Trying something different

 It's been a while since I posted, I was so focused on writing music for Mary's Dowry Productions, we had a backlog of films which we wanted to finish and release and we finally did it!  I wrote three film scores in a row for Hildegard of Bingen, Saint David Lewis and Saint Dymphna.  They gave me three opportunities for different styles of music and I was taken back 19 years to my first semester of college where we were asked to compose something in the style of Hildegard of Bingen!

In 2005 when I started my degree in music composition for professional media at Northbrook College, I had not heard of Hildegard of Bingen but we started right at the beginning before covering all styles and progressions of music and it was my favourite class.  I was just getting to grips with Cubase for the first time and doing a crash course in VST sounds.  With my student loan and grant I purchased Symphonic Choirs and I was the only one in my class to really study how to make the choirs speak.  I used the choirs to realistically speak words and for my piece I had them sing in plainchant one of Hildegard of Bingen's poems.  It was this that I dug out recently to use in my music score for the film after all these years!

Saint David Lewis gave me an opportunity to fuse some Welsh and Historical styles and Dymphna was something simple and uplifting.  The films are now available on DVD and Instant Video.

MUSIC CD ALBUMS

After all of this and 18 years of Mary's Dowry Productions I realised that I was drawing a lot upon similar styles and sounds and had become entrenched in writing music as an underscore for film.  My last album was VALLEYS which was 10 years ago.  I have produced a lot of Holy Spirit calming tracks which are easy for me to do but what I started out with at aged 14 is folklore, folk, Celtic style which I would compose at the piano and later on the Clavinova.  I miss these days.  I wrote 3 tracks for VALLEYS at the piano, transcribed them and then worked then into multiple instrumental scores on the computer.  They are so much more layered and interesting.

A few months ago I put everything away and decided that I wouldn't compose anymore, I was completely worn out.  However, this week I have turned everything back on and gone for something completely new.  I am into wildlife, conservation, climate right now and so I asked my sister for some nature titles and am going for a more fairy tale, nature style and really utilise my Forest Kingdom sounds.  Furthermore, I have dug out my manuscript paper and I shall be writing them at the clavinova so as to go back to my roots!

GOING DIGITAL

I still send out CD albums regularly but I am hot on making everything available digitally.  Yesterday I counted which albums are on Spotify, iTunes etc and am making the rest available.  I am not making music soundtracks available digitally but the Holy Spirit series, the Ancient Fusion series and the "others" such as Autumn, Christmas and future ones.  I'm very excited about this new direction! Check out my music on #Spotify 

Holy Spirit of Hope Music Album

 For several months I have been writing tracks with a view to using them in music scores for upcoming productions.  I have used them for the past three films and that has given me 8 tracks which I have set aside for Holy Spirit of Hope music album.  Today I took time out especially to write 2 more tracks so that I could finish this album and was very excited about it.  Halfway through I remembered that I will soon be writing the music for Margery Kempe so for track 10 I loaded some very ancient instruments such as Koblikzek, Nykelharpa, Lute, Psalter and used these as inspiration for the final track with a view to being able to use it in the film.  I am pleased to say that I have completed yet another album and also designed some of the artwork!  Once I hand the tracks over to my sister she will make me a nice trailer with music samples so watch this space.  It's nice coming right after the release of AUTUMN.

I am so pleased to have finished my album "Holy Spirit of Love"!  It took a while and the lockdown, although having more free time and being near the computer, unfortunately didn't seem to help with motivation.  Still, I have written all the tracks now and am so pleased with the album!  It's available currently on CD from all the usual outlets, website, Amazon, Ebay, and I am currently making it available for Digital Download on Spotify, iTunes etc.

