A classical music album composed for violin, soprano, tenor and piano.
At the start of this project, I decided to give my utmost for His Highest. Even from the inception my subconscious had a concept of perfection: Christianity. This meant it would be artistic and intelligent, drawing on my unique imagination, and, if you like, the mind of Christ – which I have as a Christian. Hence, The Ne Plus Ultras.
This vocal chamber music collection was composed over six months:
December 2023 to May 2024. All the Christian words for these songs are my arrangements from my poems of the same name.
I envisage performances of my music in concert halls and venues nationally and internationally. In the near future, hopefully, I will be very pleased to find a record company who will record this truly other album and share with special people the excellent musical art and poetry. If you are such a company, please respond.
Breadth of content
The album’s narrative begins with the beginning of the beginnings, visiting Jesus as the person God, the terror Old Testament priests faced when they were making atonement in the temple, the post crucifixion ascension, passionate romantic love, Jesus’ peace, comedy in Bethlehem, God’s death angel, elements of God’s wrath when Jesus returns, a quirky – but interestingly blasé – song about Jesus destroying death and ushering in eternity with an uplifting anthem.
Track list as follows:
GOD CREATES
He Is The Image
TORN
The Star in the East!
Shulamite
You Are My Peace
The Alternative Three Wise Men!
The Slayer
The Return of Christ
The Destruction of Death
GOD CREATES
Power, power, power, power (x2)
The 1st Day
God said
“Let there be light
Call the light day
Call the darkness night
See that the light is good”
The 2nd Day
God said
“Let there be sky
Let there be water
Let there be dry ground
See that it is good”
The 3rd Day
God said
“Let there be days and years
And seasons
Let there also be stars
See that it is good”
The 4th Day
God said
“Let there be creatures in the sea
And let birds fly across the sky
See that it is good”
The 5th Day
God said
“Let there be creatures on the ground
Let there be animals
See that it is good”
The 6th Day
Then God said (x 3)
“Let us create man
in our image
See that this is all very good”
Torn! Torn! Torn! Torn!
Torn! Torn! Torn! Torn!
Torn, torn, torn, torn
Torn, torn, torn, torn
In times B. C.
We could not see, see, see
The glory and the wonder of the LORD
The glory and the wonder of the LORD
A curtain in place
We could not see His face, face, face
Only priests dare went to the LORD
Only priests dare went to the LORD
In fear we stayed
Our seeing kept; veiled
Could not go direct to the Father
But now the veil is gone
Torn from top to bottom
Torn from top to bottom
Torn from top to bottom
Torn! Torn! Torn!
And Jesus bids us, us, us, us
But now the veil is gone
Torn from top to bottom
Torn from top to bottom
Torn from top to bottom
Torn! Torn! Torn!
And Jesus bids us
Enter(!)
(x2)
Jesus the Saviour Is famous for ever For ever and ever For every believer Resplendent and bright The dazzling light For ever and ever For every believer Encourage your cheer His rising is here For ever and ever For every believer!
Oh, the shells of my heart
Longs for the songs to waft
And see her from the start
Stark songs so sweet and soft
Sing sweetly my Shulamite
Sing melodies with your King
My treasured one sing tonight
Your King, too, a melody will bring
A first kiss
Kisses one of three
To me
Her touch so soft
Her kiss is so soft
So soft
Number two
Of kisses so true
So true
The softest kiss
With all the sweetness
Sweetness
Number three
Of kisses so free
So free
The tenderness
And all the sweetness
Sweetness
Here comes the chariot
From circling Sun and Moon
The Lion of Judah
Yearns the Shulamite tune
The King, too, sings melodies
The Shulamite so desires
None shall sing until ready
Duets burn like pure fire
Sing sweetly my Shulamite
Your King yearns your offering
My treasured one let us sing tonight
Let us never stop our dancing
Sing sweetly my Shulamite
Sing sweetly my Shulamite
Sing sweetly my Shulamite
Before my eyes o-pen in the morning At the instance of emerging from sleep Even before I am aware of anything external I experience something so powerful and so deep
It is the start of a brand-new day I rise and prepare for its future Knowing this peace will not be fazed Because it is an inexhaustible treasure
Sometimes you can see it in my eyes Or hear it behind my voice It has some-thing of eternal life in it And inwardly I choose to rejoice
When the day turns into history And I retire in the evening in peace I rest sweetly on my cosy pillow And before long I am fast asleep
This peace is from God and it guards me Jesus left it here two thousand years ago The first to have it were the Disciples A special gift you can know
Strings Strings and trumpets And trumpets And trumpets Strings Strings and trumpets And trumpets And trumpets Strings And trumpets And trumpets And trum!
