#wolfstack lights

I already went through quite a bit of analysis in my last post (very) early this morning about the string quartet arrangement, so I won’t bore you with the specifics. The string quartet allowed for a really thick layer of harmonies and different timbres occupying the same note value that you don’t really get with a piano, but I do think the piano was particularly suited to the melody of this piece. So here.

In lieu of the usual blathering about the music, I’ll use this space to talk about things I’ve changed between the string quartet arrangement and this one. 

thing i’ve changed between the string quartet arrangement and this one

For one, I’ve moved the original viola pizzicato ‘wave’ line down an octave. It definitely gives the melody a more earthy feel than in the string quartet arrangement because of the bigger counterbalance between the range of the melody and the waves, which are really a driving force of the entire piece. The addition of the pedal below the waves cements this difference from the beginning, because instead of being the light beachy waves from the string quartet, they’re these powerful forces that toss ships around. Which is why the tempo marking reads Andante con moto in both. 

(Additionally, the piano would have sounded heavier even without the octave shifting--the string quartet arrangement is driven by viola pizzicato, bubbly and light and perfect like champagne to a piano’s warm apple cider or something.)

Take a look at the differences between the “call” motif in the two arrangements--piano on top, string quartet on the bottom. I modified the piano arrangement to contain one of the few original figures in the entire piece because of three reasons: bowed instruments are unique in their ability to sustain notes without killing them and the piano is not a bowed instrument; the left hand was preoccupied; and I just didn’t feel like making the player play yet another arpeggio. On which this new figure is based. 

Speaking of which, I’m really sorry about the whole arpeggio thing. I experimented with ways to acquire the same effect without making you dance across the keyboard (even consulting a piece with a hugely popular 6/4 wave motif, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, mostly because I’m a dweeb and also because I wanted an excuse to listen to it again) but nothing worked. The whole point of the wave theme is to roll between two extremes, anyways; not having it would defeat the purpose. 

The string quartet plays on typical orchestral tropes and has Violin II doubling Violin I in a lower octave. This rapid octave-shifting nonsense Does Not Fly with piano players, or at least with me. You’re welcome.

Hey! I was able to condense the viola and cello strumming part, originally for classical guitar, into one line! I couldn’t write the quadruple stop pizzicatos for the viola/cello because the strings don’t work that way and all three notes have to be playable and expressive. That’s one major perk of composing for piano, not having to do mental gymnastics mapping out every chord. You’d think cello was easier for me to think about because it’s tuned to the same four notes as the viola, but somehow it’s even worse because the octaves are all messed up. Moving on.

And lastly, I had to rewrite the rhythms for the final section for maximum impact. The strings can sustain these notes with the same intensity, no problem, but the piano requires a little bit more rhythmic interestingness to keep the energy alive. I added triplets where there was previously just a triplet-duplet pair within the viola line and doubled up on the chords during the change. Do keep in mind the heavy swing applies to this, too, so they’re not just straight eighth notes. 

Wolfstack Lights is one of my favorite tunes from Sunless Sea. Somehow it hits the trifecta of emotional impact: nostalgia, victory, joy. There’s something indescribable about limping back into London in a ship with more holes than people, belly full of valuable jewels and precious heirlooms, close to losing it all, and then–home. 

I could go on about how Sunless Sea constantly makes me catch feelings, but I’m mostly here to cater to the niche-in-a-niche that are the classical chamber musicians of Fallen London, so that’s what I’m going to do. And anyways this track, like the entire soundtrack, is deceptively simple and warrants essay upon essay (most of which I am not qualified to write as a hobbyist high schooler but all of which I’m sure as hell gonna try anyways). So here we go. 

the piece 

The most crucial and beautiful thing about this piece is how lush all the harmonies are. In ‘Wolfstack Lights,’ composer Maribeth Solomon uses a lot of fifths–strong power chords that make you feel whole, almost, but they’re not necessarily the prettiest harmonies. It reminded me of Rebecca Clarke’s Sonata for Viola and Piano, which I love to death, and whose repeated A-E or C-G motifs always felt fresh and nautical to me. I wonder if I was thinking about ‘Wolfstack Lights,’ whose introduction is D-A – another fifth. Someone please write me a paper on whether fifths actually have anything to do with ships and lighthouses and bullhorns or whether I just really like music with fifths.

I thought of this motif as a lighthouse in the dark; a beam of white stretching across a vast, dark ocean; a call that echoes on the cavern walls. It’s lonely but kind of peaceful, in a way. Nothing like that violent A-E leap that opens up the Clarke Viola Sonata. 

And if that’s the call, here’s the answer. It’s a warm harmony echoed across the cello and second violin. (I would have given it to the viola but it was kinda preoccupied at the moment.) Between the solitary cry and its triple-chorded answer, I’m reminded of a reunion between friends. Not really like the sickeningly sweet catapulting-into-each-other’s-arms type thing in movies and such, but more like the warm-welcome-that-totally-respects-your-independence that’s so characteristic of the sweeter moments of Sunless Sea. Of course it’s bittersweet, because everyone knows as well as you do that you’re going to stop home, sleep, see your kid, and then load up with fuel and set off into the unknown the next day.

Deepest apologies for making you read things in 12/8. It was better than cluttering up a perfectly fine 4/4 passage with seventy billion triplets in the viola rhythm section. To be completely fair, I introduced 4/4 again in the bridge section (after chopping down the BPM by 40 and setting up a 65% eighth note swing) for ease of reading and because it marked a departure from the constant waves of triplets in the viola. You’re welcome. You should have seen the score before, when I didn’t realize writing in 4/4 would be easier for both of us. Not pretty. 12/8 is really elegant for writing triplets, but straight duplet rhythms are hell to deal with, and after going back to 12/8 for a whole three measures after the bridge I just stick with 4/4 again. 

I kind of shafted the viola part in the first half, which sucks because I hate getting stuck with the boring background pizzicato part too, but I promise it’s paramount to the success of the piece and anyways the viola was the only instrument with the range that could produce it. Which isn’t something that happens often, so I savored it while I could. Sorry ™ 

But hey! Viola gets the simple, pretty solo at the end of the bridge so it’s not a total loss! In the original track it was for voice, and I guess violin could have done just as well, but I think the warmer timbre of the viola is better for that part (I’m biased). It needs to be warm and velvety, comforting, and the violin is too bright ¯\_(ツ)_/¯