The final themes of the album are very thought provoking, a lot of use of ancient instruments and voices as well as a real Celtic feel with my new Bodhran drum.  The track titles are as follows:

Track 1- Love Never Gives Up (3:48)

Track 2 - A Friend Loves At All times (4:28)

Track 3 - Greater Love Has No One Than This, That Someone Lay Down

His Life For His Friends (5:11)

Track 4 - Let All That You Do Be Done in Love (4:00)

Track 5 - Love Is Patient (5:51)

Track 6 - Love Never Fails (3:37)

Track 7 - I Found the One My Heart Loves (3:29)

Track 8 - Perfect Love Drives Out Fear (4:29)

Track 9 - I Am My Beloved's and my Beloved is Mine (5:17)

Track 10 - Love Covers a Multitude of Sins (5:03)

When designing the artwork I ended up going for snow and wolves which is completely different to my previous album which was a lot of desert and I had the idea all along for a lonely tree being on the album cover.  In "Spirit of Love" I was not sure what I would do but when I saw the wolves it really opened up the imagination for me and the depth that I wanted to convey through these pieces.  It was also the perfect difference needed when you put all the albums together.

I did actually complete this album a couple of months ago and it is slowly gaining interest.  Since then I have not written much music at all, I have been having a break after managing to complete all the tracks for this new one.  We have almost finished  the editing phases for our new upcoming film release "Edel Quinn and the Legion of Mary" so I am gearing up back into film score mode for when I begin writing the music score for this hopefully in a few weeks.  I have not actually written a film score since St. John Kemble film last year. 

Please head on over to our website to find out more about the NEW album at www.marysdowryproductions.org or look it up on Amazon or Ebay.

Holy Spirit of Love Music CD Album Update

Since April I have been working on my next instrumental album "Holy Spirit of Love".  For this album I took a different approach; for each track I thought about various people's stories and used their stories to inspire me.  It was interesting to focus on different aspects of love.  For example for track 1 I thought about two characters, a mother and daughter and the bond of love between them.  I also drew upon ancient instruments such as Tenor viola de Gamba, harps and soundscapes with subtle pianos, my usual choice of instruments but with added Celtic and ancient instruments.  

Other stories I used for inspiration were Tungdil and Balyndis from the Dwarves novel I am reading, capturing their story of adventure and then not being able to be together because Tungdil was from the wrong clan.  Also, Captain Lance and his daughter Laurel from the series Arrow, how he loved his daughters so much but Laurel died.  In this album there are all types of love; between father and daughter, friends, friends in hardship, mother and son.  It's been a really interesting journey. 

The past few days I have worked on track 9 for this album and I really made it difficult for myself by using a Bodhran drum rhythm which was very complicated.  I can usually write a track pretty quickly but this was rather difficult and took me longer to get everything in time with the beat.  In the end I was so pleased with the result! Because of this I decided that track 10 would be much simpler so this morning I have written track 10 with simple piano, harp, cello and strings, with a bit of a Celtic soundscape for atmosphere.  

Here are my current notes for working out the titles of each track.  The notebook is all I had to go on for this album and I've been adding names of people's stories as I write them as a reminder of what each track is based on.  Now I am taking these simple names and matching up a suitable title.

I am so pleased to have finished this album!  I am currently working out the titles.  I like to use titles from scripture but it's been a challenge to encapsulate the stories of each track with a simple line.  I have however pulled together some relevant simple titles such as "Love Never Gives Up" to represent the first track.  My next job will be to design the artwork for this next album.  

The previous album in this series is "Spirit of Solitude" which was very different and possibly my favourite one, although this new one might top it.  I will keep updating this blog with the progress and release of Spirit of Love.  All of my albums are available on CD through Amazon or from our website www.marysdowryproductions.org.  Many of them are available through Spotify, iTunes etc too.  Just search for "Bernadette Bevans". 

Holy Spirit of Solitude Digital Distribution Update

This weekend I have started the process for "Holy Spirit of Solitude" album, my latest album in the Holy Spirit music series, to be available for Digital Distribution.  This completes the Holy Spirit series making them available in both digital and audio CD formats.  I have also submitted "Journeys" for digital distribution.  I'm not sure how this will go as these first albums are quite old and were all performed and recorded using a Clavinova system.  I have since re-mastered them so it should be okay, I'm not sure how fussy they are with the submission process.  It will be great to have my Ancient Fusion Music albums available online.  I was just listening to JOURNEYS and it's so different!  I remember taking a theme for each track like "The Ice Vessel" and using the limited instruments to capture the feel and create an entire atmosphere and story.  Switching to my current album "Holy Spirit of Love" I see now why I feel so spoiled for choice with my delicious soundscapes not to mention the lead instruments I have now.  What makes JOURNEYS so great though is the feel of the clavinova, I love playing the clavinova.  Amazing the different compositions 20 years apart.

