From the recording Musica Lyra

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Umbra Mortis (Shadow of Death)

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Universally, the worst negative passion we can have, is the fear of our own inevitable mortality, a fear which ironically relentlessly eats away the positive energy from our already limited, mortal experience of the beautiful enigma of the conscious experience of being alive! Coming to terms with the ever faster growing shadow of our own death, is probably the greatest challenge of embracing stoic ideals in order to achieve the unique inner contentment they can bring.

To create an atmospheric feeling of darkness and sadness, this is an extended melodic idea of my earlier piece “Hymn to Astraeus (Ancient Greek God of Dusk)” which I first featured in my 2022 album, “Orpheus Tamed the Animals: Mythological Music for Ancient Greek Lyre”.

In this original version, I arranged the melodic theme for a typical ancient Greek-style 'chelys' lyre, with a soundboard of taut animal skin. This track again features the dark, sombre sound of the ancient Greek Hypodorian Mode .

I like the analogy between the inevitable creeping darkness of the onset of dusk and the inevitable creeping of the shadow of death - the fear of our own mortality which can engulf our thoughts and feelings during the course of our lives, ironically depriving us of the positive, creative energy which makes the entire experience of our brief lives actually worthwhile - an energy which can only be truly nurtured by the acceptance of stoic values.