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 

Saint Thomas Garnet and the Gunpowder Plot, English Martyr, Reformation, Henry Garnet, Catholic Films and Music

Because we acquired so much footage for various upcoming films last year, in our great enthusiasm, we have had a backlog of productions to put together, many of which I have been looking forward to writing the music to.  This month we have been working extra hard to catch up and I recently completed the music score for "A Simple Soul: St. Mary Mazzarello" DVD.  This completed the films recorded for in January 2017: St. Don Bosco, St. Dominic Savio, St. Jacinta Marto, St. Mary Mazzarello, and just left us with a couple remaining from our filming day in March 2017. 

Screenshot from St. Don Bosco Film, filmed for in January 2017, Now available.

We moved straight on to our outstanding production "St. Thomas Garnet and the Gunpowder Plot" which I have been looking forward to as I love the English Martyrs.

Screenshot from Bartolo Longo film, filmed in March 2017 and now available.

In March 2017 we filmed for Bartolo Longo, St. Margaret Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, St. Claude de la Colombiere and the Sacred Heart in England, and St. Thomas Garnet.  

Having these productions outstanding for so long has put us very behind so I was keen to get onto the music score for St. Thomas Garnet as soon as it was edited together and to bring us closer to our goal.

Saint Thomas Garnet

Approaching this music score I was not dubious at all because I have written for so many characters from this era.  I loaded my palette with several sounds from the era such as Nykelharpa, Harpsichord, Alto Recorder, Koblikzek, Baroque Guitar, Frame Drum, Medieval Soundscapes.  This gave me lots to draw upon.  I decided to begin the opening titles with drums and an upbeat tempo, leading with Nykelharpa and harmonizing with piano, strings and filling with several other instruments.

Baroque Guitar in Era II

It's been a while since I used frame drum but I used to use it a lot for St. Swithun Wells, St. Nicholas Owen, St. Richard Gwyn and others that we produced several years ago and I always found that they very much enhanced the atmosphere; the drums I have are so realistic that it's like actually hearing a frame drum from Elizabethan times.

St. Nicholas Owen: The Priest Hole Maker DVD

The music score for St. Thomas Garnet and the Gunpowder Plot took me a few days to compose.  As well as being upbeat and very interesting, historical and factual I found that there were several places that were poignant such as re-visiting St. Anne Line's story, Fr. Mark Barkworth's last words at the gallows, St. Nicholas Owen giving himself up to save Fr. Henry Garnet when they were hiding in priest holes.  I learn a lot from our productions and I again learned a lot about the era of the Gunpowder Plot and was inspired by these wonderful Catholic priests who gave their lives to bring the Sacraments to the persecuted Catholic of England.  Being immersed in this era has filled me with inspiration for our English Martyrs once more!

Saint Thomas Garnet and the Gunpowder Plot is now available on DVD worldwide.

NEW DVD St. Thomas Garnet and the Gunpowder Plot.

Mary Mazzarello, Salesian Sisters, Don Bosco, A Simple Soul: St. Mary Mazzarello New DVD Release.

Having completed the music score for our new production 'A Simple Soul: St. Mary Mazzarello', we are pleased to release this new film on DVD.  I spoke in my last post about writing the music score for this and having tested the masters and gone through a long post-production process I find myself very inspired by this saint.  I knew nothing at all about her before making this film.  

St. Mary Mazzarello - founder of the Salesian Sisters

We filmed back in January 2017 for St. Don Bosco and we also obtained enough footage so as to produce separate DVDs on Saint Dominic Savio and Saint Mary Mazzarello.

Saint Don Bosco DVD - Founder of the Salesians

There were times over the past year and a half when we thought about just leaving it at St. Don Bosco, we have such a backlog and a lot of work that sometimes it overwhelms us.  In the end we decided that their stories should be told in film and that we would work hard to complete these other two productions.  I am so pleased we did as both of their stories are so beautiful and inspiring.

Screenshot from 'St. Don Bosco' production

  St. Dominic Savio is of particular interest with his vision of England and I am always surprised at how many saints point back to England as Mary's Dowry and the importance of her re-conversion to the Catholic Faith one day.  

6 Catholic Founders DVD

'A Simple Soul: Saint Mary Mazzarello' is available as a single DVD but also as part of a new box set, 6 Catholic Founders.

A Simple Soul: St. Mary Mazzarello NEW DVD

It can be purchase online through Mary's Dowry Productions, or through Amazon or Digitally through ON DEMAND.