I have now written 7 tracks for Holy Spirit of Love and this album too has it's own unique atmosphere.  I have been enjoying contemplating characters and stories for each track, usually I focus on landscapes and peoples and imagine all kinds of stories, but for this I have taken just one or two people in my mind and composed pieces representing their love.  This is not something I've done before and it's been quite fun and new.  I hope to finish this album soon, I began round about April 2020 so not too bad so far. 

Holy Spirit of Love - Music Album Update

Being at home during the lockdown I thought that I would be able to write a tonne of music, however I just have not been able to for some reason, granted we have still been popping in to work each day and now that the schools are open we are going in extra to clean so have had even less time.  I also have been suffering from scar tissue pain in my side from surgery I had almost 7 years ago.  If I sit at the computer for too long it takes its toll.  Therefore, my upcoming album "Holy Spirit of Love" is taking a while!

I have to date written 6 tracks which is great, only 4 more to write, but they have been written over time.  This album has no titles as yet but for it I have allowed myself to sit and think, be inspired, by particular characters from series, films and books and then write and improvise and really feel a piece of music based on this.  For example track 5 focuses on the love for a particular mother and her son, track 2 the kinship and love between a group of friends in trouble, it's been a very interesting approach!  I'm really pleased with it so far and a couple of tracks have been used for trailers for Mary's Dowry Productions, sparking interest in the album and its release date.  It should not take me too long to write the remaining 4 tracks and it will be great to have a new album release.  I am still drawing upon my new sound samples, the Nyckelharpa from Soniccouture and the Eduardo Tarilonte's Celtic Era beautiful leading instruments like Irish Flute.

We are currently at the "end credits" stage for upcoming film "St. John Kemble" so I am looking forward to writing a score about an English Martyr again, if I have not written for Holy Spirit of Love before then this will hopefully get me back in the mood.  Until then, check out GOOGLE PLAY as I am making more and more albums available digitally there as well as of course Spotify, Napster, iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon etc.

Screenshot from upcoming film "St. John Kemble"

Holy Spirit of Calm - Album Now Digitally Available

I'm very pleased to announce that I've added another of my albums digitally, Holy Spirit of Calm is now available to purchase individual tracks or as an entire album on MP3, through CD BABY or through outlets such as YouTube, Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, Napster and tonnes more.  Also available for FREE through Amazon Music Unlimited.  

Here is a NEW trailer for the Album:

Click here to visit the Holy Spirit of Calm page for CD or Digital Information, tracks etc.

Holy Spirit of Solitude - New CD!

Last week I wrote several tracks and completed my latest CD album "Holy Spirit of Solitude" I have been working on it since November.  I am very pleased with this album, it has several varying moods and was inspired by several different things such as Japan, Jesus in the Wilderness, Celtic Era sounds, the Irish Flute and so many more!  It might be up there with one of my favourite albums.

Holy Spirit of Solitude CD

This CD is available now through our website www.marysdowryproductions.org. I have been taking samples from the various tracks and sharing them so as to give explanations of the pieces and the inspiration behind them.  So far I have shared track 1 and track 9 in video through my YouTube channel.  Track 1 starts the whole album off and you can listen to part of it here:

For Track 1 I based the mood on similar track styles from my album "Spirit of Gentleness" keep the guitar with a simple rhythmic play, adding strings, bass and the piano with gentle soundscapes.  It's quite catchy and peaceful, I really like it.  It changes slightly but is a good way to open the album up.  I have tried to keep this album quite spacious but it does have a lot of different moods, some of the pieces I have really fallen in love with!

This album is number 7 in my Holy Spirit music series.

Holy Spirit of Solitude

Just before Christmas, we managed to complete our 2019 work on "England: The Dowry of Mary" and release this new film on DVD and Instant Video.  After writing the music score for this I was still inspired so I immediately began work on a new instrumental album entitled "Holy Spirit of Solitude".  In the Black Friday sale "CELTIC ERA" came out and I was able to use this to complete my album "VALLEYS" which I had been working on since about 2014.

