Thirteen tracks of incidental music for the play “Matsyendranath and Gorakshanath”, by Sri Chinmoy. The incidental music is composed by Sukhdev Lacroix, using Sri Chinmoy’s melodies in 13 tracks.
Sukhdev’s notes on the play and the music:
Matsyendranath and Gorakshanath
Last modified December 29, 2007
“Matsyendranath and Gorakshanath: Two Spiritual Lions” is a play by Sri Chinmoy that was presented at the Bronson Center Theatre in Ottawa, Canada, on November 18 2007, by Canadian male actors/disciples from Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, Kingston, Toronto.
The play was originally scheduled for November 11, but was postponed by a week in order to allow for the commemoration of Sri Chinmoy’s recent passing. The play was dedicated to the sweet memories of our beloved Guru.
The theatre size: not so small. Attendance: the few front rows. People’s appreciation: standup ovation.
Gabriel Pelletier is a student of Sri Chinmoy, a graphic artist, a prop maker, a poet, a singer and an actor. He is the organizer of this project that started more than a year ago. He was successful in bringing so many people to work together in spite of the physical distances. He had actors rehearse to him over the phone!
Thank you Gabriel.
We were fortunate to have good actors like Wilfred Rupp and others. May I point out the astonishing performance by Anvita in his role as the foolish king.
I happened to do the music for the play, under the guidelines given to me by Gabriel.
Right from the beginning, except for some purely ambiance tracks or sound effect tracks, I chose to use as many melodies of Sri Chinmoy as possible, arranging the melodies and merging the arrangements with sound effects.
Of course, the soundtracks are to convey the meaning of a scene, the mood of a character, and the intention of the play as a whole. To that effect, Gabriel and I realized quickly how crucial a soundtrack for a play (or a movie) becomes.
Because music in general is a language that speaks so eloquently, I could not possibly start a musical arrangement without first searching for the meaning of a scene, deepening my understanding of the characters, finally looking closer at the intentions of the author of the play.
Thus, Gabriel and I were not just debating over the music that I was submitting, but even more we were exchanging our understandings of the play itself.
It was essential to me that I choose the songs according to their lyrics.
Since I do not have the brains nor the knowledge nor the culture nor even the courage, I am left with: intuition, a heart of admiration for many movie soundtracks, a certain sense of beauty, my tears of gratitude for Sri Chinmoy himself and for Sri Chinmoy’s melodies and art in general.
As far as the mechanics of arranging goes, here it is. First, I will choose to arrange a song by Sri Chinmoy only if I know the general meaning of the song at least, preferably I have got the lyrics (the translation). Then I sing the song in my head and quickly get deeper into the spiritual heart where meaning and intensity take place. That is basically a meditative process. This meditation is accompanied or expressed with music or musicality pretty much right from the beginning. It is all very simple really. Everybody does it, I am just putting words to a common process.
The final step for arranging a song is that I let go this meaning/intensity/musicality into notes played by different musical instruments. I cannot write musical score (notes) so I use a computer that lets me play from a piano keyboard, by ear. The computer records the music I play for each instrument I chose. Those instruments (violin, flute, etc) are virtual instruments stored in my computer.
I do not use chords per se. The melody to be arranged is played over until I “hear” a counter-melody AND for a particular instrument. No effort there of any kind, and the result (to your taste or not) is very quick.
See, I have got no merit. Sorry!
Sukhdev
We are most grateful to Sukhdev for his soulful contribution. He is an excellent composer/arranger, and we hope that he continues offering his music to the world!
Artist: Sukhdev Jean Lacroix
Release year: 2007
Duration: 22 minutes
Acknowledgements: Sukhdev, Sri Chinmoy
Format: Advanced Audio Coding
