2.The Revelation by Keith O. Edwards [Email]
Genre: Cinematic Soundtrack
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Keywords:
Mohammed (3), Islam (6), Revelation (5)
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Description:
II. THE REVELATIONThe year is 610, by the Gregorian calendar, and Mohammed (peace be unto him) has become an Hanîf -- "someone who has turned away." To escape the sin and squalor of Mecca, he makes regular trips up into the hills to go pray in the solitude of a cave. The music tries for a cave-like sound by starting out in the Phrygian mode. (D, E-flat, F, G, A, B-flat, C, D) One evening, during the month of Ramadan, Mohammed (honor be unto him) builds a fire in his cave to ward off the bugs, and as the smoke curls along the roof of the cave, he kneels down to pray. But after a while, he becomes dizzy and agitated. Is it the smoke? He tries to pray once more. Moments later he is again overcome and enters a state of terror and paralysis when he sees "a majestic being." This vision turns out to be none other than the Angel Gabriel (who, 600 years earlier, had informed Mary of her pregnancy, and who would later carry Mohammed up into heaven). Mohammed is overcome with awe at this spiritual vision, but the angel commands, "Recite! Re-cite!" (Two-note figure in the brass.) "Recite in the name of the Lord who createth, And who teacheth by the pen, Teacheth man what he knew not." (Sura XCVI) Suddenly, Mohammed is no longer afraid, but is instead filled with a sense of exaltation, for he realizes that he is to be a Messenger of God. The words he was commanded to speak --"Recite! Re-cite" -- are now "engraved on his heart" and although he was illiterate, Mohammed told the words to others; they wrote them down, and that's how the Holy Koran was later written. Alert listeners will notice that this movement doesn't end very well. I had planned another movement, "The Hand of Fatima," based on the Prophet's daughter, and I made a little sketch of how that would go. I decided not to write the Fatima movement, but I hate to waste anything, so I simply slapped my sketch onto The Revelation movement. It's in the wrong key and the wrong meter, but I needed a peaceful ending. (As a personal note, when I was writing this music, I felt something. No, I didn't see any angels, and I can't explain the experience, but I felt inspired. Perhaps it was the Vicodin ES I was taking.) I have concealed picture of the Angel Gabriel, because graven images are forbidden in Islam. (They are in Christianity too --Deuteronomy 5:8--but Islam takes it seriously.) The sheet music for this piece is available for a nominal fee at my page at SibeliusMusic where you can also watch the music go by as the tune plays. Lyrics:
Recite!Recite! Hardware:
G4Software:
Sibelius 3Audion mp3PRO encoder |
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You must be registered and logged-in to comment. enchanting &mdash 10/05/05 - 11:10:53 PM
Moving &mdash 10/08/05 - 08:36:45 PM
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The music has a great feel and I like the instrumentation
a lot, very tasty melodies.
Wonderful dynamics, another great piece.
Cheers
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