Soprano:
Sing, you choir, loud and clear! Let your voice be heard Let it pierce the air Pierce it once, pierce it twice Angelic hosts Angelic hosts Angelic hosts Pierce it thrice!
Soprano, Tenor:
Move decisively Move decisively Move decisively Left and right Dance the dance Day and night
Tenor:
From the slayer Lightning flashes! From his eye From the slayer Flash!
Soprano, Tenor:
Move decisively Move decisively Move decisively Left and right Dance the dance Day and night
Tenor:
From his eye Lightning flashes! A time of war A time of clashes!
The command has come Slay! Slay! Slay! You cannot escape On that dreaded Day
Soprano:
This high music is for you! Cue higher music, cue Let it ring Clear and clarion! It is for you and you It is for you It is your companion
Tenor:
Move, death angel To and fro Let all the people know Yesterday, tomorrow, today That you, Lord God Have come to Slay! Slay! Slay!
Chorus Soprano:
See you later
See you later
Later you see
See you later
Verse 1
Soprano:
So He cocked His weapon, did the Beau
And aimed it straight at the foe
Given it both barrels
Obliterating death in one go
Chorus
Soprano:
See you later
See you later
Later you see
See you later
Verse 1 - variation
Soprano:
So He cocked His weapon did the Beau
Tenor:
You have had your all
Soprano:
And aimed it straight at the foe
Tenor:
And breathed your last breath
Soprano:
Giving it both barrels
Tenor:
Terminate you
Soprano:
Obliterating death in one go
Chorus
Soprano:
See you later
See you later
Later you see
See you later
Verse 2
Soprano:
No longer can it terrorise
Tenor:
Go and take a hike
Soprano:
Making people run in fear
Tenor:
Don’t ever come back
Soprano:
Playing the fear game
Tenor:
Terminate you
Soprano:
Finality and end now the same
Chorus
Soprano:
See you later
See you later
Later you see
See you later
Verse 3
Soprano:
Yanked and thrown off the train of life
Tenor:
Don’t ever call us
Soprano:
Mustering no resistance
Tenor:
And we won’t call you
Soprano:
Destroyed forever
Tenor:
Terminate you
Soprano:
No longer having an existence
Verse 4 — Anthem
Soprano and Tenor
Now life and love and laughter
Embraces fullness and freedom and fraternity
And creativity and comfort and compassion
Lives in excitement and existence for eternity
It is January 2024. I am at church, my local church – sometime before the annual ‘Week of Prayer’.
With a whole twelve months stretching ahead of us, we begin the year before God. I cannot think of a better way to start the year than seeking God in prayer every day for a week as a church and as individuals — also praying for our community, our nation, and the nations. Praying to God at this time of year, and in this way, is so special. I always feel refreshed and sanctified after the Week of Prayer.
The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective
James chapter 5, verse 16
Only He holds the keys to the future.
Leap Year
I engage in conversation with someone from church. As we talk I find myself saying, “I am in love with someone”. This is the overflow of my heart. The response, “Well… it is Leap Year!”. Traditionally, a woman can ask a man to marry her on the 29th of February. ‘Normally’, it is the man that proposes to the woman. I hatch a plan: I will propose to my sweetheart on that very day.
M S
I have known M S, my sweetheart, for several years. We first met online on Christian Connection in 2016. I particularly liked her strong Christian Profile. A strong Christian woman with a strong Christian man would be a great match! We could talk about God to each other for a very long time!
