By James Dever jamesdever Bandcamp tylerdever Bandcamp jamesdevermusic SoundCloud jamzdenver Twitter.
Released 7/13/2011.
Duration: 1:43.

Listen on Bandcamp or YouTube.

Download sheet music files.
Read artist commentary.

Contributors:

• Erik Scheele erikscheele Bandcamp erikscheele SoundCloud jitters20 Twitter jitmakesstuff Tumblr Jitmakesstuff YouTube erikscheele.com erikscheele.com (performance)

Tracks that The Prelude references:

• Homestuck Anthem by Clark Powell

Print or download sheet music files:

• Piano score by James Dever (original composer)

  • The Prelude - James Dever.pdf (24.6 kB)

Artist commentary:

James Dever: (composer's notes)

The Prelude is a piece that I formulated a long time ago. It actually came about from me trying to figure out the chords the harps play in the quiet last section of Saturn from Gustav Holst's The Planets. When I started writing Sburb I decided that it would fit perfectly with the theme that the game creates. The structure of the chords is not unlike how the game actually functions. They work as a juxtaposition of good and evil by using relative major and minor chords. It starts off quietly and on higher octaves to introduce the mood. The next section brings in the Homestuck Anthem as an introduction to the album itself, signaling the beginning of the entire process. The piece suddenly grows in intensity as the left hand C octave ostinatos enter the phrases followed by the calm of the storm. The piece does not resolve, however it does lead straight into the next.

James Dever: (Bandcamp rerelease)

The introduction to the suite lays the fundamentals and ideas present throughout the rest of the movements. A juxtaposition between major and minor are in every chord creating a backbone of polytonality that I wanted to explore as I formulated the album.

The main Homestuck anthem is weaved through the chords as this album was originally written for and published through MS Paint Adventures and What Pumpkin. The original theme was composed by Clark Powell.

The album in its entirety is performed by Erik Scheele.