“Vengeance” piece by piece (Part 12)

admin — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:47:07 +0000

This piece has no action or lyrics, and is played and sung during total stage darkness. It is the longest single piece of music I have ever written, and it is intended that the audience simply sits back, reflects, and enjoys.

A chorus of angels wordlessly sings, as the spirit-woman did in the song “Grace”, their profound joy in this suite of various styles of song. It is their hymn of worship and thanksgiving to their Creator. “Home” in the title refers to Heaven.

Download “Home Suite” score

Operas for Real People

admin — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:31:16 +0000

Hello, my name is Aaron Levitt. I am a new composer of two fresh, modern, and multi-styled operas which were written with a passionate drive toward enriching the mind, uplifting the soul, and encouraging and inspiring everyone who experiences them — especially real people who live in the real world.Without any doubt, music is among mankind’s greatest treasures. One of music’s virtues is that it transcends the limits of verbal language as a unique and powerful tool for the heart-to-heart communication of our deepest thoughts, feelings, ideas, and dreams.I am also the younger son of the late Dr. Zola Levitt, the well-known Christian Jew who hosted a national Bible-teaching television show for nearly three decades, wrote and co-authored around fifty books, and led many, many teaching tours to Israel. My father’s ministry has continued on, after his recent passing due to cancer in April 2006. And so, in loving memory of him, I have continued to help out regularly in fulfilling various ministry duties, taking on a handful of tasks, such as helping proofread Zola Levitt Ministries publications.To be particularly noted here among his other accomplishments is that my father wrote and professionally produced 22 albums of Christian music. While I, myself, have written nothing that can be compared with that volume and scope of artistry, I too have nonetheless busied myself for over eight years with the task of learning to write music which is intended to both glorify God and bring comfort and encouragement to everyone it can. But, unlike my father, I have sought to do this on the stage, through the exotic medium of what I like to think of as “operas for real people.” These works are short in duration, to-the-point, and, I believe, just as moving as their more lengthy and artificially-exaggerated predecessors. They are simply nothing like classic Opera’s most common stereotypes.When most people hear the word “opera”, they may think of a shrieking soprano. Or a woman with a dual-horned helmet. Or even the equally common and crude expression, “It ain’t over ’til the fat lady sings!” But, as you can see, I am in touch with, and indeed share myself a belief in to a large extent, such oft-deserved stereotypes that classic Opera has earned itself in the ears of the modern audience. I love classical music myself, but I also am able to recognize the arcane and the out-of-date when I hear it.For these reasons, I have embarked upon a special task: an attempt to produce quality opera tailored specifically to modern, fast-paced sensibilities. Don’t have four hours to see a standard classical opera, and wouldn’t stay awake if you did? Stop in for one of my one-hour operas which are every bit as good, and like an action-packed movie will keep you on the edge of your seat! High culture should adapt with the times in certainly a handful of ways, and I believe I’ve found and utilized a few which have given me a unique set of works to offer today’s audience. I have composed music, and crafted scenes and lyrics, which are beautiful to anyone, while also containing higher layers of art able to be appreciated by the more discriminating connoisseurs among us.Honestly, I bore easily at operas. I have a short attention span, and thus I require a high level of drama, action, and comedy to stay entertained. And most operas I’ve attended and heard lack this crucial dynamic. I also often tire of hearing the whole of an opera, because, for one thing, its music is so often all in the same genre, or else with only a couple different-styled pieces thrown in here and there for occasional spice. I have, therefore, often wished that I could hear different styles — many, many different styles, in fact — all within the same work. Wouldn’t that be more entertaining and stimulating to the mind? So, I have taken an extra step in this direction, and have done that very thing in my operas. Beyond all other virtues they possess, they are absolutely guaranteed not to be boring!To that end, virtually every musical piece in both of my operas belongs to a different genre or musical period style. That’s right: as the operas progress, there is heard first a Romantic period aria, next a Classical, next a 20th-century or “Post-Modern” style (to give it some spookiness), next a Baroque polyphonic piece to give it a sense of grand contemplation, and also many other pieces in yet more adventuresome styles — such as traditional Japanese, Jewish, and Celtic music, American Ragtime, Jazz, Blues, and even one piece written as a Rock song! In these operas, the normal and the exotic have each been passionately pursued, and eventually intertwined into a truly original fusion of artistry. Be prepared to hear, alongside the regular orchestral and choral complement, bagpipes, fiddles, electric guitars, Rock ‘n Roll-style drums, a koto, shofars, and more — back-to-back and within the same pair of operas!Another of my reasons for devising and utilizing this unique composition method was not just to offer an interesting variety of sounds which draws attention to the multiculturalism of our 21st century, which it certainly does, but also to express and convey, with pinpoint accuracy, the emotions and emotional transitions that my characters feel from moment to moment, scene to scene. I have based my selection of musical genres upon both my emotions about the plot points and their dramatic requirements. I haven’t done an exhaustive search, but I believe that this is a novel approach to music writing. I’ve spoken with music professionals about the concept, and they have each told me that they have never before heard of a composer writing in such a wide — worldwide, in fact — variety of styles within a single dramatic work.And, let’s face it: Do most modern listeners wish to hear a lengthy, brand-new, 21st-century orchestral work which is entirely in one narrow style? For instance, mid-to-late 18th-century Eastern European Classical? How unnecessarily limited, in this modern age in which we have easy access to all musical styles! Most of us would not prefer the aforementioned ongoing monotony, over and against having the opportunity of hearing a high variety of artfully-contrasting and complementing musical flavors. (Although, I can equally respect those purists who would prefer the former. And, indeed, I can personally identify with such listeners, as I do have a purist within me.)Also, please note the several short articles like this one which I have written just for you, in order to better describe myself and my artistic endeavor, and thus better acquaint you with who I am and what I believe.

Inspiring Opera » fiddle

“Vengeance” piece by piece (Part 12)

Operas for Real People