Reposted from the Eleusyve Facebook Fan page
On Magickal Composition
Some time ago I wrote some short essays on the process of integrating magickal formula into musical arrangements as has been our practiced in the composition process for developing music for The Rites of Eleusis. These were certainly the nuts and bolt of the process, but recently when discussing how we develop the themes and structures of the music, I realized just how much of the creative process these essays leave out. In an effort to explain a little more about the magickal practice that is included within the compositional process, I am setting out to detail a little more about how the musical development takes place.
To begin with, it is best to state that the musical development for our productions of the Rites is an extension of the character development. Before approaching any of the musical composition, there is a prolonged period of studying the source material, and cross referencing resources. Both Melissa Holm and I have backgrounds including the Tarot, astrology, mythology, history, and musical training, as well as a library of reference material, all of which we draw upon as the script is read through several times. Each symbol within the Rite develops as a character, with specific attention being devoted to the motivations of the role. These motivations are based upon the symbols themselves, as well as the development of the role throughout the Rite. It is my opinion that it is the changes that the symbols as individual concepts go through within the course of the ritual that give these characters their weight, and the performance it’s gravity. Considering the wealth of symbols affixed to each character, a determination often has to be made regarding which interpretation is to be developed during the course of the narrative, with the understanding that often a facet that goes undeveloped in one Rite will be revisited and associated with the same symbolic character in another Rite.
As a case in point, when analyzing the role of Venus in The Rite of Venus, she can be interpreted as mother, lover, ex-lover, daughter, Roman Goddess, personification of a planetary energy and The Empress key in the Tarot, in both aright and averse depictions, and all of these singularly or collectively in relationship to other symbols that she rules, guides and influences. Since the archetypes of Venus are depicted in a variety of guises in several of the Rites, it is possible to explore many of these facets in those Rites as well, even if we do not touch on them all within The Rite of Venus. Still, an effort is made to touch upon as many of the concepts as possible in order to create a fully developed character.
When trying to incorporate all of these points of reference into a singular character I find the use of a simple Tarot spread based upon the layout of the stage during the various sections of a Rite will be fuel for hours of discussion and personal meditation. As an example, a spread based upon the staging of The Rite of Mercury might incorporate The Magician as Mercury, and The Hermit as Virgo, with the Knight and Queen of swords representing the roles of Frater and Soror Gemini (as Gemini in the major arcana is depicted as a single trump, The Lovers). The swords represent the airy intellect as it relates to Mercury, as well as the letter name (Zain) associated with the Tarot key The Lovers, which means sword. Therefore small sword cards could also be used to represent probationers. Using the stage layout as a spread and interpreting that spread by traditional methods is a fantastic way to develop a relationship among the symbols. Creating a different spread that depicts how the placement of these symbols might change at later times within the narrative of The Rite creates a series of evolving and closely related symbol sets, similar to the changing hexagrams of the I Ching. It is through meditations on these changes that character development can move from a simple overview to a more fully detailed expression of the concepts.
Furthermore, these same symbols can be approached astrologically. An exploration of the symbolism of the alternately stabilizing and testing nature of Saturn in Libra as we understand the symbolism in astrology informs the development of both of these roles in relationship to Venus in The Rite of Venus. And Saturn as a symbol in earlier Rites must be considered, so the characterization associated with Saturn in Libra from the Rite of Venus bears a relationship to the those depicted during The Rite of Saturn, and the Saturnine influences in Jupiter, Mars and Sol.
This is a complex process, and each interpretive decision builds upon the next. Often one interpretation is discarded in favor of another based upon decisions made in other Rites, in order to achieve a symmetry of characterization. Each interpretation is explored from several angles before a decision is made, and these are reviewed throughout the composition process. There have been several cases where large sections of nearly completed music have been discarded because they no longer capture our interpretation of the symbols as we have continued with the study and development of the Rite.
But this is getting ahead of the composition process.