I have realized that I draw a lot upon the atmosphere of what I am currently watching or reading when I write my music.  Over Christmas we managed to finish "The Man in the High Castle" and I was so inspired by the sounds, the instruments but it seems even more so the drama and the story that I was able to write several tracks for this new album.  

Unfortunately I then had a lot of time away from the computer and went on to different things.  I find myself now without inspiration once more but wishing to write more tracks for Holy Spirit of Solitude.

This morning I wrote track 5 and I realize now that it is completely Japanese themed.  This is probably because for the past week and especially over the weekend we watched "James May: Our Man in Japan" so my mind was filled with the snow, the scenery, the beauty and the culture of this place and I subconsciously represented this in my music.  

As I write my music over time the tracks are representative it seems of various moods and it makes it very interesting.  I like that I experiment and do not allow my music to be restricted.  I used an Irish Flute today from Celtic Era but with a Japanese style, the result is something very original.

I hope to finish Holy Spirit of Solitude soon.  We are currently working on St. Alban Roe, English Martyr so I know I will be embarking on the music score for this probably this week.  

St. Alban Roe - our first 2020 production

Our 2020 goal is to release one film a month.  Too long we have filmed for a new production only to have it delayed sometimes for up to 2 years!!  St. Alban Roe was actually started and filmed for in March 2018 so we are going to finish it this January come rain or shine.  Music projects this year will also include St. Dominic Barberi and also Edel Quin.  

Screenshot from Edel Quin, representing her time in Africa

I am looking forward to writing the music for Edel Quin and the Legion of Mary film as she spent time in Africa so this will give me an opportunity to write African themed music too.

Holy Spirit of Solitude CD Album - Beginning

Following on from my release of "VALLEYS" after so many years, I still felt very inspired to write!  I immediately began to write "Holy Spirit of Solitude".  My last Holy Spirit Album was Holy Spirit of Serenity which I completed in 2017 although it feels as if I only just released it!  

Holy Spirit of Solitude CD

I was going to finish the series there but they are so popular I thought, a I am inspired, I will write another album.  My sister has been using the tracks a lot for film trailers and says that she is always in need of new tracks like this.   I began by writing two tracks similar to the style of the tracks on Spirit of Gentleness album.  Last week I purchased CELTIC ERA, it came on offer for Black Friday and it's something I have been after. 

 Immediately the first soundscape I loaded in to try out 'Burial Ground' inspired me to write a whole new track.  This track is moving, emotional and really inspired me so much!  I now have already 3 whole tracks completed for this new album which I hope to finish over a short amount of time.

KINGDOMS TRAILER - Folklore Instrumental Music CD Album

I am very pleased that I've finally taken the time to produce a short TRAILER for my CD Album "KINGDOMS". 

KINGDOMS CD Available from www.marysdowryproductions.org 

I began this album whilst at college as part of our final assignment for finding our own original style.  I'd written many music pieces for years up until that point and drawn upon instruments and sounds that I liked.  

This was the first time however that I thought about and pinpointed exactly what I liked about music and what I liked to write, what made me original as a composer.  So I drew upon ancient sounds, medieval instruments like the recorder, drums, baroque guitar, but I fused this with other sounds that I liked like the Duduk from the Middle East, voices of the elves, haunting ethereal voices, the piano, I literally took away all limits and fused all different thing to come up with something new.  

The result was 4 tracks from KINGDOMS and I completed this album over the following years to make a new and full CD album which is one of my favourites; it's really free and it's really different.  You can  now have a listen to the trailer for this album here:

Saint Edith Stein - Music Soundtrack Trailer

I have not been writing any music projects over Christmas, we've been having a bit of a break, clearing hard drives and getting everything ready for 2019 productions.  I have been organizing a few trailers for various albums however which are needed so that people can actually hear the content of the CD when looking at an album on the website.  It's also great to share the music.  I particularly like the music from St. Edith Stein because of the use of Mystic choirs by Eduardo Tarilonte, and the Duduk samples which are very moving and can be utilized very well.