Super Spirituality
One day I was reading my Bible and listening to some music. I reached a particular point in that reading at the same time a particular piece of music began to play. As I finished the reading, this piece of music finished at the same time. I took a pen and began to write down what had just happened. As I was writing, my pen dried up. As my pen dried up, M S telephoned me for the first time, and we had our first live conversation. Only almighty God could have orchestrated such a sequence of occurrences. This was super spiritual activity! No man could do what God did! Supernatural activity is God’s hallmark in my life. Sometimes, I feel that there is only God and I in this world — and I burst exclamations and thanksgiving to Him!
Over the years, M S and I roughly sketched out ideas for our future. I am always full of dreams and ideas of a fanciful love nest, coupled with travelling the world in the name of Christianity.
Erm…
The end of February approached. And whoever could read my mind knew what I was going to do: propose to M S.
The day had arrived. When I woke up that morning, it appeared that someone had ambushed my plans; all my intentions, somehow, were frustrated and/or thwarted.
“It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord
Romans chapter 12 verse 19
Somehow, it felt more like a postponement. Hope deferred makes the heart sick.
I turned to music composition.
At the time, I was about halfway through composing a series of vocal chamber music pieces.
Favourable Reviews
In September 2023 last year, I produced an album of classical music – all composed by myself. I use a top notation software recommended by someone who is admin for an international contemporary classical composers’ group on social media. He also recommended the necessary playback software. Up until that time I was using a low value app, but now I was going professional with the intention of gaining commissions. The high-quality album I had produced was my ‘calling card’.
Around this time there were discussions happening at my church about the desire for more biblical worship songs. Someone even suggested these New Songs could be written together with orchestral arrangements. I received that as an unofficial commission.
Go!
With this fixed in my mind I set about composing for smaller vocal ensembles that could easily be orchestrated. By the end of the year, I had two songs. And by February I had two more. These songs were written in the classical style.
Lyrics
The text for these songs were based on poems I had written about my geometric, abstract artwork created using image manipulation software. Originally, they started life as composed photographs of church buildings. Now, they were abstracted. There are now forty of these artworks in my catalogue. And so, naturally, being a Photomedia Practitioner I made videos of the art.
Each church art piece and video had a title. From this I wrote a poetic representation. This literature formed the basis of my vocal chamber music project. On the morning of Leap Year Day, I decided to draft in another poem not on my original list. In direct reaction to thwarted love I added: The Slayer.
Here is the poem reworked as a song:
Analysis of Lyrics
In my video of the artwork I chose: J. S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Part 1, For Christmas Day, Chorus. The music opens with timpani drums followed by the playing of stringed instruments and trumpets. In my composition, soprano and tenor literary sing the words: Strings and trumpets.
This is followed by solo soprano singing, in idiomatic style, a description of what the chorus sounds like.
Next, both soprano and tenor sing a description of how the object, which looks like a tank, behaves in the video.
This tanklike object, or Slayer, has an eye that emits flashes of lightning – so the tenor sings. This is followed by manoeuvres across the screen – as sung by the duet.
The tenor then sings of what can only be described as: a time of battles in the heavens where God directs this death angel to mercilessly slay. Only the holy will escape that future apocalypse.
The soprano then points the judgement finger, singing that expiration will be accompanied by high music. The singing of her last line, “It is your companion,” is chilling, because it is delivered in a quiet, low tone – a complete contrast – to underpin the seriousness and finality of the unfolding events.
The tenor finishes by telling us that this Death Angel is obeying God’s command.
A Coffee Morning Concert
After I had drafted these words that morning, I went to a solo piano recital at a church a couple of miles away. Maybe I would get some inspiration as to how to set this down as music.
At the concert in the tea area, conversation was light-hearted and jovial. When the concert was due to start, I sat next to someone who happened to be an art collector. Although I did not recognise her, she recognised me as an artist. A few years ago, she saw one of my art pieces at an exhibition and made the purchase. Naturally, I was delighted.
The concert was an hour long. During the playing of one contemporary piece, I began to hear in my mind’s ear how I was going to compose the music for The Slayer.
As I was leaving the church, I found myself talking with other music appreciators – one of whom was also a pianist. We smiled broadly during conversation, and likewise as we parted.
