Choral Choir (SATB) - Digital Download SKU: A0.1007511 Composed by R. LaBanca. Contemporary. Octavo. 3 pages. R. LaBanca #4801006. Published by R. LaBanca (A0.1007511). All great myths take place in legendary places - Mount Olympus, Atlantis, Camelot, Asgard and Cimmeria - the home of the great fictional hero Conan the Barbarian. The text used in this piece comes from a short poem by Robert E. Howard which he wrote while living in Boerne, Texas inspired by the terrain of the hill country. Howard uses incredibly descriptive text to paint the picture of the land of Cimmeria such as sombre hills, gaunt land and woodlands brooding. The verse then switches to the perspective of the narrator who struggles to recall what name was used for him when he existed in this ancient land. In setting this text I aimed to use a dense, sombre harmonic texture to illustrate this hazy memory of a distance place. When the voice of narrator is heard the music switches into a rough, barbaric chant and then back to the dark texture. The use of bassoon and synthesizer layered under the chorus should lend an other-wordly sound to the piece.