Here is the trailer for my newest Soundtrack CD release "Calm Your Spirit With Music Volume 8: Science of the Cross":

This album is available on CD from www.marysdowryproductions.org 

Science of the Cross - St. Edith Stein - Music and Contemplation

Since deciding that I was not going to make any more soundtracks available on CD, I was asked to produce St. John of the Cross soundtrack, this is now available.  Then, the other day, my sister was working with the music score from St. Edith Stein film and noticed that the click-track was playing in the background, embedded in the music score.  

I found myself opening up the project from 2015 to check, muted this strange phenomenon and sent her a new clean file.

Whilst in the project I thought that I may as well make it into a soundtrack and so I spent the day dividing the full score into 9 tracks, levelling them out and mixing them down.  I called the album "Science of the Cross" and it is volume 8 in my Calm Your Spirit With Music series of Mary's Dowry Productions soundtracks from the films, instrumental as audio CD.

Track Listing:

Track 1: Visions of the Cross (2:57)
Track 2: Taking up the Cross (5:27)
Track 3: The Message of the Cross (5:05)
Track 4: A Theology of the Cross (3:41)
Track 5: The Word From the Cross (3:09)
Track 6: The Love of the Cross (3:31)
Track 7: The Cross and the Night (5:19)
Track 8: The Science of the Cross (6:47)
Track 9: The Glory in the Cross (3:17)

I produced a VLOG which speaks about the process involved in making this soundtrack, or any soundtrack from a Mary's Dowry film into an audio CD.  This can be watched here:



What I love about St. Edith Stein soundtrack is the use of Mystica voices by Eduardo Tarilonte, I fuse this with Duduk and it's a nice fusion of sound, very atmospheric and contemplative. 
It was nice to work on this straight after working on the St. John of the Cross CD (DARK NIGHT) as that soundtrack uses Cantus, also by Eduardo Tarilonte, the voices of monks, so it was a good contrast to work once again with the voices of female choirs in Mystica.  I am still currently working on and off on VALLEYS from my other series of Folklore type Olde English Instrumental fusion albums, following on from KINGDOMS produced in 2010 but it's very slow going.  I am currently having a pause from any Holy Spirit Music Series and seem to be mostly working at the moment on film scores and film soundtracks which is unexpected but interesting.  This new CD Album "Science of the Cross" is now available through our website at www.marysdowryproductions.org.  

Dark Night of the Soul - Carmelite Spirituality Music to Contemplate By

I have produced this trailer to show samples of the music from my new CD Soundtrack "DARK NIGHT".  'Dark Night' is Volume 7 in my Calm Your Spirit With Music Series of Mary's Dowry Productions soundtracks.  You can listen to it here:

This CD is available worldwide from our online shop www.marysdowryproductions.org 

The Dark Night of the Soul - Music for Contemplation - Saint John of the Cross Soundtrack

I had previously chosen to stop producing soundtracks onto CD at the six that I have released over the past several years.  Last week however somebody wrote to us asking where they could get the music soundtrack for St. John of the Cross Film.

Saint John of the Cross DVD

I remember writing this in 2014 and using CANTUS by Eduardo Tarilonte for the first time.  The monks voices and Gregorian Chant sounds are gorgeous and this score really does have it's own atmosphere.  So I decided to see if I could re-open the old project and produce the soundtrack onto CD for it.

It opened fine and I worked the score over the week into eight lovely tracks.  It was actually quite fun to listen to the music I had not heard in a while.  I gave the finished tracks to my sister to create titles for and she came up with titles relevant for this saint based upon the writings in the Dark Night of the Soul by Saint John of the Cross.

The titles of these tracks are:

Track 1: Fired With Love (2:39)
Track 2: By The Secret Ladder (4:43)
Track 3: More Surely Than the Night of Noon (3:54)
Track 4: O Night More Lovely Than Dawn (2:34)
Track 5: The Breeze That Fanned the Cedars (3:33)
Track 6: The Guiding Night (3:10)
Track 7: In Darkness and Secure (7:16)
Track 8: My House is Now Still (4:42)

I'm really pleased with this CD as it speaks musically of Carmelite Spirituality and has a strong and absorbing atmosphere.  The CD is called DARK NIGHT and is the 7th in my Calm Your Spirit With Music series of Mary's Dowry Productions soundtracks.  It's available through our online shop www.marysdowryproductions.org

Dark Night CD Album Now Available

NEW Trailer for REALMS CD album - Relaxing Instrumental Music

This week I have been working on a trailer so as to give some audio/visual samples of my CD album "Realms".  I really enjoyed working on this, it's a great album with so much going on and wonderful to listen to.  

