Hans Branson

Brussels °1971 Photos, quotes and music for the main blog. Music sheets in the extra blog.

[hansbranson]

Visit Original Link

Richard III.  I-1. 1-13.

The picture is a small character in the "Volkstelling te Betlehem" by Breughel the Elder. I turned it a bit more psychedelic.

[hansbranson]

Visit Original Link

Quick Post.   Work in Progress.  But I like it already.

Recording after four beers. But it's good. Wait for the real version ...

[hansbranson]

Comply

Some extra's about the compliance song:

Nice to see that after 19 months my piano play is better than my voice ;-)

I like the composition:  3 (or 4 if you count the arabic part) different keys and at least 4 different melodies. And yet it never sounds out of key (to my ears).

If I find the time I'll post a short, simplified version.

[hansbranson]

Comply

I promised some people I would write a song about the job I've been doing since October. Here it is.

Three comments:

I've recorded everything (voice + piano) in one track. Sometimes the voice was overwhelmed by the piano. So I added a second track with my voice.

I got confused with the text. It should be "Putin's boys go back home or comply" and "Monaco, come back home and comply". I switched those words a few times.

The little a capella part around 6'00'' was a disaster. I've tried to use my little mixing qualities to make it better. But it's still terrible. I know. Just try to enjoy the rest of it.

[hansbranson]

Visit Original Link

Comply

[hansbranson]

Visit Original Link

13'30'' of improvisation.

I have been writing stuff since my last post. Quit a bit in fact. But nothing ready for publication.

I have also been improvising a lot. Yesterday I decided to record an impro-moment so that I could listen with a critical ear to it. And I liked it.

You'll hear that somewhere around 11'40 I make a mistake. Which made me realize I was getting tired. So it took me 2 minutes to invent an end, while trying to keep playing... QI

If you don't want to listen to the entire 13'30''. Forward it to somewhere in the middle. The start might hurt sensible ears.

[hansbranson]

Visit Original Link

New version of my latest song (after a few beers).

Everything is life - voice, piano, whistling - and all done tonight in one track after quite a few beers ... .

Keep listening. The end is even better then the beginning.

Just a pity about the one moment of hesitation during the whistling. But I couldn't correct it. That would break the authenticity.

[hansbranson]

Sunrise over the Aegean.

... on the Ferry to Piraeus. The island in the distance is Kythnos.

[hansbranson]

Or maybe not ...

Since I started work again, I've written a drinking song. As it got more complex, I had to change the text: Nobody wants a complex drinking song. I haven't recorded that song yet, simply because it's too much work to record all the tracks, and synchronize them.

But last weekend I wrote a simple melody. And this week, I've put some text on it. For some reason it seems to work really well.

Here you have it, in four languages, but only one single track.

[hansbranson]

Visit Original Link

[hansbranson]

Visit Original Link

Is Law King?

[hansbranson]

Is Law King?

I didn't go to the office today. In stead I wrote a song about the glorious economic sector I'm working in. And no, that's not "Law", nor do I frequent any royal court.

In the original version I named and shamed people. But this shortened version is better. Asking people whether they sleep well at night, might result in strange answers. And I still have to face this person at least for a while.

I have no music sheets of this song. If you want to try it. It's in G sharp minor (g#), simply because I keep playing Lux Aeterna. So I even dream in G sharp minor at the moment.

[hansbranson]

Lux Aeterna

And here it finally is : Lux Aeterna.

No changes were made since my holiday in Barcelona. I just didn't find the time to publish it earlier.

Lux aeterna is traditionally the communion-song of a catholic funeral. It is sung while the people are getting up, going to the priest, and waiting in line for the communion. When I wrote it I also had in mind the "greeting of the coffin" which - in Belgium - is done during the offering. And which is the moment to sing a funeral march. I turned this into a sad waltz.

I wrote two versions of this song.

Church-version The first version is the church-version. It's the one I wrote last october. I changed it in july on three fronts: I changed and added some chords, I rewrote the end into a polyphonic "final", and I added some text: a choice  between an english translation (for people whose latin is not that good), or some extra latin text from "In paradisum" (for the latin lovers ;-). The song has an intro of more than two minutes. In this original version, this intro is very "grey". The reason is simple: while you are going up the aisles of the church and waiting in line at the coffin, the music is a sad background to what's happening in the church. When you get back to your seat, that's the moment you start to listen. And if you're lucky that's just before the intro ends.

Home-version When you're listening to music at home, you're probably not busy doing other stuff, so I created this extra version in july. The beginning is more colorful. And it is in an easier key: A minor, in stead of G# minor. To keep the end interesting, I switch to G# minor towards the end.

I was planning to write a third, long version of the song. combining the advantages of both versions. But since I'm back from holiday, I've started three new songs (one of them is from the Edda (!), and they are all religious but critical of fundamentalism), on top of that I am adapting last years Christmas-song to a fitting end of my "In memoriam". So that long version of Lux Aeterna ... Maybe one day?

I've got two weeks of sabbatical left. So there is still much to be done!

[hansbranson]

Visit Original Link

Lux aeterna

Church version

[hansbranson]

Visit Original Link

Lux Aeterna

Home version

[hansbranson]

Visit Original Link

Koningswals - Valse royale.

Voila... And again: I just finished writing the song. The recording is not good at all. But I wanted to publish it before the coronation.

[hansbranson]

Koningswals. Valse royale.

De opname is nog niet wat het moet zijn. Maar ik wou toch al iets publiceren voor de 21ste juli!

La qualité de l'enregistrement n'est pas fameuse, mais je voulais publié avant le 21 juillet. Mes excuses, il y a plus de nl que du fr.

In order not to say everything twice: I finished writing the song only a few hours ago. I tried to play it, but I don't learn fast enough. The piano is generated, the voice and the whistling is me (in the same take).

BTW:

- All those skeptics who think that a melancholic waltz in a funeral mass is to be avoided. My "Lux aeterna"-waltz is even more melancholic than this. (Maybe it's time to publish that one too. It's waiting on the shelf since november!)

- For those who think a coronation deserves happier music: It's happy enough it's a waltz! And anyway I prefer our melancholic monarchy to crown princes who jump in olympic swimming pools, and whose songs ... let's not go there ;-)