Analysis of the Music
The vocal chamber ensemble for this series is made up of: Violin, Soprano, Tenor and Piano.
After lunch I started at the piano, initially striking chords and notes that were not in any key. The scratchings I made on manuscript paper were transferred to computer software where I further developed my ideas. The finished piece was a three-part fugue where the violin provided the third line. The violin also answers subjects with further questions. The vocals bring dissonant, hair raising, meaty asides to an otherwise tight and skinny instrumental Dux and Comes, i.e. ‘Leader’ and ‘Companion’.
So, what is a fugue, what does it mean? It is a French word that means ‘flight’. A fugue can also be described as two jumbo jets refuelling in mid-air, one slightly behind the other. Or it can be likened to a chase. Musically speaking, a fugue is a piece of music where two or more independent lines of music entwine one another, one starting later than the other. Of course, there are rules to fugal writing – but the most prolific exponent of the form, J. S. Bach, was notorious for breaking them!
Two examples of fugues: 1) The famous Toccata and Fugue by J. S. Bach, BWV 565. 2) The nursery rhyme London’s Burning.
A Second Layer
The Slayer is composed with 5 beats to the bar. There is also another famous piece in this time signature. It was used decades ago in War of the Worlds adaptations that terrified people. It was also played to young children in a setting which caused them to cry. The piece was Mars – The Bringer of War from The Planets Suite by Gustav Holst. The Hollywood composer John Williams also re-worked the piece, transforming it into Star Wars – particularly the dramatic concluding bars.
A Biblical Perspective
Moses was God’s chosen man to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. He went to Pharaoh asking him to release the Hebrew slaves from Egyptian bondage so that they could worship God and live in freedom in another land. Pharaoh refused. Not once, but every time Moses pleaded. Every time Pharaoh said, “No,” God sent a plague. The final plague God sent was death delivered by the Death Angel. This Angel would slay the firstborn of every household. Prior to this deadly plague, Moses was instructed to tell the Israelites to put the blood of a lamb on the door posts and lintels of their homes. When the Death Angel saw the blood of the lamb, he would pass over, and not bring death to the inhabitants. Hence, the Jewish Passover – from which we celebrate Easter. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead on the Sunday after Passover.
The Video
The full title of this composition is: The Slayer – Apocalypse with Fugue Form. I could only have arrived at this definitive during the making of the video. This is a futuristic video with foundations in the past.
The final, finished video is quite striking in terms of editing, special effects and transitions. Fluke, after unbelievable fluke, after unbelievable fluke occurred in the process of making this video that a probability mathematician would find difficult to explain. I read once that occurrences like these gives rise to an intelligence beyond human intelligence.
Love
I need to give and receive love as God designed. The obstruction of this led me to write the words of this song, to compose music hitherto I would not consider, and be the recipient of happy accidents.
After I finished making the video I said to myself, “Only the pure in heart will understand”.
So…
The score is now available to download from my website for interested peoples and musicians, at Michael Bobb Productions. Audio and video recordings:
Vocal Chamber Music – Violin | Soprano | Tenor | Piano
I use one distributor who distributes my audio to a suite of platforms around the world.
As for different types and sizes of ensemble, yes, The Slayer could enjoy different expressions. A string quartet would be interesting to watch, for example. But, a full-size orchestral sound may give it a different edge, a different understanding.
At the time of composing this piece, it felt like a departure from my usual style. However, since then I have written pieces that could easily wear that label. In fact, every piece in my vocal chamber music series has individuality and character – even idiosyncratic personalities! Above all, they are art.
Here is a list of the ten Vocal Chamber Music pieces in alphabetical order. So far, eight have be completed.
For nine days starting today, Friday 2nd September, the show will run.
Last year, for the first time, I submitted an entry – and won best in category.
This year my entry is:
The Queen And Two Princesses
About the piece:
A composed photograph of Holy Trinity SE20, a church building in Penge, London was abstracted in Photoshop. An award-winning laboratory in Scotland made the image photometallic and added a 6mm acrylic facemount – an absolute essential – effectively doubling the visual quality.
Splashes of Ink 