This CD is available worldwide from

Mary's Dowry Productions

NEW ALBUM in the works 'VALLEYS' Landscapes, Fantasy Art, Stories, Music Composition and Inspiration

I am very pleased to be back working on my upcoming instrumental album VALLEYS.  I've been writing these albums on and off for two decades now!  An awful lot of work goes in to them, they are extremely creative and where I write most freely with great depths of imagination based on titles and pictures.  

When I completed KINGDOMS in 2010 I was excited to have a new addition to this series and I had the idea for VALLEYS in my mind but it was not until 2014 that my schedule enabled me to begin work on it.  

'Kingdoms' Album available on CD

I wrote 3 tracks and managed to arrange and record two of them but then we had such a work load again that VALLEYS got left behind.  The past couple of weeks I have had a bit more time to look at moving this album forward.  I finally took the biggest step of organizing my title tracks and layout, bringing together all the title ideas and choosing a new title for the next track.  

To date I am working on track 6 but track 5 is incomplete, so it's a bit messy, but the tracks so far are gorgeous!  I'm very pleased with them and cannot wait to complete this album.  My favourite track so far is the opening track entitled "Lady of the Valleys" and I love it, it's got a beautiful Xiao Flute leading.  I am currently working on 'Into the Lunar Valleys' so am going for a few more soundscapes like I did in REALMS for this particular track which is going very well so far.

The titles given to me by my sister always provide a foundation for writing and inspiration.  They hold such depth so when I sit to compose, I let my imagination go beyond the words and I picture stories and landscapes behind the title.  Fantasy art also plays a big role in my inspiration because I was first inspired by Lord of the Rings and the cinematic landscapes blended with CGI artwork of ancient statues etc.  So I picture, what once was and my mind is filled with many stories, portrayed through music, that then just flows.

The days go so quickly now but I am in between film scores at the moment so hopefully I can knuckle down and complete 'Into the Lunar Valleys' soon.

For more information visit my CD Page 

Calming Reflective Music, New Soundtrack Album, Water of Life, by Bernadette Bevans

Over the past several years people have asked about the music from Mary's Dowry Productions and I have tried to find time to answer their requests and make some of the music available on instrumental CD album.  I began with St. Etheldreda: Abbess of Ely as this was one of my favourite music scores at the time.

St. Etheldreda Soundtrack CD Album.

The soundtrack album has been through many title changes, track name changes and cover designs until a few months ago I re-labelled all soundtracks from Mary's Dowry Productions under the series banner: "Calm Your Spirit With Music", giving each individual album a subtitle and volume number.  There are only 6 album titles in this series and I've just completed the last one which I reckon will be the final album in this series.  I prefer to write freely with music albums and to take a soundtrack out of context from a film is difficult because a lot of the music is underscore so quite quiet and needs a lot of adjusting.  

6 CD Soundtracks Available.

I love the music from each film, some of my best work takes place within the context of a Mary's Dowry Productions film but I feel that I cannot have over 80 CD albums available.  Also, some of the scores were written in different programs so it's difficult to go back to the raw project to accomplish an instrumental track.

St. Piran of Cornwall DVD

I am pleased to announce that my latest soundtrack album is now available and it's one I've been wanting to release for a long time - the music score for St. Piran of Cornwall.  I wanted to do this because the music in it is absolutely lovely.  

NEW CD Soundtrack Album - The Music from St. Piran of Cornwall Film

I like writing music with a Celtic feel and I felt so free when I wrote this score.  Because we do not see St. Piran of Cornwall DVD very much because it is one of our lesser known saints, I feel that the lovely music in this film is lost but now on CD album it has a greater chance of being heard.

