Seraphonic Medley

Every melody upon the album hath been speaking to the others all along.

The composition treateth its subject with complete sincerity, allowing dignity and absurdity to occupy the same measure.

Every worthy album eventually revealeth that its melodies have been speaking to one another all along. Having allowed each theme upon A Matter of Class to stand proudly upon its own, I found great pleasure in inviting them together for one final orchestral conversation. A phrase once born in laughter answereth another steeped in quiet reflection. A triumphant refrain borroweth a melancholy harmony before yielding once more to mischief. I sought not merely to revisit familiar melodies, but to allow them to reveal new colors by dwelling in one another’s company. A fine tune should withstand such treatment. A great one should emerge richer for it.

Some amongst my audience have expressed mild astonishment that I should conduct the orchestra myself. I confess I find this reaction faintly insulting. Did they imagine I simply hurled notes upon parchment and hoped they landed in agreeable order? A composer who cannot guide his own musicians resembleth an architect who requireth directions to enter his own cathedral. Conducting is but composition continuing through gesture rather than ink. Every entrance, every pause, every swelling phrase remaineth part of the same conversation I began when first I placed quill to paper. Besides, after directing singers, instrumentalists, and an orchestra of this size, I found the ensemble delightfully cooperative. Unlike adventurers, musicians generally possess the good sense to watch the fellow holding the baton.