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Numericoncerto
If you like classical music, in particular using strings and harpsichords, you might want to check out my Numericoncerto. I wrote this over the course of a year from late 2023 to late 2024. I challenged myself to step out of my symphonic rock comfort zone as a composer and try to write a serviceable piece of classical music.
As my writing progressed, I settled on 4 different elements. One, a sonata, a three part classical piece using strings. Second, a counterpoint quartet, exploring the musical idea of counterpoint, also using strings. Third, I brought in a harpsichord as an additional instrument, and wrote a quintet centered on feelings brought about by relationships. And last, I wrote a sextet, taking inspiration from a video I watched outlining Baroque chord structures, and then melding that with my interest in science fiction and fantasy movies, such as Star Trek or the Avengers.
With those in progress, I was also experimenting with fugues and other shorter pieces, and decided I wanted to bring in transition pieces, which I called “Vignettes”, to bridge between each of the main pieces. I was actually very happy with the result, keeping track length to a minimum while not sacrificing the integrity of the piece.
Other experimentations included a track written in quartal harmony, and a variety of alternate time signatures and key changes.
You can learn more about the overall release here.
Available on Spotify, YouTube, and Amazon Music.
The Odeon
When I went to write my 4th album, I gave myself permission to not do another story driven or movie soundtrack style concept. Instead, I chose to compose homages, or odes, to various feelings or concepts or items in my life, allowing the emotional center that is me to drive the music rather than trying to tell a story.
I stripped away a lot of the musical complexity except where it made sense, such as in On A Failure To Dance, which is in the undanceable time signature of 33/8. I also stripped away the need for themes that carried over from song to song, or other connective tissue within the overall album.
The result is a dearly felt, but at times disconnected release that feels stronger overall than the Phoenix Diaries, but at times is almost too simple. That said, there are a lot of gems on this album and I’m happy with how it turned out.
You can learn more about The Odeon here.
Available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon Music.
The Phoenix Diaries
After the release of the Zombie Chronicles, I felt excited about my development as a composer and the opportunities that digital recording presented me to continue to bring the music in my head to reality. I struggled with what to do next thematically; any “story” I could think of seemed to mirror my previous two concepts too closely. After catching some Harry Potter movies late one night while channel surfing, I chose to concentrate my thoughts on what the life cycle of a Phoenix might look like. While not as fully fleshed out or exciting as other ideas, it gave me basic structure and song titles to work backwards from.
The album has grown on me over the years. It is more experimental and progressive, as I applied more learnings from my research. From song to song, I think the album is stronger, but thematically it definitely suffers from a lack of vision. My desire to maintain my “18 songs pre album” standard also put me in a spot where I felt I may have included or written tracks based on that principle alone.
That said, some of my favorite work writing wise is on this album, including Dawn, How Shall I Save Your Soul and The Calm Before.
You can learn more here about this work.
Available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon Music.
Be welcome and true.
Rob Hope 