For the cover I chose a scene from Cornwall and also something that shows a lot of the sea because most of the scenery for this film is of the sea, rock pools, water.  The subtitle for this album is "Water of Life".  This album is "Calm Your Spirit With Music: Volume 6: Water of Life" and the 6th and probably the final installation of music soundtracks.  The soundtracks available now to date are from the following films:

St. Etheldreda
St. Margaret Ward
St. Cuthman of Steyning
St. David of Wales
St. Joan of Arc
St. Piran of Cornwall.

It's an interesting selection and one that came about due to circumstances and timing.

The Calm Your Spirit With Music series fuses instruments and soundscapes to create a contemporary, mystical and reflective mood which is both uplifting and meditative and tells a story.  Each volume presents a music soundtrack taken from an individual film but enhances it for audio CD.  As each track builds upon the next you are absorbed in a journey of peace, prayer, thought and memory.  This album is taken from the music soundtrack from Saint Piran of Cornwall film.  It was inspired by the stunning visuals of the sea, water, hills, landscapes, harbours and ancient Celtic England and Ireland.  Let the sounds of piano, Celtic harps, mystical winds, wooden flutes, mysterious horns, sounds of the sea and orchestral undertones absorb and uplift.  Perfect as background music, or for chilling out, for becoming lost in thought, prayer or to simply absorb yourself in the tunes these original soundtracks will help unwind and calm.  

Track Listing:

Track 1 - Water of Life (3:23)
Track 2 - You Will Draw Water From the Spring of Salvation (2:52)
Track 3 - Like Cold Water to a Thirsty Soul, so is Good News From a Far Country (2:42)
Track 4 - Buriana, Purest Lily (7:57)
Track 5 - The Tin Mining Saint (7:20)
Track 6 - Surely God is Good to Those Who Are Pure of Heart (1:43)

This CD is now available through www.marysdowryproductions.org 

Ioanna Arcensis, Saint Joan of Arc, Film Soundtrack, Music CD, New Release and Cover Design

Continuing on re-working all of the music soundtracks I have available on CD so far, I re-visited 'Calm your Spirit With Music: Volume 4' this week - the complete soundtrack for Saint Joan of Arc film.  I love this soundtrack, it's so mysterious, moving, emotional, bold and uplifting.  It is difficult to express the full extent of the content of this album and there does not seem to be as much interest in this as in my other CDs, yet the music is one of my favourite scores.   I spent a while redesigning the artwork for this album.  The first step was the sub title, I wanted the title to reflect Saint Joan subtly and to continue the theme of all my other CDs.  I was going to subtitle the album 'Power & Mercy' reflecting the powerful people of her time who captured and betrayed her but in the end, I decided on 'Trust & Mercy' because really, Saint Joan's trust, even whilst being told that the Church had forsaken her and cast her out, still trusted.  The new artwork is as follows:

Calm Your Spirit With Music Volume 4: Trust & Mercy CD

It also took me a while to sit and listen to this album whilst trying to name the tracks to reflect the theme/mood behind each.  I had to find the relevant track in the film and decipher exactly what was going on and what I was writing about at the time.  I really enjoyed it actually as I had forgotten how inspiring Saint Joan of Arc is.

The Track Listing is:

Track 1: Joan (4:15)Track 2: The Lord is My Strength and My Shield (4:10)Track 3: You Are My Witness (4:40)Track 4: God in the Midst of Battle (7:36)Track 5: The Saviour of France (7:08)Track 6: Betrayed (3:31)Track 7: God Alone (4:47)Track 8: A Noble Heart, A Heart of Fire (5:38)Track 9: You Are the Light of the World (2:30)

The music is both meditative but has movement too.  The blurb took me a while as I find it difficult to describe my music as it seems to be in a category of its own, especially this album.  I was inspired overall at the end of the music how Saint Joan of Arc was an example of being victorious in battle both physical and spiritual.  She really is a light in the darkness.

For the cover image I went for this beautiful scene which was French but also reminded me of our trips to Parham House when we filmed for several English Martyrs.  To me it captured a real atmosphere of Mary's Dowry Productions and atmosphere is very important to us.  To have an atmosphere that is right and correct on the cover of this album will help aid in translating what is inside, a very beautiful and moving score which I think everybody will enjoy.

