Nobody doubts that fantasy and science fiction books which are
released in huge numbers every year and fantasy/science fiction
movies, a great number of which are shot in the USA, are very
popular. And so, what about "fantastic music" ("musical
fantasy")? We would like to present you some considerations
concerning this topic.
"Fantastic music" appeared very long ago. We can attribute
to this genre the ancient songs and ballads (the so-called folklore)
which was composed by various peoples around the Earth in order
to praise legendary heroes and to celebrate various events. Beginning
in the 17th century, operas, ballets and various symphonic works
appeared which were based on fairy tales and legends. Still, the
real blossoming of "fantastic music" (music in fantasy/science
fiction) begins in the 1970's with the development of computer
technology and the appearance of famous movies such as "2001: A Space Odyssey"
directed by Stanley Kubrick (in which classical works by R. Strauss
and J. Strauss were used) and "Solaris"
directed by Andrei Tarkovsky (which, together with famous composer
E.Artem'yev - one of the first Russian "synthesizer"
composer/artists - has created marvelous soundscapes, where mysterious
space sounds are combined with the music of J.S. Bach). One can't
even imagine famous "trilogies" by George Lucas "Star Wars"
and "Indiana Jones"
without incendiary and romantic music by J. Williams, performed
by a symphony orchestra.
At the beginning of 1970's the state of computer technology allowed
for the development of musical synthesizers. This technology opened
up new prospects to musicians: at last it was possible to realize
the most incredible musical fantasies. It was now possible to
create the most wonderful and magical sounds, include them in
the music, change them in various ways, and so to shape the sound,
like a sculptor! Thus, a new genre called "fantastic music"
came into being and a number of masters of synthesizer music appeared.
One of the founders of this direction is the legendary Pink Floyd
which created such a classical albums as "Piper At the Gates of Dawn"
(this album appeared in 1968), "Obscured By Clouds"
and "The Dark Side of the Moon".
Other bright representatives of computer "fantastic"
music are The Alan Parsons Project with such science fiction programs
as "I, Robot",
"Eye in the Sky".
Jean-Michael Jarre has created such works as "Oxygen",
"Equinoxe"
and "Les Chants Magnetiques"
which gained world popularity and are considered classics. One
of the most interesting and outstanding masters of electronic
"fantastic" music is undoubtedly, Vangelis. This artist
perfectly creates various syntheses of music and sounds. In some
of his albums he has presented mysterious world of space ("Albedo 0.39"),
oriental mysticism ("Spiral"),
and legends of ancient Greece (his homeland), which are incredibly
interwoven with the world of future ("Direct").
Vangelis is the author of music to several movies, for example,
"Bladerunner".
In the 1990's music to this movie was released as an album with
great success. At the same time, Vangelis began work on the creation
of a series of albums, united by a definite idea. For example,
in the album "Voices"
a specific world, full of mysterious voices and illusory sounds,
is interwoven into the beautiful music that is opened before the
listener. While listening to the album "Oceanic"
we are immersed in a wonderful world of an ocean, being filled
with images from Greek legends and fantasies.
In the 1980's other very talented and interesting artists released
their albums. The German group Tangerine Dream (who began actively
recording in the 1970's), have released a number of remarkable
albums of electronic music in this decade. Musicians of this group
have created and performed music to the movie "Firestarter"
based on Stephen King's novel. One of the group leaders Christopher
Franke, who started his solo career at the end of the 80's, was
also an author of several interesting albums and projects, such
as music for the TV series "Babylon-5".
One of the most famous and talented authors, American composer/producer
Jonn Serrie has created a series of albums, which can be named
"space fantasies". Among these are "And The Stars Go With You"
(created for a NASA project) - this album is considered a classic
in the field of space music, and "Planetary Chronicles Volume 1"
and "Volume 2"
(created from various projects for planetariums). Music by Serrie,
performed on various computer systems, takes a listener to the
infinite depths of space, to distant planets and mysterious galaxies.
The music is both "fantastic" and really romantic and
full of mysticism (if we listen, for example, to his album "Spirit Keepers").
Considerable interest can be attracted by the albums of artists,
who began their musical career not long ago. Among them "A Comet's Tale"
by young Canadian composer/musician Ronin - an imaginary journey
through our Solar System, "Vanity of Venus"
by American musician Cheryl Gunn, "Other Suns"
by a very talented and inventive British musician Felix Jay. Also
we should name a very interesting electronic instrumentalist from
Germany Gandalf (who has taken his name from one of the main characters
of "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R.Tolkien).
He is the author of such "fantasy" albums as "Colours
of the Earth" and "Fantasia".