A Simple Soul - Saint Mary Mazzarello - Founder of the Salesian Sisters - Music Score Project

In January 2017 Mary's Dowry Productions filmed for four new films: Saint John Bosco, Saint Mary Mazzarello, Saint Dominic Savio and Saint Jacinta of Fatima.  Now, a year and a half on, we are still suffering from a backlog of productions but are knuckling down to get them done!  In 2014, Mary's Dowry Productions had fourteen new releases!!  It's slowed down a lot, I'm not sure if it's just that we're getting older or are just so busy.  Anyway, this year has been so slow but we have done a lot of filming.  It's no good having about 8 productions' footage just sitting there though, so we decided to just get them done.  This week has seen us working on St. Mary Mazzarello production - the last from the January 2017 filming day and I am happy to say - it is currently mixing down!!

Saint Dominic Savio DVD, Mary's Dowry Productions

Saint Don Bosco DVD, Mary's Dowry Productions

Jacinta of Fatima DVD, Mary' s Dowry Productions

In all truth, I wrote the entire music score in just one day today.  That's rare, sometimes I can spend hours on just 3 minutes, but I took away all pressure and just enjoyed it.  I used a lot of improvisation methods so much of it was just playing in and adding to what I'd written.  It was really fun.  The main instruments, besides my usual base of strings, soundscapes, Trilian Bass, harp, guitar, was to use Celtia again by Eduardo Tarilonte.  I'd not used these fantastic female voices since I wrote the music score for St. Julian of Norwich.  They're so gorgeous and inspiring.  Whilst I was waiting for the video file, I wrote an introduction with pizz strings and doubled these up with Baroque Guitar from Era II.  This kind of made it's own interesting fusion sound - very nice.  I was looking for soundscapes to add atmosphere and I used Ancient Spirits and Ancient Tree from Forest Kingdoms - all Eduardo Tarilonte.  This added the right depth of mystery when approaching St. Mary Mazzarello's story.

Screenshot from Mary' s Dowry Productions DVD 'Saint Julian of Norwich: England's Mystic'

The rest of the score was straightforward and I found the story of this wonderful saint very inspiring and uplifting.  It was nice to re-visit St. John Bosco but from the perspective of the Salesian sisters, I not only learned about Saint Mary Mazzarello but more about Saint John Bosco too.

One thing I did use was Nykelharpa from Forest Kingdoms, or Era II, I forget which one.  I'd not used it before but it was great and had a realistic click for each key press.  I gave this the lead for a while in the middle of the score then switched to harpsichord.  The result: the sound of a long time ago, the sound of very pleasant interesting underscore - perfect!

Nykelharpa - Instrument used in 'A Simple Soul: Saint Mary Mazzarello'

We are moving straight on to completing our new film on Saint Thomas Garnet, English Martyr, it will be great to switch into Medieval mode - that's my all time favourite.

We are now up to working on the productions we filmed for in March 2017.  Still behind schedule, but making progress.  For our NEW WEBSITE and listing of everything available please visit: www.marysdowryproductions.org 

I will speak about my latest CD Album release - Calm Your Spirit With Music Volume 6: Water of Life in another post - this is the last of my Mary's Dowry Productions soundtrack series and focuses on the music score I wrote for our production in Saint Piran of Cornwall. I love it!

Saxon Saints of the Catholic Church, Mary's Dowry Productions, Catholic Films, Family Films, Spiritual Music

To date I have written over 80 music scores for Mary's Dowry Productions.  With each of our films, music plays such an important role and each films music score is composed directly to picture.  I start out with a completed production with narration but no music and it's my job as music composer for Mary's Dowry Productions to lift the film off the screen and into people's hearts as it were.  Music creates a connection, spiritually and emotionally, with the viewer.  The first music score I ever wrote was for our production on Saint Philip Howard and it was the longest composition I had written because until this point I had been writing music albums for many years, each containing shorter tracks.  

Saint Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel DVD

To embark on a full music score was different because I had to connect with the story as it went along, the narration, the places for quiet etc.  It was less free than writing a CD album but the music still grew and evolved itself.  There were some places in the film that were sad, others biopic, other places exciting and this all gave direction to me as to where to take the score.

Because Mary's Dowry Productions initially came about through music and music to Catholic film, we always leave space for music in each of our productions.  Sometimes this will be with longer introductions, scenery breaks, meditation or prayer.  This is what makes our productions unique.  Over the past 11 years I have approached so many different films from Saxon England, Italy, The Reformation Period, Nazi Germany, Ancient Rome, Modern Friaries.  Each saint's story is unique and each of our productions has its' own atmosphere and theme.

