25.09.2018
Making music for Knight & Wolf music album
«A man never goes so far as when he does not know whither he is going».
Knight and Wolf is a contemporary classical music album released in 2018. The album was recorded from the end of 2016 to the end of 2017.
The album appeared as a result of two composers collaboration: Ilya Denisov and Alexey Tsarkov. Some time later the project took the name of the album.
Knight & Wolf album is not just a musical work but also a philosophical expression which is told through writings, paintings and poems.
The music album is based on Ilya’s keyboard compositions from different periods of his creative life, but many compositions were created specifically for the project. Thanks to Alexey’s musical arrangement, these compositions were interpreted for orchestra performance.
The music of the project speaks to the listener with a voice of an orchestra: violins, trombones, piano and wind instruments are woven together in a single sound to tell the real story about finding a dream which enables listeners find their own interpretation.
The album appeared as a result of two composers collaboration: Ilya Denisov and Alexey Tsarkov. Some time later the project took the name of the album.
Knight & Wolf album is not just a musical work but also a philosophical expression which is told through writings, paintings and poems.
The music album is based on Ilya’s keyboard compositions from different periods of his creative life, but many compositions were created specifically for the project. Thanks to Alexey’s musical arrangement, these compositions were interpreted for orchestra performance.
The music of the project speaks to the listener with a voice of an orchestra: violins, trombones, piano and wind instruments are woven together in a single sound to tell the real story about finding a dream which enables listeners find their own interpretation.
“
Initially I didn't have any desires or aspirations to compose music and certainly I wasn't thinking about recording it. I enjoyed playing but I didn't do it every day. At the very beginning it was a way to spend some time alone and get away from everyday problems.
As time went on I didn't really know what to do with my life and I started to have less desires to listen to motivational speeches of ideologists, speakers, successful CEO's and mentors. I felt like I spent a lot of my time solving up other people's problems. But when I sat to play an instrument all the burden was disappearing and I was more or less my own self.
This interaction with music inspired the idea of creating the Knight. I described his path through music and considered his decisions as an answer to my own questions. Then Alexey's path has crossed my own. Thanks to his work the Knight's story obtained a first serious musical form.
As time went on I didn't really know what to do with my life and I started to have less desires to listen to motivational speeches of ideologists, speakers, successful CEO's and mentors. I felt like I spent a lot of my time solving up other people's problems. But when I sat to play an instrument all the burden was disappearing and I was more or less my own self.
This interaction with music inspired the idea of creating the Knight. I described his path through music and considered his decisions as an answer to my own questions. Then Alexey's path has crossed my own. Thanks to his work the Knight's story obtained a first serious musical form.
“
While working on the project, Ilya paid special attention to music compositions. He wanted to stress that the characters and the events happening to them were connected with the music development. It helps listeners to follow the plot and identify with the characters. The tune that sounds less significant in one composition, has the main part in another one and develops obtaining surprising sounding.
By means of music we tried to give an opportunity to the listeners to ponder and look for their own interpretation of the story. Ilya and his father created the world, which is hard to describe but easy to feel. Thus, the music that you are hearing is more than just words.
By means of music we tried to give an opportunity to the listeners to ponder and look for their own interpretation of the story. Ilya and his father created the world, which is hard to describe but easy to feel. Thus, the music that you are hearing is more than just words.
The album world is depicted in illustrations and poems created by Alexander Denisov, Ilya’s father. Each album composition is accompanied by a poem and demonstrates certain situations in man’s life and the author’s personal attitude to them. Together the compositions create a coherent artistic story.
The authors were striving to tell a story through different art forms. This story has a twist, narration, characters development and a climax, which reveals a true nature of the main characters and their final transformation. Music is the central means of the story narration and transmitting the emotional message to a listener and a viewer.
The main character of the story is a lonely bannerless knight with no purpose. It’s a collective character of daydreamer whose journey through a storyline is a path that a man goes through while searching his dream and life’s purpose.
According to the storyline, the Knight eagerly plunges into an unknown world but gets lost in his own delusions. He becomes callous and brutal in a constant fight to be the strongest and his mind poisoned by wicked guides leads him to a palace of other people's dreams.
Every music piece is intertwined with the story of the Knight and other characters that he encounters on his path. Through the prism of music metaphors listeners can follow the crucial parts of a story plot, identify with the characters and the challenges they are facing during the fight for the dream.
