Is this the last Transition from the opera The Boats? Majesty. ELP. Copland. Grand Canyon. James Newton Howard. Star Wars. John Williams. Brass. Fanfares. James Levine. Unpersoning. 1984. Free Association. Free psychotherapy. The point of all these Transitions. Wozzeck. The nobility of fishermen. Comic books are so 2D. Gluck. Quicksand is the bitch.

Roger CortonBefore we get started, I just wanted to do a truth check. Last time you promised that this was the last ‘Transition’.

Transition VI

JCH Mmmmmaybe.

RCI knew it was too good to be true. But I have to admit. This is pretty majestic.

JCHYou wouldn’t know majesty if it bit you in the face! God help me, I still think that’s a total scream.

RCI do too. Although for a long time I didn’t like the way they make fun […]

Yet another Transition that is out of order from the opera The Boats.Peter Gabriel. Bodhrán. Hans Zimmer drums. Compression is a drug. Time shifts. Cuban music and the clave. Sneaky Bastard. One horse town. Duke and Harlem Nocturne. Joyce Brothers and Reality TV. How the sausage gets made. One more transition.

Roger CortonLast time we were talking about folk songs. But this thing sounds like one of Peter Gabriel’s soundtracks.

Transition IV

JCHActually, I was thinking the same thing. I tried to fight that, but you kinda have to go where the piece takes you.

RCNow don’t get me wrong. I love Peter Gabriel. I just didn’t think of it as ‘Celtic’ sounding.

JCHWell I don’t care about that. I just want it to fit the staging for switching between scenes.

RCWe talked about that last time and so if the title of this can be believed, this is the space right after the […]

Yet another Transition (not a Snippet) that is out of order from The Boats. Trasna Na Dtonnta (Across The Waves). Irony. Get Out. Staging. That’s what Directors are for. Counterpoint. Pachelbel was boring. Bartok was not. Translyvania and Normal. Rubick’s Cubes. Breathing and whistling in the right key. Schmaltz It Up. Black It Up. Whatever.

Roger CortonLast time we talked about Transitions. And this time we’re still talking about Transitions.

Transition II (Trasna Na Dtonnta)

JCHWhere will it all end? (laughs)

RCThis is the last one, right?

JCHI think so.

RCYou’re not sure?

JCHWell, like I’ve said a jillion times, this is rev one. Look what happened with Detroit! I could one day realize that the whole thing needs to turn left and my ‘ninety percent done’ meter could instantly flip to ‘fifteen percent done’.

RCStipulated. But right now, this is it? Si?

JCHSi.

RCSo the […]

Back on track. Not a snippet a Transition from The Boats. No tangents or Bonk Bonk! Christine Primrose. Sean Nós. Rockers who could do opera? Or opera singers who can rawk? Scots vs. Real Gaelige. Stand and Deliver or Park N’ Bark? Les Miz vs. Real Opera. Didling or Mouth Music? Popeye. Can Celtic music get jazzy?

Roger CortonLast time we got totally sidetracked, leading to our first complete failure. So now, we’re going to reconvene and we are going to talk about Transition V, subtitled ‘Walking In The Mountains)’.

Transition V (Walking In The Mountains)

JC HarrisYa know something I noticed…

RCStop it.

JCHStop what?

RCI can always tell when you’re about to go off and that is not going to happen this time.

JCHOh c’mon… just a couple. They’re teeny weeny.

RCSo, JC. Tell us about this piece of music.

JCHWhat a killjoy.

[…]

This was supposed to be a chat about another ‘snippet’ from The Boats, but it finally happened: our first failed Rant. Just too many tangents. Why Transition V and not IV? Explanations of Traveling music and Supernumeraries: in opera and nipples. The Man With The Golden Gun. Christopher Lee’s bare chest. Bond. Extras vs. Supers. Choir in opera. Some basics of staging explained. Pointless movie quotes.

Roger CortonLast time we talked you said that you were going to put it all together. But this snippet is called ‘Transition V’.

Transition V Should Go Here

JC HarrisAnd?

RCAnd… What happened to Transition IV?

JCHWhat do you mean ‘what happened to it’?

RCWhen I go to the Story page I see Transition I, Transition II, Transition III. You skipped one.

JCHI’ve skipped out on a lot of things in my time, pal.

RCI bet you have. But […]