In this post I will talk about the Saxon Saints of England I have written for.

The Church of Saint Cuthman of Steyning, Saint, in Steyning, Sussex, Mary's Dowry Productions

Filming Saint Cuthman of Steyning, Mary's Dowry Productions, Catholic Films

The first one was Saint Cuthman of Steyning and it was such fun.  This was using my old music setup, straight out of college in my bedroom with some basic VSTs I had acquired during the course of college.  One of these sounds was Pizz Strings, a gorgeous sample from Vienna Orchestra which immediately sounds as if an auditorium is being filled with many strings on pizz.  This was the foundation for Saint Cuthman of Steyning and because much of the film was filmed with a cart on top of the downs, the atmosphere is light and humorous. 

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Filming Saint Cuthman of Steyning, Mary's Dowry Productions, Catholic Films

When I start a music score I do it layer by layer so I record one layer of music, for example the pizz strings, and improvise in for about 15 or 20 seconds.  Then I tidy it up, play it back and then add another lay, full strings, or banjo or whatever.  I add multiple layers of harmonies and sound until I am happy that it is full enough sounding and I move on, in sections between 10 seconds and a couple of minutes.

I have a particular fondness for writing for Saxon Saints such as saint Cuthman of Steyning.  I can get to use very ancient, often strange or exotic instruments.  I don't like to be predictable, I have my own sound and style, so I will fuse in many things, hints of history but also atmospheres of contemporary.   

Saint Cuthman of Steyning statue, Steyning, Catholic, Church, Catholic Films

 When we filmed for Saint Cuthman of Steyning film, we visited Steyning where his church and statue are.  There were some lovely images and stained glass windows which were beautiful and these are some of the photographs I took from our trip.  

We spent a couple of days up on the Sussex Way, the South Downs, and visited another church which was very old, all in the search for good scenery, old buildings, graveyards as well as the relevant places of Saint Cuthman of Steyning's life.  We also filmed on another day some visual re-creations, soundless, that portray some of the events in his life.  All of this beautiful imagery which came together to tell Saint Cuthman's wonderful story, inspired me when it came to writing the music.

Church of St Mary the Blessed Virgin, Sompting, Sussex.

Other Saxon Saints which we have produced Catholic DVDs on include Saint Piran of Cornwall, Saint Etheldreda of Ely, Saint Bertha, Saint David and more.  I would like to talk about writing the music for these films in later posts.  For now, focusing on Saint Cuthman I remember I used the pizz strings for a lovely uplifting atmosphere and after the credits there was about a minute of scenery, butterflies and bees against some gorgeous flowers which we acquired in the same area.  With panoramic shots of the South Downs interspersed with Saint Cuthman, his mother in his cart and an array of sheep it makes for a lovely opening sequence.

Saint Cuthman persevered on his journey across the South Downs until he stopped at Steyning to build a church.  There is one part of the film where he had a vision in the midst of the building-process and we use light effects to represent the Good Shepherd coming through a door like a glorious apparition.  It was a lovely opportunity for atmospheric, meditative and spiritual soundscapes, I only had a limited number back then.  The music in this section is reflective and empowering, it brings the sense of the rich spiritual aid which we receive every day and every time we ask, from Heaven.  I used ancient strings and wind instruments alongside this so the atmosphere is ancient, English, Saxon History but very rich in the spiritual with an aid to reflection and prayer.  

Saint Cuthman of Steyning DVD, Mary's Dowry Productions www.marysdowryproductions.org 

Writing the music for Saxon Saints is wonderful, whenever we film for one I get excited and pleased at the prospect of the music I can write.  A lot of my music CD albums are this kind of style so it comes easy for me.  I love these types of instruments you can use.

To date I have made available on CD 5 soundtracks from Mary's Dowry Productions films.  I'd like to make as many as possible available because the music is similar to my CDs which are very popular, but each album has the essence of a particular saint and hence the unique atmosphere of that particular production.  Saint Cuthman of Steyning music score is so uplifting it was requested so it's one of the 5 I have available.  All my music soundtracks are under the series heading "Calm Your Spirit With Music" and Saint Cuthman is Volume Two, subtitled, Joy in Service.