My Journey with Saint Joan of Arc:

I never really liked Saint Joan of Arc, I think she has been portrayed badly, especially with 'the voices' that she heard.  I am not interested in the idea of battle, France, her being wrongly accused, I just never really connected.  We produce our films mostly for ourselves, and also to give me an opportunity to write music for a project that is very worthwhile.  I find that the process is a unique encounter with each saint.

The Beginning:

It begins for me editing the audio narration of the script that has been recorded.  The overall story is always inspiring and gives me a clearer idea of the saint and where they are coming from, especially if I did not know much about them before this point.  A while passes after this whilst the film is being edited but then one day the Avi file is popped on my desk and it's up to me to write a music score for the film, to capture the atmosphere/essence of the saint and the spiritual message of the film.  I never have a plan, I like to sit back and just see what happens.  I was intrigued with this film as we had not planned to make it but my sister decided we must produce a film on this saint after reading about her and being inspired.

First Steps - The Right Atmosphere

My first step was to load in some medieval drums and some war horns.  I was also looking for some mystical soundscapes to capture saint Joan's visions and voices.  Once I got started, the atmosphere really became spiritual and I was inspired by the saints' faith.  As the film progressed I came to understand that saint Joan's voices were not odd but profound.  With the right atmosphere on a story, the right message is portrayed and I think we managed it with this one.  The music in a film, especially about a saint, is very important, it cannot be creepy, overpowering or tedious.  An great element of spirituality is needed.  The last thing that needs to happen is for the listener/watcher to be put off the saint.

Instruments:

The drums and horns combine well with moving strings and subtle soundscapes, voices, choirs to give a very peaceful and mystical atmosphere that's extremely moving in places.  It also keeps a little tension in the setting of war but not in a barbaric or intrusive way, but still in a spiritual way, like a subtle threat but with the atmosphere of the Lord's presence.  I shall look at a couple of the tracks from this album below.

TRACK 2: The Lord is my Strength & My Shield

In this album, I entitled track two 'The Lord is my Strength and My Shield'.  This is the part of the film where saint Joan is visited and is very moved.  I used a particular heavenly soundscape on this, I cannot remember which, but I brought it in every time throughout the film whenever the voices were mentioned.  I was pleased because it kept the voices/visions mystical and supernatural and not creepy or weird.  This was important to me because my personal experience before this film of saint Joan of Arc was of a slightly crazy person but having worked on this film and encountered her, I see her now as more of a strong woman, strong in Trust. 

TRACK 6: BETRAYED

Track 6 is called simply 'Betrayed'.  In this part of the film Saint Joan helps win the battle, she is owed everything, yet they decide to sell her to the British in utter betrayal.  I was horrified at the level of betrayal in this, having built up the score emotionally of all saint Joan's efforts and sacrifices for France, to be betrayed like this afterwards.  My sister portrayed Saint Joan in the film and I used a long full string sequence for this and I remember when I wrote it I was very moved, connecting with the saint as well as my sister in a way.  It hit home that saint Joan was a lovely person and being treated so badly.  The result (as it always is when I tap in to extreme emotion) was a very very moving sequence, atmospheric, mystical, poignant.  It might be my favourite track.

Overall, I love this soundtrack and I am pleased to be presenting more and more of the music from the films onto CD.

Calm Your Spirit With Music Volume 4: Trust & Mercy is available now from www.marysdowryproductions.org

Contemplative, absorbing and mystical yet fused with spiritual contest and powerful emotion this new album takes everything that is faith and history and unites it to music.   With the ethereal chants of spiritual choirs and distant church bells, the sprinkling of delicate harp, expressive cello and passionate drums and horns, this album is both fresh and contemporary, reflective and brooding.  Allowing the mind to meditate in peace but at the same time stirring the senses to hunger after righteousness with reflective use of strings, flutes, guitars, piano, soundscapes and more.   These tracks are taken from the full music score written for 'Saint Joan of Arc' film in 2016 and presented here as a musical chronicle of conviction, hope and supernatural ambience.  Very moving, uplifting and absorbing.  

Saint Joan of Arc DVD

Saint Joan of Arc DVD is available also from Mary's Dowry Productions and through Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk