complexity |
| Chapter Five | Coming soon - 1. The Permian Catastrophe; 2. Recovery; 3. Beasts of Land, Sea and Air: the Exploration of Complex Behavior and the Emergence of Society; 4. The Age of Giants; 5. The Cretaceous Catastrophe | |
| Chapter Six | Coming soon - 1. Recovery; 2. A New Life in the Trees: Primate Precosity | |
Chapter Seven |
File Size:97kb Running Time: 11:37 |
1. The Emergence of Human Intelligence: Civilization and Technology Reshape the World; 2. Crisis and Resolution; 3. The Future: The Leap to the Extra-Planetary Environment. |
| "Gliding the Glade"
Tone Poem for Two Acoustic Guitars and String Orchestra |
File Size: 69kb Running Time: 06:11 |
The original theme for this "tone poem" - almost like a concerto for two acoustic guitars in one movement, but originally a short piece for piano - was composed by Schaller at the age of 12. His enthusiasm for both flight and zoology initially inspired him to pay musical homage to all creatures that have mastered the medium of the air, but during the transcription of this composition into midi late this Summer (2002), Schaller reminisced on one of the circumstances under which the musical conception first struck him, and he decided to rededicate the work to one flying creature in particular: The Monarch Butterfly (Danaus Plexippus). With this composition he pays homage to this exquisitely beautiful and intrepid little creature that first inspired him to the joys of "Gliding the Glade" 35 years years earlier. A note on this composition is available HERE |
| "The Art of the Weaving
Spider" Tone Poem for Three Harps, Voice Choir and String Orchestra |
File Size: 46kb Running Time: 07:50 |
As with "Gliding the Glade", this tone poem is almost like a single-movement concerto in form (for three harps). It was also derived from a short piano piece, and likewise inspired by a biological subject: The master weavers of the animal kingdom, of the class arachnida, order araneida - popularly known as the spider. A note on the circumstances and inspiration behind this composition is available HERE |
| "Human Folly Waltz" Tone Poem for Orchestra ("Musical Joke") |
File Size: 62kb Running Time: 04:54 |
Something a little less serious, yet perhaps mildly disturbing in its cynicism. Says Schaller of this short piece: "Its an intrinsically scientific observation: humans are fallible. What more can I say?" While this boisterous waltz is a rather odd example of the "tone poem" form (it is after all an ode in its own way, a musical commentary) and pokes irreverant fun at the foibles of human nature, the work exudes a certain charm and sophistication that belies its surface bawdiness... just like its subject, who often pretend to be infallible. It even ends with a "musical joke" which those who are old enough will recognize as derived from the short films of a certain popular trio of "humorists" - with either fondness or discomfort, depending on how thick one thinks one's skin has become as an adult. Composed during a recent spate of follies associated with various human fraternities ranging from the corporate to the political arena (but not intended as an impression exclusively of any particular episode) one can easily detect the composer's bewilderment with human hubris and the complications people seem to revel in. As if life wasn't distracting enough. Yet the composer remains philosophical: "How dull we would be to ourselves if we went about this society business with the efficiency and selflessness of ants. Being interesting can be very dangerous, but the challenge kind of grows on you." (No, this composition is not dedicated to ants or insects, unless one wishes to metaphorically compare the episodic character of human civilization to, say, the locust). Not to paint an overly gloomy picture of our condition and long-term prospects, we fervently hope fallibility confers survival advantages. Somewhere. |
| "Strolling Along the
Cosmic Shore" Tone Poem for Orchestra and Synthesizers |
File Size: 65kb Running Time: 12:14 |
"We have come far...we are the local embodiment of a Cosmos grown to self-awareness. We have begun to contemplate our origins: starstuff pondering the stars...Our obligation to survive is owed not just to ourselves but also to that Cosmos, ancient and vast, from which we spring." - Carl Sagan |
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More to come: Be sure to visit OmniCosm Studios again soon for new compositions. |
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