A sonata for pipe organ, synthesizer, and computer by Rowan Vince.
"Barbarian" is a work of epic adventure drawing inspiration from the great Romantic era ballades and fantasies, the awesomely ambitious one-song-per-side-of-the-vinyl rock epics of the 70s, and the music of 80s computer game tunes that at its best is very much about the adventure of progressing through the levels of the game. Often the best tune is not the tune when you win the game, but rather the won when you lose, often in a grizzly way.
The title of the piece in part pays homage to a classic 8/16-bit game of the same name which was one of the first ever games to feature copious amounts of blood and a decapitation move. The other part of the homage is to Robert E Howard, the creator of Conan the Barbarian. He wrote the Conan stories in the 20s and 30s and shot himself at the age of 30 when his mother died. The stories make rugged use of the English language and feature a primeval protagonist hacking, slashing, and marauding through a world of hard fantasy.
In a similar fashion, "Barbarian" the piece of music gives rugged treatment to the tradition of the pipe organ. A lot of what the organ plays, controlled by a computer, is physically impossible for a human. The beautiful instrument is paired with an analogue synthesizer from 1981, the Korg Mono-Poly. A lot of the organ textures draw inspiration from organ legends Bach, Widor and Buxtehuder. Some techniques from electronic music are applied to controlling the organ pipes such as the use of rapid argeggiation over a chord to produce a fluttering texture. A custom written piece of software automatically drives the stops from time to time.
The piece is in three parts in the classical sonata tradition. A meaty first part, a slower and more measured second part, and then a rip-roaring 6/8 dash to the finish line.
Barbarian was commissioned by the City of Melbourne for its première at dis-organ-eyes-d3 at the Melbourne Town Hall on 9 October 2010. This event featured works from many composers all involving computer control of the hall's amazing and very huge pipe organ. Animated graphics were mapped onto the surface of the pipe organ by Kit Webster.
Dis-Organ-Eyes-d3 from Kit Webster on Vimeo.