It is during the early study and meditative phase that the musical themes are developed. There are themes that correspond to symbols or characters that follow them from Rite to Rite, and other themes that are specific to the formula of only one Rite. These themes are phrases of notes that capture aspects of either the character or the temple landscape, often played on different instruments and at different tempos or using different time signatures to encapsulate the change that the character or the temple is experiencing. These themes become the cornerstone of the Rites, often played slowly with little accompaniment to capture an isolated moment, and then appearing again woven into a complex tapestry of rapid musical changes during transition or conflict. A melody line from a violin solo during one Rite may foreshadow the vocal melody from a particularly relevant or poignant aspect of a later Rite, and vice versa.
During the course of study in the symbolisms of the Tarot certain musical tones have been attributed to the Keys of the major Arcana. While I have outlined these tones and there specific application in the essay “Composing Music for Magick”, where their direct correspondence is used in the development of music from the analysis of the ritual key words, they are often applied in a more indirect fashion, as in selecting the specific key in which an arrangement is written. For example, both “Adorations” and “Salutation to Hathor” from The Rite of Venus, are composed in the Key of D, as D is the tone that is associated with the Hebrew letter Zain, corresponding to the Tarot Key "the Lovers". Adorations is in a minor variant of D, as it represents a seduction following a combative interlude, while Salutation to Hathor resolves to a major key to denote a return to a new normalcy within the Temple. The whole then dissolves to A minor during the Atalanta at Calydon section, which correspond to The Devil (as accuser) and The World (as Saturn) within the Major Arcana. The accusatory nature of the poetry and the continued reference to Venus as the mother of death are intended to be enhanced by the selection of this key.
Often, in order to weave these themes, symbols and shifting relationships between minor and major expressions of the emotional content of the narrative together we compose musical transitions or breaks. Some of these transitions are planned in terms of the stage narrative, in order to create a musical backdrop for an action that seems necessary to the resolution of the plot. These are composed with specific actions in mind, and every effort is made to reflect the tension of the scene into the music. Other times, it is the musical structure that requires a bridge from one arrangement to another, and in these cases the music is still planned with a specific emotional development in mind. When composing music that will resolve one arrangement into another, there is almost always an analogous resolution that is required upon the stage, and in this situation the resolution of the music inspires the blocking.
Of course all of these myriad symbols and developments are ultimately governed by the text of The Rites, themselves, which provide the ultimate framework for the creation of these musical compositions.
After this study and character development phase, where the linear story and musical themes are crafted, individual poetic works are approached within the context of the Rites as distinct songs. There are two different approaches that we take to the creation of the songs we incorporate into the Rites of Eleusis.
The first method is as solo composition. One composer will develop the chord progressions based on conversations about the feel of the music, the tempo, and the mood during that moment of the Rite. Each work is crafted into the whole and will often include specific themes as discussed above. Usually a single section of poetry or dialog is selected and the composer builds the arrangement around their relationship with the symbols and themes of the poem within the context of the symbols and themes of the Rite. These compositions are then developed in the production phase and fitted into the whole like a jewel in a setting.
The second method is collaborative composition. In these situations, several musicians will sit together and start to play with the themes and symbols in much the same way a single composer might. They may bring different ideas to the table and weave them together, lending an almost conversational quality to the musical development.
There is a lyrical quality to the composition of Aleister Crowley’s poetry and prose that lend them readily to musical composition, and often the lyrical meter combined with the thematic elements will evolve rather simply into the dialog sections of a Rite.
While keeping all of these objectives in mind during the composition process might seem limiting, in practice it creates a sort of necessity with regard to the structure. Each piece evolves as it must evolve in order to create the whole. Each Rite takes on a character of it’s own during the creative process, and finds a type of balance among the others in the series. When listening to the final recordings, there is a sense of fulfillment within the context of the narrative that informs me, as an artist, that a state of completion has been achieved.
Once this state has been achieved, it is time to move on to the next composition, the next natural phase in the process, whatever that might be.
