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Confronting fate
Ragon, Douglas
Ragon, Douglas
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t24026_Ragon.pdf
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2024-05
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Confronting Fate is a four-movement suite for jazz big band, which merges aspects of neoclassical power metal, progressive metal, and djent into the big band idiom. The piece is semi-programmatic, and loosely tells a story of a hero fighting against a preordained existence to make their own fate. Music in the power metal genre is known for telling epic stories, which stereotypically might be about dragons and wizards, but most universally are about personal growth, freedom, and an internal locus of control. Confronting Fate’s story comes from that tradition. Movement 1, Prophecy, opens with a Bach-esque chorale before moving into a quasi-passacaglia and fugue. Throughout the movement, baroque style chord progressions and melodies can be heard, though they are juxtaposed against a modern jazz groove reminiscent of Maria Schneider compositions such as Hang Gliding. In the story, the hero has been prophesized to succumb to a fate out of their control and resolves to fight against this fate. Movement 2, Calamity, takes influence from progressive metal and djent. Saxophones play a near continuous riff throughout the movement, which phases and weaves onto itself creating internal patterns. Trumpets and trombones contribute with segments of this riff, further adding to the chaos. Eventually, everything converges into a djent-like breakdown, where open chugging from the guitars brings the band into a heavier texture, mirroring the music of bands such as Periphery and TesseracT. In the story, the hero is now engaged in battle against their fate, though the battle is not proceeding in the hero’s favor. Movement 3, From The Deep, is a power ballad. The lead guitarist is featured, bringing a taste of Yngwie Malmsteen into the big band world. This movement offers a brief reprieve from the chaos of movement 2, though it does not last long, as the band enters to end the movement in grandiose fashion. In the story, the hero has reached their lowest point following defeat in movement 2, but they find their inner strength and rise from the depths of defeat to finish the fight. Movement 4, …Make Their Own Fate, takes influence from the power metal genre with its driving groove, chord progressions, and melodies, and bands such as Galneryus, Stratovarius, and Sonata Arctica. Inspiration is also taken from the music of final boss fights in video games such as Destiny, and themes from previous movements are brought together to provide an epic and triumphant conclusion. In the story, the hero has arrived at their final battle, and uses their learnings from previous events in the story to make their own fate and emerge victorious.
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Thesis (M.M.)-- Wichita State University, College of Fine Arts, Dept. of Music
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Wichita State University
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© Copyright 2024 by Douglas Ragon
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