COMING SOON…

Welcome to my experimental journey into the world of orchestral storytelling and sound design, based on the enchanting folktale The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

One of the earliest written versions of this tale dates back to the 1797 poem by Goethe, The Sorcerer's Apprentice is an age-old warning about the importance of respect, caution, and wisdom when wielding great power, a theme found in through mythology, fairy-tales and fiction (Midas, Golem, The Magic Pot, Frankenstein etc.). The 1897 symphonic poem by Paul Dukas is most well-known to modern audiences for its inclusion in Disney's Fantasia, where it was brought to life with cutting edge animation of the 1940s.

I was inspired to capture the spirit of this tale viewed through the lens of Artificial Intelligence – the speed with which AI integrates into mainstream human culture is something that both fascinates and terrifies me!

The music started as a series of digital orchestral sketches and sound experiments in my home studio. With very little experience writing for traditional western-classical orchestras, I wanted to explore a way of translating my background in electronica (and various related sub-genres) to the orchestra as a way of learning about the orchestration process. Over the years, many of my synthetic experiments have become much busier and more frantic than my orchestral explorations, with lots of unexpected twists and turns. Merged with time-stretching techniques and fluctuating tempo to create a sense of instability, everything feels just a little too fast when the Apprentice is in control of things.

Any attempt to match the mastery of Dukas would be futile, but his influence, and those of many of my favorite cinematic composers will no doubt be heard.

As of October 2023, most of the orchestral elements have now been recorded at Studio 22 in Budapest, with the help of East Connection and Alistair Kerley of Boxed Ape.

An official release scheduled for the new year. Stay tuned!