“Lydian Soliloquy” was the very first of my compositions that I posted on my YouTube channel back in June of 2022. I have not changed the recording, but my thinking about how to do a video has changed totally over the last seven months. Going into 2023 I have a very different vision of how to present my music. No more scores, just pictures is the way to go.
Of all the things that I have written this may be my favorite.
The form is simple. It is ABA. The A section uses pure Lydian in two keys: F Lydian, and C Lydian. The B section is a total contrast using octatonic, which is unstable, mysterious and can become violent when the energy increases in a forte passage. This provides a complete change from peaceful Lydian.
Finally the A section comes back and repeats the whole idea, simply fading away.
The reason Lydian is so hopeful, optimistic and exotic is the #4. This makes it the same as Ionian, also known as major, but with a twist. That one morph from regular 4 to #4 is the trick. Listeners having no idea what Lydian is will respond to the addition of some musical fantasy, and film composers use this idea to great effect in anything that is just a little bit unearthly.
Here’s the rest of the story. A few years ago I was searching for videos showing how to use improv for modes, and I ran into a sweet solo on guitar by a young teacher. I just loved the sound, and I thought the beginning of his improv could make a whole piece of music. That inspired me to write my etude. I simply love the sound he got in this video.
It is interesting to hear this evolve in interpretation. It is now slower, more pensive, and I may like this the best. The mysteriousness that seems to reside in Lydian comes out. I like how the bass is almost like an ancient drone, as in the music of yore.