I would like to thank Coin Op Studios for the opportunity to arrange and perform this piece for their album "Belmont," featuring new arrangements of pieces throughout the Castlevania franchise. Additional thanks go to PhoenixDownRPG, whose inspired performance on both the oboe and english horn made this arrangement come to life! Her insightful feedback was instrumental to the development of the arrangement, as this was my first time writing for a “wind” instrument (much less two)!
The original piece, Lost Painting, consists of four major themes: an intro, and three variations on the main theme. This arrangement plays on the four distinct themes, starting with a straight-up arrangement of the original, followed by a key change into a heavy counterpoint section that weaves the themes together. I went with the faster, more frantic tempo for this section to acknowledge the context that this piece appears in the game (i.e., in the inverted castle with significantly harder monsters)--the idea of the wild hunt is embodied in the “horn calls” put forth by each of the instruments at the beginning of the section.
The arrangement ends with a respite, similar to Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain; a moment of solace from all the demons running around! The main theme comes back in an elongated, elegant form. A simple harp postlude closes the arrangement with a final minor chord hinting at the mildly ominous tension ever-present in the job of the vampire hunter, whose work is never really done.
PhoenixDownRPG can be found at:
/ phoenixdownrpg
/ phoenixdownrpg
Free Sheet Music PDF
www.mediafire.com/file/mn2ncd7...
Chromatic Apparatus Tool Chain
- RHarp Merlin 35-string lever harp
- "Euro Standard Antique" cello (2007)
- Shure KSM137 Microphone
- Bartlett Cello Mic
- Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 (interface)
- Presonus Studio One audio mixing software
- Panasonic Lumix GX7 camera
- Cyberlink PowerDirector 12.0 Video Editing Software