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- MOUNTAIN.DOC
-
- The midi file PRO2BLDM.MID is a revised version of NTBLDM.MID
- programmed by Rashad Chichakly (CompuServe 70523,2516) and available
- on CompuServe midi forum library number 10.
- PRO2BLDM.MID was developed with a view to performing the work,
- which calls for a large amount of polyphony, on one EMU Systems
- Proteus2 Orchestral module, without the need for additional equipment
- other than reverb.
-
- Thirteen new patches for the Proteus2 are included in the sequence,
- and require that the Proteus2 should be on Device Number 2 to receive
- the sysex. Patch data currently resident in locations 64 through 76
- should first be saved. Proteus2 Master Settings are also included as
- sysex, and this sets up all output to go to the "MAIN" output sockets,
- and pan position = P settings where applicable. Pan position "P" is
- particularly important for the TrombonesBR patch.
- The new patches are:
- 64 1stViolinsBR 65 2ndViolinsBR
- 66 ViolasBR 67 CellosBR
- 68 ArcoBassBR 69 Timp/Percus
- 70 Clarinet_2BR 71 Trombrass_BR
- 72 Trumpet4BR 73 SoftFluteBR
- 74 Gong....BR 75 ConSordiniBR
- 76 mfFrHorn4_BR
-
- The factory presets are used for Bassoon, Oboe, Piccolo, Pizzicato
- and Harp.
- The sysex is recorded within the first nineteen bars, the music
- commencing at bar number twenty. The patches are loaded one at a time,
- and with the Proteus2 as Device Number 2, the midi activity indicator
- should flash periodically as each patch, and then finally the Master
- Settings, are loaded. If no activity during this time is apparent,
- please check the Device Number setting on the Proteus2.
-
- Instrumentation
-
- Channel Voice
-
- 1 Pizziccato Strings
- 2 Bass
- 3 1st. Violins
- 4 Cello
- 5 2nd. Violins
- 6 Violas
- 7 Bassoon
- 8 Oboe
- 9 Flute
- 10 Percussion
- 11 Clarinet
- 12 Trombones
- 13 Trumpet
- 14 Horns
- 15 Harp/Piccolo
- 16 Bell/Gong
-
- Voice selection is via. Program Changes within the sequence, as are
- volume and stereo pan. The trombone pan position = 'P' setting is
- included in the Master Setting sysex.
- Track delays have been incorporated in order to simulate a more
- realistic overall sound and help eliminate unnatural chorusing effects.
- The sequencer used was Steinberg Cubase V3.01 running on a 16MHz
- Atari ST with 4MB memory.
-
-
- Mastertrack
- Tempo changes are an integral part of this performance, and it
- should be remembered to switch the Master Track on when using Cubase.
- Total playing time is approximately 11 minutes 15 seconds, including
- the time taken during the first nineteen bars in loading sysex data.
-
- _____________________________________________________
- Night On The Bald Mountain, Modeste Mussorgsky
- Completed and orchestrated by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
- _____________________________________________________
-
- The inscription on the completed score of 1867 states that
- Mussorgsky "...planned the work in 1866, began writing for orchestra
- on 12th June 1867, and finished the work on the eve of St. Johns day,
- 23rd. June, 1867"
- In a letter to Nikolsky in July of that year, Mussorgsky writes
-
- "The Witches - a vulgar title, so to speak a nickname for my
- composition - is really 'St. Johns Night On The Bare Mountain' ...
- So far as my memory doesn't deceive me, the witches used to gather
- on this mountain, gossip, play tricks and await their chief - Satan.
- On his arrival, they, i.e. the witches, formed a circle on the throne
- on which he sat, in the form of a kid, and sang his praise. When Satan
- was worked up into sufficient passion by the witches' praises, he gave
- the command for the sabbath in which he chose for himself the witches
- who caught his fancy. - So this is what I've done.
- At the head of my score I've put its content: 1. Assembly of the
- witches, their talk and gossip; 2. Satan's train; 3. Obscene glori-
- fication of Satan, and 4. Sabbath. If my composition is performed, I
- should like its content to be put in the program to make things clear
- to the audience.
- The form and character of my work are Russian and original.
- Its general tone is hot-blooded and disordered. - Actually, the Sabbath
- begins with the appearance of the devils, i.e. the obscene glorific-
- ation according to the stories really forms part of the sabbath, but I
- have given the episodes different headings (in the contents) in order
- to give a clearer impression of the musical form - as it is new...
- I wrote out 'St. Johns Night' very quickly, straight away clean in
- score, ...wrote it in about 12 days"
-
- 'St. Johns Night On The Bare Mountain' was, however, severely
- criticised, and Mussorgsky made no attempt to have it performed -
- the work remained unheard untill long after his death.
- Mussorgskys' friend and colleague Rimsky-Korsakov, as musical
- executor to Mussorgsky, considered none of the existing forms of
- 'St. Johns Night On The Bare Mountain' music suitable for neither
- publication nor performance. In his autobiography, Rimsky-Korsakov
- writes
- "I decided to compose from Mussorgskys' materials an instrumental
- piece, preserving in it all that was best and connected to his own and
- adding as little of mine as possible. I had to create a form in which
- to embody as well as possible Mussorgskys' ideas. The problem was
- difficult and for two years I could find no satisfactory solution -
- I could hit on neither the form, the key scheme, nor the scoring..."
-
- Rimsky-Korsakov completed his version in 1886, and in October of
- that year he conducted the work, "Night On The Bare Mountain", in
- St. Petersburg. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote
-
- "...It could not have had a greater success, and was encored.
- I only had to change the bell for a gong. I had chosen the bell at
- a bell foundry, but in the hall it went out of tune, on account of
- the temperature."
-
- On June 29th., 1889, Rimsky-Korsakov introduced the work to Western
- Europe at a Paris Exhibition of Russian Music, and gave a performance
- again in Brussels the following year. Since then, it has remained one
- of the most popular Russian works in the orchestral repertoire.
-
-
- With warm and many thanks to Rashad Chichakly, 70523,2516
- who originally programmed this sequence and made this project possible.
-
-
- Brian F. Robson 100065.2132@compuserve.com
-
- brobson@cix.compulink.co.uk
-
- October 1993
-
-