Thank you,
Jon Sewell
Some time ago I wrote some short essays on the process of integrating magickal formula into musical arrangements as has been our practiced in the composition process for developing music for The Rites of Eleusis. These were certainly the nuts and bolt of the process, but recently when discussing how we develop the themes and structures of the music, I realized just how much of the creative process these essays leave out. In an effort to explain a little more about the magickal practice that is included within the compositional process, I am setting out to detail a little more about how the musical development takes place.
To begin with, it is best to state that the musical development for our productions of the Rites is an extension of the character development. Before approaching any of the musical composition, there is a prolonged period of studying the source material, and cross referencing resources. Both Melissa Holm and I have backgrounds including the Tarot, astrology, mythology, history, and musical training, as well as a library of reference material, all of which we draw upon as the script is read through several times. Each symbol within the Rite develops as a character, with specific attention being devoted to the motivations of the role. These motivations are based upon the symbols themselves, as well as the development of the role throughout the Rite. It is my opinion that it is the changes that the symbols as individual concepts go through within the course of the ritual that give these characters their weight, and the performance it’s gravity. Considering the wealth of symbols affixed to each character, a determination often has to be made regarding which interpretation is to be developed during the course of the narrative, with the understanding that often a facet that goes undeveloped in one Rite will be revisited and associated with the same symbolic character in another Rite.
As a case in point, when analyzing the role of Venus in The Rite of Venus, she can be interpreted as mother, lover, ex-lover, daughter, Roman Goddess, personification of a planetary energy and The Empress key in the Tarot, in both aright and averse depictions, and all of these singularly or collectively in relationship to other symbols that she rules, guides and influences. Since the archetypes of Venus are depicted in a variety of guises in several of the Rites, it is possible to explore many of these facets in those Rites as well, even if we do not touch on them all within The Rite of Venus. Still, an effort is made to touch upon as many of the concepts as possible in order to create a fully developed character.
When trying to incorporate all of these points of reference into a singular character I find the use of a simple Tarot spread based upon the layout of the stage during the various sections of a Rite will be fuel for hours of discussion and personal meditation. As an example, a spread based upon the staging of The Rite of Mercury might incorporate The Magician as Mercury, and The Hermit as Virgo, with the Knight and Queen of swords representing the roles of Frater and Soror Gemini (as Gemini in the major arcana is depicted as a single trump, The Lovers). The swords represent the airy intellect as it relates to Mercury, as well as the letter name (Zain) associated with the Tarot key The Lovers, which means sword. Therefore small sword cards could also be used to represent probationers. Using the stage layout as a spread and interpreting that spread by traditional methods is a fantastic way to develop a relationship among the symbols. Creating a different spread that depicts how the placement of these symbols might change at later times within the narrative of The Rite creates a series of evolving and closely related symbol sets, similar to the changing hexagrams of the I Ching. It is through meditations on these changes that character development can move from a simple overview to a more fully detailed expression of the concepts.
Furthermore, these same symbols can be approached astrologically. An exploration of the symbolism of the alternately stabilizing and testing nature of Saturn in Libra as we understand the symbolism in astrology informs the development of both of these roles in relationship to Venus in The Rite of Venus. And Saturn as a symbol in earlier Rites must be considered, so the characterization associated with Saturn in Libra from the Rite of Venus bears a relationship to the those depicted during The Rite of Saturn, and the Saturnine influences in Jupiter, Mars and Sol.
This is a complex process, and each interpretive decision builds upon the next. Often one interpretation is discarded in favor of another based upon decisions made in other Rites, in order to achieve a symmetry of characterization. Each interpretation is explored from several angles before a decision is made, and these are reviewed throughout the composition process. There have been several cases where large sections of nearly completed music have been discarded because they no longer capture our interpretation of the symbols as we have continued with the study and development of the Rite.
But this is getting ahead of the composition process.