The authors were striving to tell a story through different art forms. This story has a twist, narration, characters development and a climax, which reveals a true nature of the main characters and their final transformation. Music is the central means of the story narration and transmitting the emotional message to a listener and a viewer.
The main character of the story is a lonely bannerless knight with no purpose. It’s a collective character of daydreamer whose journey through a storyline is a path that a man goes through while searching his dream and life’s purpose.
According to the storyline, the Knight eagerly plunges into an unknown world but gets lost in his own delusions. He becomes callous and brutal in a constant fight to be the strongest and his mind poisoned by wicked guides leads him to a palace of other people's dreams.
Every music piece is intertwined with the story of the Knight and other characters that he encounters on his path. Through the prism of music metaphors listeners can follow the crucial parts of a story plot, identify with the characters and the challenges they are facing during the fight for the dream.
“
Unfortunately I never finished the music school. I was a poor musician and I couldn't learn musical notation. That's why I got disappointed in my own abilities. Life has taught me to hate my imperfections, always demonstrating the examples of more successful people.
I came back to music when one of my old friends told me that I needed to record all the compositions that I had been creating from time to time just to escape from everyday problems. When we did it, I got genuinely excited and wanted to continue. In a few years I met Alexey Tsarkov, who simply said: "You've got the potential. We can create an album together".
When I started recording some of the compositions, I once again felt that I am not good enough, but support from people around me helped me to find the way to my true feelings. I stopped comparing my work with someone else's and found a way to draw inspiration from my own life experience, my past and the people around me.
I came back to music when one of my old friends told me that I needed to record all the compositions that I had been creating from time to time just to escape from everyday problems. When we did it, I got genuinely excited and wanted to continue. In a few years I met Alexey Tsarkov, who simply said: "You've got the potential. We can create an album together".
When I started recording some of the compositions, I once again felt that I am not good enough, but support from people around me helped me to find the way to my true feelings. I stopped comparing my work with someone else's and found a way to draw inspiration from my own life experience, my past and the people around me.
“
After some time, when I plunged into the work of creating images and poems, I suddenly realized that the plot of this story coincided with my life, that the son, whether he intended it or not, told not only about his experience of relationships and feelings but some episodes of my life, which were not always bright. And it takes a lot of effort - to look at ourselves from the side.
The story of the Knight depicts the reality that people make up for themselves in an attempt to discover the world. There is no good or evil but there are victims.
Upon leaving boyhood, a man is confronted with a world that has existed long before his birth: that of opinions, delusions, tendencies, archetypes, stereotypes, legacies and prejudices. Trapped in the shadow of history, of age-old images and ideals, a man begins to feel the urge to belong, and thus inevitably joins in with any of the aforementioned.
The world of men is filled with ideas and dreams. All you have to do is reach out and the big dream becomes your compass. Zealous leaders and sly "wisemen" are always ready to provide the meaning of existence for us. There are also those who yearn for more: they raise their banner to crush old idols and erect their own.
The best of men are always in a hurry to serve big dreams and big ideas or create their own. When a man drinks the potion of knowledge from the hands of a great dream, he becomes disconnected from the fear of loneliness. Intoxicated, he will readily laugh at everything that once made him vulnerable. He will think he has now figured out what is worth living and dying for. But he who is in a hurry to give his life meaning more quickly often forgets that any dream will always require sacrifice, whatever it may be.
Time and vitality, and sometimes life itself, will all be put to great deeds. Unfortunately, the history of the world shows that such deeds are often followed by reckless acts.
But, apparently, it is impossible otherwise. The desire to curb and change a proposed destiny is deeply rooted in the nature of every man. It cannot be changed. A man needs to fight. Struggle is his main inspiration and driving force, but it is also the cause of many misfortunes that become evident only generations later.
The world of men is immense and too complex, and thus the path to understanding it lies inevitably in the shadow of its history, hand in hand with jealousy, in the shadow of myths and ideas that then turn to ashes. But this path is necessary to put a seeker to the test of sincerity and to question the truth of his reveries.
Upon leaving boyhood, a man is confronted with a world that has existed long before his birth: that of opinions, delusions, tendencies, archetypes, stereotypes, legacies and prejudices. Trapped in the shadow of history, of age-old images and ideals, a man begins to feel the urge to belong, and thus inevitably joins in with any of the aforementioned.
The world of men is filled with ideas and dreams. All you have to do is reach out and the big dream becomes your compass. Zealous leaders and sly "wisemen" are always ready to provide the meaning of existence for us. There are also those who yearn for more: they raise their banner to crush old idols and erect their own.
The best of men are always in a hurry to serve big dreams and big ideas or create their own. When a man drinks the potion of knowledge from the hands of a great dream, he becomes disconnected from the fear of loneliness. Intoxicated, he will readily laugh at everything that once made him vulnerable. He will think he has now figured out what is worth living and dying for. But he who is in a hurry to give his life meaning more quickly often forgets that any dream will always require sacrifice, whatever it may be.
Time and vitality, and sometimes life itself, will all be put to great deeds. Unfortunately, the history of the world shows that such deeds are often followed by reckless acts.
But, apparently, it is impossible otherwise. The desire to curb and change a proposed destiny is deeply rooted in the nature of every man. It cannot be changed. A man needs to fight. Struggle is his main inspiration and driving force, but it is also the cause of many misfortunes that become evident only generations later.
The world of men is immense and too complex, and thus the path to understanding it lies inevitably in the shadow of its history, hand in hand with jealousy, in the shadow of myths and ideas that then turn to ashes. But this path is necessary to put a seeker to the test of sincerity and to question the truth of his reveries.
“
Long before that my father and I drifted apart and it was like that for several years. There was no understanding between us even when he became seriously ill. In the process of our collaboration I recalled the happy moments from my childhood when my father and I were engaged in creative work. After that we forgot about our inferiority complex, something that people tend to feel while being trapped in concrete jungles.
“
Each composition is arranged in such a way that keyboard parts have a fundamental role and let the other instruments have a coherent sound.
The album could be considered as both a concert piece on the piano and an orchestra. You won't hear any modern keyboards here. Our work consists primarily of an orchestra and a piano with their intrinsic solemnity.
Taking into account a modern academic music, I tried my best to make the music interpretation easier in order to bring a listener closer to the story. As a result, Knight and Wolf album is a genuinely modern classic.
The album could be considered as both a concert piece on the piano and an orchestra. You won't hear any modern keyboards here. Our work consists primarily of an orchestra and a piano with their intrinsic solemnity.
Taking into account a modern academic music, I tried my best to make the music interpretation easier in order to bring a listener closer to the story. As a result, Knight and Wolf album is a genuinely modern classic.
The album was published in printed form twice. The first edition was in Russian. The second edition was in English. The English edition has been improved and expanded. A total of 200 copies were published.
The most valuable part of the printed edition is the album booklet. The booklet includes all illustrations and sonnets. The booklet is printed on matte paper and has a thick cardboard cover.
The most valuable part of the printed edition is the album booklet. The booklet includes all illustrations and sonnets. The booklet is printed on matte paper and has a thick cardboard cover.
When the music album was released, we decided to prepare an additional material in the form of audio sonnets. This way the project authors wanted to draw the attention of the audience to the story of the Knight as a full art work with its own storyline and a message.
“
This project is something sacred to me. I guess there is no other way to express it when I look back and realize how much effort has been put to fulfil it. I think that there is no one music composition, illustration or even a word in the framework of this project that can be called unemotional and passionless. Over a short period of time we managed to make a dream come true, something we couldn't believe in two years ago. I am grateful to Ilya and Alexander and everyone who in some way helped me to become part of such a wonderful project.
“
Why Wolf? This would be a logical question. Basically, wolf is a wild and devious animal but at the same time it's loyal and incapable of deception.
There is an old fable which tells about a man that has got two wolves living inside of him - a good and an evil one. The one that you feed - survives. But before you tame them, you should find out which one is going to be a loyal friend and which one can suddenly lash out and tear your life apart.
The last part of the album depicts an episode of the main character returning to the wolf. It happens near a giant chestnut surrounded by a field of flowers, which symbolises hope. No matter how hard and long your path is, you can always be a friend with yourself.
And yes, the Knight can leave, but the Wolf will always be there for him.
There is an old fable which tells about a man that has got two wolves living inside of him - a good and an evil one. The one that you feed - survives. But before you tame them, you should find out which one is going to be a loyal friend and which one can suddenly lash out and tear your life apart.
The last part of the album depicts an episode of the main character returning to the wolf. It happens near a giant chestnut surrounded by a field of flowers, which symbolises hope. No matter how hard and long your path is, you can always be a friend with yourself.
And yes, the Knight can leave, but the Wolf will always be there for him.