It is well-known, that the works by J.R.R.Tolkien have greatly
influenced many fantasy books. Of course, recording artists were
not immune to this influence. Scandinavian synthesizer musician
and composer BÃ Hansson has created music influenced by
the "Lord of the Rings", and his fellow countrymen PÄr
Lindh and BjÃrn Johansson have released "Bilbo"
which was inspired by "The Hobbit".
There are many fans of Tolkien in Russia. The Russian group "Trilistnik"
has released an interesting album entitled "Music of the Middle-Earth".
These artists are so greatly immersed in the images of the music
they are creating, that in parallel, they write wonderful tales.
Some of the best examples of this is found in David Arkenstone's
works. In his CD liner notes for "In the Wake of the Wind",
there is a very nice fantasy story, and even a map to the Magical
Land where the story takes place! "Quest of the Dream Warrior"
and "Return of the Guardians",
together with the first album make a real Fantasy Trilogy. We
consider this trilogy to be one of the brightest diamonds in a
"necklace" of the works by Arkenstone. To our regret
there are not many artists like David Arkenstone, and of course
we'd like this number to increase.
Besides the appearance of new talented electronic musicians, the
1990's are characterized by a rapid development of computer technology
and computer animation and special effects which are widely used
in movies, music videos and on TV. One of the largest American
companies, "Miramar" has released a number of films
where fantastic visual images ("The Mind's Eye","Beyond
the Mind's Eye") are worked by computer ("Earthdance",
"True North", "Canyon Dreams") and are united
with fantastic musical images created by such musicians as Vangelis,
David Lanz, Paul Speer and Tangerine Dream. In our opinion this
type of art has a great future, and "Miramar" is a pioneer.
Another pioneer of this art is the talented author, composer and
multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield, who besides his brilliant
albums (for example, let's remember such famous works as "Tubular Bells",
"Islands" and "The Songs of Distant Earth")
has created a number of "fantastic music" video clips.
In these video films fantasy images are masterly realized by means
of computer graphics and enhanced by rich and inventive music.
Among the composers and performers who are actively working in
the field of "fantastic music" is Mars Lasar. This talented
multi-instrumentalist builds a bridge to the future to a "Holy
City" where everyone is happy and free, where one wants to
escape to from our wild and unholy world (in his album "Escape").
The music of Mars Lasar is very strong in its effect. (In fact,
there is a lot to tell about the creative work of other musicians
who are carried by the American label, Real Music. Among these
artists are the duet 2002 creating evasive and unearthly music,
Kevin Kern with magically charming melodies, and many others.)
But, let us return to creative work of Mars Lasar. In his music,
as well as in works by Nicholas Gunn one can find width and panorama,
where a listener can observe the Earth from a height, look over
the space outstretched beneath him and maybe hear the call of
unearthly, higher worlds...
Like a broad variety of science fiction/fantasy books, the world
of "fantastic music" is vast and wonderful. Creating
their "worlds", the artists use pure synthesizer music
as well as traditional musical instruments and various sounds
of nature. Thematic range of this music is very broad: from science
fiction/fantasy images to mysticism and folklore.
Thinking about the prospects of development of the "fantastic
music", we come to a rather paradoxical conclusion: while
rapidly moving forward and enriched by modern technical achievements,
this music at the same time, seems to come back to its roots,
because many musicians rather successfully use ethnic and folklore
music in their works. A bright example of such "synthesis"
is a music by Eric Serra to the famous movie "The Fifth Element"
by Luc Besson. While modeling a world of distant future by his
music, Serra has skillfully connected modern electronic music
with Middle-East ethnic melodies and classical music pieces with
modern rhythms. We should note that this "cocktail"
is rather sharp. Still, the experiment was a success. A considerable
interest in musical folklore can be observed at present in the
recent popularity of Irish folk music and traditional American
Indians melodies. Obviously, in the future we should expect further
confluence and synthesis of various musical trends, and this means
that we'll make many wonderful discoveries in this genre of "fantastic
music".
What can we observe if we take a more thorough look at the above
mentioned musical works? If we consider the Trilogy by David Arkenstone,
we can notice that these are not only traditional albums - fantasy
books are united with music here! So, these works go beyond the
well-known limits of a book and music album, here we have an interesting
"alloy" of two conventional and different genres. Or,
if we take musical movies released by "Miramar": these
are not just movies with music or music with video images, it
is a new genre. In the third millennium these kinds of art should
unite, integrate. The books would be more than just books, video,
more than just video, and music, more than just music. And who
knows, maybe "Miramar" will be a pioneer in this breakthrough.
In any case, immense opportunities are opened, and this movement,
which is displayed at present more and more clearly, undoubtedly
has a great future!
