Give Thanks

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Andy

One thing that will never be cliché is being thankful. It's good for the soul. So thank you everyone. Thank you family. Pictured here is one of my amazing nieces.

Austin

The aim here is very simple; giving thanks in its true spirit is a profound and primal act. True recognition of our fortune. Today I am thankful for so much... my family, friends, but perhaps most of all for having been put on his path of discovery and eternal curiosity.

Halo

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Austin

Seemingly every religious doctrine, faith and mythology has halos or circles a prime symbol for the divine. Presumably a hand-me-down from prehistoric sun worshipping, nonetheless halos are a fascinating and timelessly simple image. In that spirit, today's musical halo is a recreation and elaboration of what happens when I draw halos at this nifty website (thank you to my dear friend Susan Hill for emailing me the link).

Andy

A

The Hero's Journey - Rebirth

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Austin

The final stage of the hero's journey. Return; rebirth. Death is transcended. For this last leg, viola wonderfully performed by Kaila Potts.

Andy

A

The Hero's Journey - Abyss

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Austin

At the culmination of the trials and suffering, there comes an abyss. The hero faces death. Destruction. A revelation. Here again, viola performed by Kaila Potts.

Andy

A

The Hero's Journey - Threshold

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Austin

Along his path, the hero reaches the threshold. It is here the transformation begins, paving the way for trials. Struggles. Once more, viola solo by Kaila Potts.

Andy

A

The Hero's Journey - The Call

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Austin

The hero's journey must begin with a call to adventure. A purpose, a summoning. That first step down the path. Viola solos performed by Kaila Potts.

Andy

A

Faith

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Austin

In the simplest, most distilled sense faith is a reliance in the unknown. It is a conviction in the unseen, the unprovable. It is, in its true form, unwavering; for many, mechanical.

Andy

Waiting on interviews is tough. Especially given my history here. And yet, I am confident, confident enough anyway.

Tango

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Andy

Just a little too tired to be inspired.

Austin

Arguably the best way to experience the divine is in other people. In their company, in their shared spirit. A tango, of all the dances, is the most electric expression of that. I have a long-running love (indeed obsession) for tangos. Here is a somewhat quirky tango, a revisiting of one I wrote for Michael Gunn's wonderful film "Workshop," earlier this year (executed in a way that would have made no sense for the film).

Mantra

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Andy

As a note, I'm not making fun of the mantra, just the absurdity of the sign.

Austin

Similarly, this music is simultaneously directly inspired by Andy's photo, as by the broad notion of a mantra. At once holy, deeply and personally spiritual, and yet also irreverent for ... well, bizarre.

Bokononism

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Andy

Live by the foma that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy.

Austin

Accordingly, here is a calypso in honor of my chosen foma.

Sell your Soul

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Austin

As a composer in the abstract sense, music to me is like a form of divine communication. George Crumb once said that "music surpasses even language in its power to mirror the innermost recesses of the human soul." It is the art to which all the arts aspire.

However, I am also a working composer. With that comes the periodic scenario wherein I must write music I otherwise abhor. I do everything I can to imbed it with deeply felt artistry .... but sometimes it's nonetheless just plain awful.

Andy

A

Helios

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Andy

A ritualistic offering to the Sun King, every morning.

Austin

I wish I could offer an intellectualized explanation for this music; instead, only that it communicated to me precisely what a morning dedication to the Sun King must sound like. Barbaric, yet not particularly evil or twisted.