Calm Your Spirit With Music: Joy in Service - available from Mary's Dowry Productions

www.marysdowryproductions.org

The complete music soundtrack from Saint Cuthman of Steyning

I hope you have enjoyed reading about the Saxon Saints of Catholic England from Mary's Dowry Productions. We hope to produce many more in the future.  For now, take a look at our website to browse our DVDs and music CDs!

To hear exceprts from this album visit my you tube channel.  You can also watch the FULL FILM for free via our Mary's Dowry Productions You Tube Channel.

Composing the Saint Dominic Savio Music Score, Salesians, Child Saints, Catholic

Last week I composed the music score for Mary's Dowry Productions 81st DVD film "Saint Dominic Savio".  We filmed for this lovely production back in January 2017 and it has been a bit of a nightmare to get it done.  All of a sudden I found myself in the position to write the music and knew we were just a few days away from having a new production which is always exciting.  To begin, I decided to keep to my usual instruments, not try anything too fancy and to keep the mood refreshing and uplifting.  I gave myself plenty of time and not too much repetition; I kept creating new themes and moods as the film developed. 

Saint Dominic Savio is an inspiring film about a young boy who made a decision to become a saint when he was very small and stuck to it, choosing his friends wisely and being faithful to prayer and the Sacraments of the Church.  In this film we look at his early life and his meeting of St. John Bosco who tells him he looks like good material to be made into a saint.

The music score I wrote blends harps, guitars, baroque guitars, piano, strings and voices (my usual base of sounds), with a few modern subtle beats detailing the early story of Dominic's life.  Dominic was saintly, for example he called St. John Bosco in the night to the home of a dying man in need of a priest.  This reminded me of the mystery of St. John Bosco's dreams when we produced 'Don Bosco' DVD last year and I used some soundscapes called Enki and Forest Gathering to build a dreamlike mood as St. Dominic leads the way.  I also used a Medieval Tenor Victimae Paschali whenever the film visits the Oratory of St. John Bosco, creating an atmosphere of holiness and prayer.  This really aided in creating the right setting as the sounds of chanting in Latin created the sound of a religious environment. 

Later in the film St. Dominic Savio has a vision of England.  We see the Pope holding a flaming torch and we visit England and the English Martyrs.  I loved writing to this section, I used an old instrument which I used a lot in our English Martyrs films, Koblikzek, which sounds like a recorder but very ancient.  Further on in this section on the Faith in England, I bought in very subtle distant bagpipes.  The sound was both English, Celtic and rich in the Faith and I felt the usual zeal for bringing England back to the One True Faith and I was surprised that this was so relevant and apt to this film.  This music score has given me an opportunity to use a lot of instruments that I have used in the past but have not used for a little while.  It has meditative sections which are very moving and inspiring as St. Dominic's wisdom is presented.  The entire film and score filled me with inspiration for the Faith, zeal for England and a rich desire to try better to strive to be a saint.

Saint Dominic Savio is available worldwide on Region Free DVD Format from our website www.marysdowryproductions.org   To hear some of the music you can view a trailer for the film here: SAVIO TRAILER 

Music Updates and News for Mary's Dowry Productions

I've not written much music for a while since completing the music score for St. Margaret Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus DVD. 

We had a filming day at the end of March and filmed for four new productions, two of which will require a Medieval or Elizabethan style which I am looking forward to, and one set in Ireland which will give me a great opportunity for Celtic and Irish music which I love to write.  I have noticed that my favourite sound sampler Eduardo Tarilonte has produced two new sound products, Ancient Era: Sounds of Persia and Celtic Era, both of which will be perfect for the type of music I like to write.  I am holding off on them at present to save funds and utilize as much as possible the sounds that I already have.

We are currently in production of St. Dominic Savio film, we filmed for this back in January 2017 and have not had a proper chance to edit it together since.  In the following weeks I shall begin the music score of this which I am sure will be quite mystical and atmospheric as he had a vision of England.  This also links back to the English Martyrs as a lot of our films do so hopefully I shall have another opportunity to use my ERA Medieval sounds which I love and find easy to write with - I particularly love to use the Tenor Viola da Gamba as a lead instrument, it fits the era so well and stirs up beautiful atmospheres.  I used to have a real lack of lead instruments until I got the Gypsy Violin in Gypsy Samples but it uses so much memory it's quite difficult to use as I fear the PC will crash at any moment.  Since Eduardo Tarilonte's samples I've collected, I've had so much more choice and it's been wonderful.  Until embarking on my new music soundtrack I shall continue to organise my CD albums which I have gradually re-designed and catalogued and which are looking great.