prog rock (84)

Sooner Or Later


("Multiac Nylon" by poligraf)



Today’s music does not comes from Poligraf’s catalogue as such. Rather, it is a piece for solo guitar that I intend to publish on an album of about ten acoustic compositions, all arranged for classical guitar, either playing solo or accompanied by other acoustic instruments.


The original title of this piece was « Maybe Later, » but I never liked it that much because of the element of doubt and uncertainty that it conveys, which doesn’t fit the music. I reworked some

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Vibrastinato (Octoccata part 3)

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("Octoccata Freeway" by Christopher Stewart based on this Interstate Shield)



« Vibrastinato, » the third movement from « Octoccata, » gets its name from the combination of vibraphone and ostinato, and features an abundance of polyrhythms.


The section begins in « Modern Poligrafic Ensemble » mode featuring Christian taking the lead role on the vibraphone. When writing the piece I imagined that, in a live setting, he would be using a MIDI controller instead of a real vibraphone in order to enable h

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Igorchestral (Octoccata part 2)

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("eight" by timlewisnm)



« Igorchestral, » the second movement of « Octoccata, » has been thus named because of the inspiration for the music, and the selected arrangement.


Igor Stravinsky is indubitably one of the composers I admire the most. The music he composed for the ballet « The Firebird » stands at the top of my list of favorites. One day while dabbling on the keyboards back in April 1999, I came across a figure somewhat reminiscent of the beginning of « The Augurs of Spring: Dances of th

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Octoverture (Octoccata part 1)

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("1898 New Zealand stamp 8 pence blue" by The Crown)




« Octoccata » is an instrumental suite clocking in at a little over 16 minutes. The title comes from the combination of octatonic and toccata, and is inspired by Emerson, Lake & Palmer‘s adaptation of the fourth movement of Alberto Ginastera‘s first piano concerto, which they published on their « Brain Salad Surgery » album under the title « Toccata. »


The intent here is simply to « make some noise. » In other words, the music is meant to be s

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Why « Samsara » ?


(Album Cover for « Samsara » by Christopher Stewart)


Poligraf’s first album will be entitled « Samsara » in reference to the cycle of reincarnation in Buddhist culture.


Samsara is a Sanskrit and Pali term derived from to « flow together, » « to go or pass through states, » « to wander, » and which translates as « continuous movement » or « continuous flowing. »


In Buddhism, it refers to the concept of a cycle of birth and consequent decay and death, in which all beings in the universe participate

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Rapids (The Dam part 3)


("Stromschnelle" by Gerhard Rießbeck)



In « Rapids, » the third part of « The Dam, » the protagonist/narrator is being carried from a mostly uneventful and rather disappointing river straight into an heretofore unseen dam.


The intent behind this instrumental section is to convey a feeling of being taken ahead by an unrelenting force, and to let the listener reflect on the discourse presented in « River. »


In the storyline, the rapids represent the rising tension which accompanies the recognition th

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Come Back


("Magnetic field of two bar magnets with unlike poles" by Alexander Wilmer Duff)



« Come Back » dates back to the epoch of The Fall Children, the band that was supposed to be but never really was, and whose unexpected but timely demise cleared the space which Poligraf needed to come into being.


This is an enigmatic piece for me as both music and lyrics have been reworked and reorganized many times over the years, yet I’m never completely satisfied with the end results, which is kind of strange for

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Stonecutter (revisited - with poetry)


(Detail from "Quarryman at work" by Unidentified Artist)



« Stonecutter » is intended as an anthem to perseverance and is based on one of my favourite citations, one which has helped me on several occasions, the following quote by Jacob August Riis :


When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it
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Marimbariation (Octoccata part 7)

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("Athletics tracks finish line" by Petey21)



« Marimbariation » takes its name from the brief passage featuring the marimba that leads this seventh movement of the « Symphony of Eights. »


Once the percussive instrument concludes its opening statement, the music returns to more traditional orchestrations as it explores a succession of quirky melodies supported by syncopated rhythms.


The section culminates on a repeated phrase wherein the main riff is a restatement of a previous figure which is now

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(Untitled Artwork by Fred Bonneau)



« Polygraph » is intended as a portrait of human relationships turning to the sour, hinting at the necessity of constant genuineness. The composition lasts a little over 10 minutes and is composed of the following four sections :


  1. Exposition
  2. Confrontation
  3. Consideration
  4. Vindication

I have a particular fondness for that piece of music. One fine evening many years ago, the TV was on to Robert Lepage’s movie « Le Polygraphe » as I stumbled upon the main motif while tryi

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Epilogue (Juggernaut part 6)


("Steamroller" by dam)



The closing movement of « Juggernaut » is entitled, simply, « Epilogue. »


Inspired by ELP's « Abaddon's Bolero » from their « Trilogy » album, this instrumental piece is based on a single theme that is played in harmony by all the instrumentalists over various but similar chord progressions.


The section starts with bass line and triangle, soon followed by the main theme on guitar, and then the various instruments progressively add their voice to the ensemble. The music cres

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Multilethalead (Octoccata part 8)

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("Label from a bottle of O·c·t·a·T·o·n·i·c" by Christopher Stewart, using a picture of William Henry Fox Talbot by Antoine Claudet)



The eighth and final movement of « Octoccata » is entitled « Multilethalead » and starts on a ostinato-based progression that slowly morphs into a relentless string of offbeat melodies harmonized by an increasing number of voices, building up to a climactic reprise of the « Lethal Lead » theme introduced in the fourth movement.


The « Multi » part of the section's ti

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("Fugue" by Wassily Kandinsky)



The central theme of « In Our Space » is the idea of building, of perhaps finding or reaching, a space where one is free to simply be themselves and do as they feel they should.


At the personal level, this corresponds to finding true purpose and staying in alignment with it, remaining centered at all times in that ideal sacred space, or pure land.


The second part of « In Our Space » is an instrumental entitled « A Space Where We Can Be » which comprises two movement

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Procession (Juggernaut part 3)


("Ratha Yatra Festival in Puri, India" by James Fergusson)



The third part of « Juggernaut, » entitled « Procession, » evokes the arrival of the juggernaut before it unleashes into a frenzy of steamrolling.


The title and music of this section are both inspired by the origin of the word. From Wikipedia :


One of the most famous of Indian temples is the Jagannath Temple in Puri, Orissa, which has the Ratha Yatra ("chariot procession"), an annual procession of chariots carrying the murtis (statues) of
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Progigoriation (Octoccata part 6)

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("Nixie eight" by L. Marie)



How on Earth can a musical movement be named « Progigoriation » you ask ? Well, obviously, because it's the prog rock variation of another similar movement entitled « Igorchestral » I emphatically reply. And so it is that the music of this sixth movement of « Octoccata » is closely related to that of the aforementioned second movement, with the noticeable difference that it is orchestrated for a 5-piece rock band comprising of drums, bass, guitar, organ, and synth.


If

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Surface (The Dam part 6)


("Surface Tension" by darkmatter)



In « Surface, » the sixth chapter of « The Dam, » the protagonist/narrator is gradually returning to activity after having transformed into who he feels like being, and will ultimately reach the surface where he will properly begin his new existence.


In the storyline, this step marks the end of a long process of metamorphosis wherein one has endured many transformations and shed that which belongs to their former way of being. Once released from the demanding tr

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The Door Of The Law (part 5)


("The path to enlightenment" by rohit gowaikar)



"The Door Of The Law" is a suite in six parts inspired by "A Parable About A Parable" from RAWilson's "Quantum Psychology," itself inspired by Kafka's "Before The Law." (There is also a video version by jackhalfaprayer.)


After Simon tells his roshi the story of the man who waited at the door of the Law, he begs him to explain the dark parable. The teacher replies that he will explain it, if Simon follows him into the zendo. So the young American fol

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Upward (The Idler part 3)


(Blue Morpho Butterfly by Martin Johnson Heade)





The third part of “The Idler” is entitled “Upward.”


The idea behind the movement is quite simple : once the necessity of evolution has been recognized and accepted, there’s only one way to go and its up.


To convey the feeling of somebody who is reinventing themselves, the music reintroduces some of the themes already presented earlier in the suite, but gives them new forms or turns them completely inside out.


There are no vocals in his section. Here's

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Creeper


("Climbing Plant" by Popperipopp)



“Creeper” is directly inspired by the following aphorism from The Dhammapada :

The streams flow everywhere; the creeper, having sprung up, becomes established. When you see that creeper sprout, sever its root by intense insight. – (XXIV. Craving, #7)

and accompanying translator’s note :

The “creeper” is insidious suggestion, rooted in ignorance and craving, developing into bondage, aggression, and folly. To sever it the moment it sprouts is what the Tao Te Ching ref
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The Door Of The Law (part 2)


("Huike Thinking" by Shi Ke)



"The Door Of The Law" is a suite in six parts inspired by "A Parable About A Parable" from RAWilson's "Quantum Psychology," itself inspired by Kafka's "Before The Law." (There is also a video version by jackhalfaprayer.)


The second section of the suite is entitled "Plight" and presents the situation in which Simon Moon, a young American man studying Zen, finds himself after reading "Before The Law," a mystifying parable which can be found near the end of the Czech au

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