It is during the early study and meditative phase that the musical themes are developed. There are themes that correspond to symbols or characters that follow them from Rite to Rite, and other themes that are specific to the formula of only one Rite. These themes are phrases of notes that capture aspects of either the character or the temple landscape, often played on different instruments and at different tempos or using different time signatures to encapsulate the change that the character or the temple is experiencing. These themes become the cornerstone of the Rites, often played slowly with little accompaniment to capture an isolated moment, and then appearing again woven into a complex tapestry of rapid musical changes during transition or conflict. A melody line from a violin solo during one Rite may foreshadow the vocal melody from a particularly relevant or poignant aspect of a later Rite, and vice versa.
During the course of study in the symbolisms of the Tarot certain musical tones have been attributed to the Keys of the major Arcana. While I have outlined these tones and there specific application in the essay “Composing Music for Magick”, where their direct correspondence is used in the development of music from the analysis of the ritual key words, they are often applied in a more indirect fashion, as in selecting the specific key in which an arrangement is written. For example, both “Adorations” and “Salutation to Hathor” from The Rite of Venus, are composed in the Key of D, as D is the tone that is associated with the Hebrew letter Zain, corresponding to the Tarot Key "the Lovers". Adorations is in a minor variant of D, as it represents a seduction following a combative interlude, while Salutation to Hathor resolves to a major key to denote a return to a new normalcy within the Temple. The whole then dissolves to A minor during the Atalanta at Calydon section, which correspond to The Devil (as accuser) and The World (as Saturn) within the Major Arcana. The accusatory nature of the poetry and the continued reference to Venus as the mother of death are intended to be enhanced by the selection of this key.
Often, in order to weave these themes, symbols and shifting relationships between minor and major expressions of the emotional content of the narrative together we compose musical transitions or breaks. Some of these transitions are planned in terms of the stage narrative, in order to create a musical backdrop for an action that seems necessary to the resolution of the plot. These are composed with specific actions in mind, and every effort is made to reflect the tension of the scene into the music. Other times, it is the musical structure that requires a bridge from one arrangement to another, and in these cases the music is still planned with a specific emotional development in mind. When composing music that will resolve one arrangement into another, there is almost always an analogous resolution that is required upon the stage, and in this situation the resolution of the music inspires the blocking.
Of course all of these myriad symbols and developments are ultimately governed by the text of The Rites, themselves, which provide the ultimate framework for the creation of these musical compositions.
After this study and character development phase, where the linear story and musical themes are crafted, individual poetic works are approached within the context of the Rites as distinct songs. There are two different approaches that we take to the creation of the songs we incorporate into the Rites of Eleusis.
The first method is as solo composition. One composer will develop the chord progressions based on conversations about the feel of the music, the tempo, and the mood during that moment of the Rite. Each work is crafted into the whole and will often include specific themes as discussed above. Usually a single section of poetry or dialog is selected and the composer builds the arrangement around their relationship with the symbols and themes of the poem within the context of the symbols and themes of the Rite. These compositions are then developed in the production phase and fitted into the whole like a jewel in a setting.
The second method is collaborative composition. In these situations, several musicians will sit together and start to play with the themes and symbols in much the same way a single composer might. They may bring different ideas to the table and weave them together, lending an almost conversational quality to the musical development.
There is a lyrical quality to the composition of Aleister Crowley’s poetry and prose that lend them readily to musical composition, and often the lyrical meter combined with the thematic elements will evolve rather simply into the dialog sections of a Rite.
While keeping all of these objectives in mind during the composition process might seem limiting, in practice it creates a sort of necessity with regard to the structure. Each piece evolves as it must evolve in order to create the whole. Each Rite takes on a character of it’s own during the creative process, and finds a type of balance among the others in the series. When listening to the final recordings, there is a sense of fulfillment within the context of the narrative that informs me, as an artist, that a state of completion has been achieved.
Once this state has been achieved, it is time to move on to the next composition, the next natural phase in the process, whatever that might be.
Thank you,
Jon Sewell