Sins of the Old Testament composed by Rodney Money (b. 1978) for Violin, Clarinet, Bassoon, Tuba, Claves (or Cowbell), and Hand Drum (ex. congas, bongos, djembes, etc.)
Program notes:
"Sins of the Old Testament" describes three bible stories taken verse by verse from the Bible. The verses are listed below by order of musical movement. The composition is based on set theory and is in three movements. Set theory isolates a group of pitches by treating them as equals. In most cases, there is no tonal center in set theory, but instead the composition was conceived by going through transpositions, inversions, and retrogrades of the sets creating new sounds. The attempt was to create music that sounded ancient because historians do not know exactly what the music sounded like in Biblical times. Each movement begins a new set. The notes in the set were chosen specifically to describe the atmosphere giving backdrop to each story. Even though there are many solos in this composition, the composer creates new instruments when he combines them together in unison to create a new voice to the ear of the listener.
I Samuel 28: 7-25 (I. King Saul and the Witch)05%20Sins%20of%20the%20Old%20Testament_%20King%20Saul%20and%20the%20Witch.mp3
II Samuel 11: 1-27, 12:14 (II. David and Bathsheba)06%20Sins%20of%20the%20Old%20Testament_%20David%20and%20Bathsheba.mp3
Exodus 32:4 (III. Dance of the Golden Calf)07%20Sins%20of%20the%20Old%20Testament_%20Dance%20of%20the%20Golden%20Calf.mp3
Thank you so much for listening and let me know your thoughts!
~Rod
Replies
I really liked this work. Even though you used different sets for each movement, there is still a strong cohesiveness through the entire piece.
The use of these particular instruments was ideal. It would be hard to imagine it with any other configuration.
Very well done.
Tim
Very clever stuff. One of the most skilled pieces of writing I've heard on here for a while. Excellent knowledge of instrumental combinations.
Never loses tonality just for the sake of doing so, but hints at the middle eastern sound-world.
So good to meet you Tim, and thank you so much for the comments and compliments. Thank you for noticing the cohesiveness of the entire work also. Every time I compose a piece in movements, even though I want each of them to have their own persona, I still want them to work as one. It would be hard for me to imagine SOTOT with any other instrumentation also, because each line of the melodic contour was specifically composed to fit the characteristics of each instrument and the nuances of different color provided by their ranges. I was once asked by Julliard graduate Dr. William Jones to arrange the work for brass quintet. I politely told him that I simply do not feel compelled or excited to do so since each note was so specifically composed to fit each instrument and the way they work so well with one another throughout the ensemble. Who knows though? Maybe one day the composition can either be arranged for a more profitable or publishable chamber arrangement or for full orchestra or wind ensemble?
~Rod
Tim Marko said:
Hello Bob, thank you also for the compliments. It means so much to me that you took the time to listen and comment. The one solid nugget of advice that I hold so close to my soul every time I work on a new piece comes from my professor, Dr. Scot Meister, back in the days of college. He told me simply this, “The three things you have to remember when composing are: does each note have a purpose, does the composition work, and is it playable?” I firmly believe in the self-worth of every note and the overall form or framework of the piece.
I am always thankful for the musicians who perform my works. I just simply wish that I could see more of the performances in person. Concerning tonal center unlike most atonal set theory or 12 tone works, I did not wish for the tonal center to hide. On the contrary, if the line progressed to a satisfying cadence then I simply summited. I am not bound to any set of rules. I once told my college professors that I was here to learn the rules so I could break them. Your comments mean the world to me so I thank you once again.
~Rod
Bob Porter said:
You so correct in all respects.
~Rodney
Bob Porter said:
Thank you Raymond for the link to the rules and suggestions. It's great to see you here also.
~Rodney
Raymond Kemp said:
Don't know if it's worth anything, because... "transpositions, inversions, and retrogrades of the sets creating new sounds", except for 'inversion' i dont' know what these terms mean at current, but man, this 'Dance of the Golden Calf' made me SWING! wow! I'm sure that in Biblical Times, they did the same. Sounds great, thanks for that!
Thank you so very much Adrian, your compliments absolutely made my day. It took a lot of experimentation with live performers and their instruments to achieve the effects that I was searching for; a lot of trial and error, but a lot of enjoyment learning also. I wanted to compose for instruments in the orchestra that were adaptable enough to produce several different colors and effects. My goal for this composition was to compose a work that uses modern compositional technique such as set theory but anyone could still enjoy listening to it. Since the work was based off of the stories of the Middle East, I am happy to hear that you heard hints of their culture in the music.
~Rod
Adrian Allan said:
It should have said, "You are so correct in all respects."
Rodney Carlyle Money said:
Well hello. It’s worth everything that you took the time to let me know your thoughts and compliments so I thank you. Trust me my friend; I did not know those terms either until I started studying the music of Bach and Schoenberg. I’m glad to hear that “Dance of the Golden Calf” put a groove in you, but let it be warned though that dancing to the golden calf is a sin. I’m just kidding around, but that was the effect that I was going for after the slower, calmer 2nd movement. I wanted the audience to be enticed or seduced to the rhythms of the 3rd movement so they too could fall victim of the same sin of the people that the Old Testament stories were all about. That’s why I left out the percussion until the final movement.
~Rod
Dimitri Asselman said:
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