This Is a Blog About a Graduation Project

This is a blog about a graduation project. This is not a thesis, this is not a recital, this is not a trap.
This is music, this is art, and this is poetry!

My name is Esther Wheaton, and I am entering my fourth year at Wilfrid Laurier University, Honours Bachelor of Music, composition stream. For my program, I have to compose a piece of music as a final opus, and I have decided that I am going to write an album.

Yes, write an album. You heard me correctly. I am a writer as well as a musician, and I wanted to do something with all of my skills. So it's going to be an album, probably 10 tracks, hopefully recorded in a studio, for chamber orchestra split into smaller chamber ensembles, and four vocalists who will sing in various formations also.

Now, I'm not thinking of this as a pop album (although I'm hoping for songs between 3 and 6 minutes long). It is more going to be a song cycle, written to be recorded first and performed second. My influences are Owen Pallett's "Heartland" concept-world, Nico Muhly's "Mothertongue," and to some extent, Anathallo's "Floating World," which is based on Japanese fairy tales.

This song cycle is going to be based on the characters from multicultural legends, folk tales, and stories that aren't the main character, that maybe aren't even the sidekick--characters that are just mentioned, that play bit parts. (Part of the legend, you know, but not legendary.) This song cycle takes a closer look at these characters; for the text I am doing research on what is said about them and extrapolating, twisting, digging deeper into what their perspective may have been.

For example: Who is to say Clementine (in a cavern, in a canyon) didn't commit suicide? The little-known final verse of the song shows her lover consoling himself with her younger sister--maybe, just maybe, there is a deeper darker story there.
And who is to say Azrael didn't hate his job? It's lonely work being the angel of death.

I daresay you get the idea. So this summer I am working on text/lyrics/libretto/whatever you want to call it, melodies, a Plan, and whatever else I can get done. This blog is to keep me honest! I am going to post progress here, text for people to read and comment on (pleeeease give me some feedback), and my notes. We're kickin' this Neil Gaiman style.