culture / music

Open Mic Adventures CVI: “Hanging Gardens”

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

This Friday, 29 November 2024 my tenth release of the year, Leftovers III, will hit all streaming platforms (including Spotify).  In advance of the EP’s release, I wanted to feature the composition that is the centerpiece of LIII, “Hanging Gardens.”

Subscribers to my SubscribeStar page received an early sneak-peek three days ago.  Now I want to share this lengthy piece with all of you!

Before that, though, just take a moment to appreciate this decadent album artwork:

Leftovers III Album Cover

I think I made that sandwich over the summer, and took a picture of it about halfway through.  No wonder my blood pressure and waistline are showing such high numbers!

But onto the piece itself.  “Hanging Gardens” is the longest piece I have ever composed, clocking in at about 10:46 (I think the YouTube video has it at 10:47).  I actually wanted to make it longer—around twenty minutes—to give it a more symphonic feel, but I reached the point where I a.) had to finish it to meet the 29 November 2024 release deadline and b.) I was out of ideas to pour into this enigmatic suite.

“Hanging Gardens” is an extensive suite and tone poem in Ab major for piccolo, flute, trombone, and tuba. The piece is a fantastical musical imagining of the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon, experienced through the eyes of visitors from many lands. It depicts the flowering majesty of this Wonder of the Ancient World.

Here are some pictures of the various bits of manuscript.  I wrote the piece in sections over the course of several weeks in October (and finally finished editing and plugging everything into my composition software in November) by hand.  I enjoy this method because, while I have a good ear for intervals, I don’t always know exactly what the notes will sound like until I’ve put them into the software.  I try to live with the decisions I make, although I will go back and edit things if something just sounds too weird.

The whole tone section (the first part written, way back on 3 October 2024) was the original theme, but I developed several other themes and ideas that became the core of the piece over time.  I do love the wild dissonance that pops up in that whole tone section, though, as each instrument maintains its own whole tone scale, with only the initial scale degrees in each instrument harmonized with the others.  That was a fun experiment (although your ears may disagree).

Regardless, I’m really proud of this piece, and I hope you enjoy the unusual blending of piccolo, flute, trombone, and tuba.  Talk about extremes!

Happy Listening!

—TPP

Other Editions of Open Mic Adventures:

  1. “Open Mic Adventures I: Oingo Boingo’s ‘Just Another Day’“
  2. “Open Mic Adventures II: Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’“
  3. “Open Mic Adventures III: Joanie Sommers’s ‘Johnny Get Angry’“
  4. “Open Mic Adventures IV: KISS’s ‘I Still Love You’“
  5. “Open Mic Adventures V: ‘There’s a Light (Over at the Frankenstein Place)’“
  6. “Open Mic Adventures VI: Journey’s ‘Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’“
  7. “Open Mic Adventures VII: ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’“
  8. “Open Mic Adventures VIII: Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘The Sound of Silence’“
  9. “Open Mic Adventures IX: Journey’s ‘Faithfully’“
  10. “Open Mic Adventures X: ‘Time Warp’“
  11. “Open Mic Adventures XI: Spooktacular Supergroup Covers ‘Monster Mash’“
  12. “Open Mic Adventures XII: ‘Ghostly’“
  13. “Open Mic Adventures XIII: The Penguins’ ‘Earth Angel’“
  14. “Open Mic Adventures XIV: ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’“
  15. “Open Mic Adventures XV: ‘O Holy Night’“
  16. “Open Mic Adventures XVI: ‘Please Come Home for Christmas’“
  17. “Open Mic Adventures XVII: ‘L’il Divertimento in C major’“
  18. “Open Mic Adventures XVIII: ‘Satiean Motion’“
  19. “Open Mic Adventures XIX: ‘Two-Day Minuet for Left Hand’“
  20. “Open Mic Adventures XX: ‘Sleepy Student’s Serenade’“
  21. “Open Mic Adventures XXI: Styx’s ‘Come Sail Away’“
  22. “Open Mic Adventures XXII: ‘Blessed Assurance’“
  23. “Open Mic Adventures XXIII: ‘Gabbi’s Gavotte’“
  24. “Open Mic Adventures XXIV: ‘Softly and Tenderly’“
  25. “Open Mic Adventures XXV: ‘Venite, exultemus Domino’“
  26. “Open Mic Adventures XXVI: ‘Sonatina’“
  27. “Open Mic Adventures XXVII: ‘Heavenly Sunlight’“
  28. “Open Mic Adventures XXVIII: ‘Song of the Bigfoot’”
  29. “Open Mic Adventures XXIX: ‘Lavender’s Blue’“
  30. “Open Mic Adventures XXX: ‘Chorale for a Sleepy Wednesday’“
  31. “Open Mic Adventures XXXI: ‘Carousel’“
  32. “Open Mic Adventures XXXII: Hymn Medley“
  33. “Open Mic Adventures XXXIII: ‘Spore Song (Mushroom Dance)’“
  34. “Open Mic Adventures XXXIV: ‘Chase’s Dilemma’“
  35. “Open Mic Adventures XXXV: ‘The Rings of Saturn’“
  36. “Open Mic Adventures XXXVI: ‘The Rings of Saturn’ LIVE!“
  37. “Open Mic Adventures XXXVII: ‘Private Lessons (Goth Chick)’“
  38. “Open Mic Adventures XXXVIII: ‘Quasi-Date’“
  39. “Open Mic Adventures XXXIX: ‘(I’m in the) Business of Love)’“
  40. “Open Mic Adventures XL: ‘Parada’“
  41. “Open Mic Adventures XLI: ‘Serenade for a Sleepy Student No. 2’“
  42. “Open Mic Adventures XLII: ‘1001 Arabian Nights’“
  43. “Open Mic Adventures XLIII: ‘Greek Fair’“
  44. “Open Mic Adventures XLIV: ‘Skeleton Dance No. 1’“
  45. “Open Mic Adventures XLV: ‘Skeleton Dance No. 1’ – BASS“
  46. “Open Mic Adventures XLVI: ‘Canon Event’“
  47. “Open Mic Adventures XLVII: ‘Skeleton Dance No. 2’“
  48. “Open Mic Adventures XLVIII: Sloppy ‘Hipster Girl Next Door’ Medley“
  49. “Open Mic Adventures XLIX: ‘Lament of the Lizardman’“
  50. “Open Mic Adventures L: ‘Bigfoot Boogie’“
  51. “Open Mic Adventures LI: ‘Minuet for a New Moon’“
  52. “Open Mic Adventures LII: ‘Andante in D major’“
  53. “Open Mic Adventures LIII: ‘I Need Thee Every Hour’“
  54. “Open Mic Adventures LIV: ‘”Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus’“
  55. “Open Mic Adventures LV: ‘Orange Roll’“
  56. “Open Mic Adventures LVI: ‘Firefly Dance’“
  57. “Open Mic Adventures LVII: ‘Kartofelsalat’“
  58. “Open Mic Adventures LVIII: ‘Listless Chorale’“
  59. “Open Mic Adventures LIX: ‘Silent Night’“
  60. “Open Mic Adventures LX: ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’“
  61. “Open Mic Adventures LXI: ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’“
  62. “Open Mic Adventures LXII: ‘FRANTIC!!’“
  63. “Open Mic Adventures LXIII: ‘Snowfall’“
  64. “Open Mic Adventures LXIV: ‘Uninspired Étude in E major’“
  65. “Open Mic Adventures LXV: ‘Scribblings I: Post-Christmas Concert Scribbling’“
  66. “Open Mic Adventures LXVI: ‘Ode Napoléon’“
  67. “Open Mic Adventures LXVII: ‘Cook’s Brief Bourrée in E minor’“
  68. “Open Mic Adventures LXVIII: ‘Triumphant Processional’“
  69. “Open Mic Adventures LXIX: ‘Moody Noodling’“
  70. “Open Mic Adventures LXX: ‘Epistemology’“
  71. “Open Mic Adventures LXXI: ‘Three Chorales in Diminishing Length’“
  72. “Open Mic Adventures LXXII: ‘Blue Mage’“
  73. “Open Mic Adventures LXXIII: ‘Red Mage’“
  74. “Open Mic Adventures LXXIV: ‘White Mage’“
  75. “Open Mic Adventures LXXV: ‘Black Mage’“
  76. “Open Mic Adventures LXXVI: ‘The Blind Prophet’“
  77. “Open Mic Adventures LXXVII: ‘Robobop’“
  78. “Open Mic Adventures LXXVIII: ‘Pink Princess’“
  79. “Open Mic Adventures LXXIX: ‘Purple Prince’“
  80. “Open Mic Adventures LXXX: ‘Yellow Knight’“
  81. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXI: ‘Green Knight’“
  82. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXII: ‘Brown Friar’“
  83. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXIII: ‘Advanced Funkification’“
  84. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXIV: ‘Funk Chorale (Hymn to Funk)’“
  85. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXV: Steelheart’s ‘I’ll Never Let You Go’“
  86. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXVI: ‘1001 Arabian Nights’ Redux“
  87. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXVII: ‘Heptadic Structure’“
  88. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXVIII: ‘Angularity’“
  89. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXIX: ‘White Boy Summer’“
  90. “Open Mic Adventures XC: ‘Balladic Processional’“
  91. “Open Mic Adventures XCI: ‘Tu Me Manques’“
  92. “Open Mic Adventures XCII: ‘Jaunt’“
  93. “Open Mic Adventures XCIII: ‘C20r4735 (Chorales)’“
  94. “Open Mic Adventures XCIV: ‘Nobles Gases’“
  95. “Open Mic Adventures XCV: ‘Akhenaten’“
  96. “Open Mic Adventures XCVI: ‘Summer Vibes’“
  97. “Open Mic Adventures XCVII: ‘Perambulating’“
  98. “Open Mic Adventures XCVIII: ‘Mellow’“
  99. “Open Mic Adventures XCIX: ‘Pythagoras’“
  100. “Open Mic Adventures C: ‘Dancing in the Graveyard’“
  101. “Open Mic Adventures CI: ‘Curious Little Ghosties’“
  102. “Open Mic Adventures CII: ‘Boneyard Blues’“
  103. “Open Mic Adventures CIII: ‘Rain on Halloween’“
  104. “Open Mic Adventures CIV: ‘Heavy Metal Mummy’“
  105. “Open Mic Adventures CV: ‘Promenade’“

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