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Spiral Tower, Op. 79 (2015) – Musical Composition and Video by G. Stolyarov II

Spiral Tower, Op. 79 (2015) – Musical Composition and Video by G. Stolyarov II

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The New Renaissance Hat
G. Stolyarov II
May 25, 2015
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This piano composition by Mr. Stolyarov evokes an ascent up a spiral skyscraper. Each passage builds and introduces variations upon the last while remaining within the overall pattern describing the climb. The spiral ascent can be seen as a metaphor for incremental but rigorous and goal-directed progress toward a brighter future.

Download the MP3 file of this composition here.

See the index of Mr. Stolyarov’s compositions, all available for free download, here.

Photographs in this video are of the F&F Tower in Panama City and were taken by Muribeg, Mariordo (Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz), and Rubydiazmendez. They can be downloaded here and are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike Unported 3.0 License or the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike International 4.0 License.

This composition and video may also be freely reproduced using the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike International 4.0 License.

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Transhumanist March (March #12), Op. 78 (2014) – Musical Composition and Video by G. Stolyarov II

Transhumanist March (March #12), Op. 78 (2014) – Musical Composition and Video by G. Stolyarov II

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The New Renaissance Hat
G. Stolyarov II
December 8, 2014
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The Transhumanist March depicts the accelerating improvement of the human condition and the overcoming of human limitations through technological progress. An ambitious and benevolent melody intensifies throughout the piece, pushing onward to champion the radical improvement of the human condition through the lifting of age-old barriers and the conquest of both space (through settlements on new worlds and elsewhere on Earth) and time (through the reversal of senescence and the curing of deadly diseases to achieve indefinite lifespans).

Download the MP3 file of this composition here.

A PDF file of sheet music for the Transhumanist March can be downloaded here.

See the index of Mr. Stolyarov’s compositions, all available for free download, here.

The artwork is “Depiction of a futuristic city” – a digital painting by Cronus Caelestis, used pursuant to a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike Unported 3.0 License and available for download here.

This composition and video may also be freely reproduced using the same Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike Unported 3.0 License.

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Waltz #10, Op. 77 (2014) – Musical Composition and Video by G. Stolyarov II

Waltz #10, Op. 77 (2014) – Musical Composition and Video by G. Stolyarov II

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The New Renaissance Hat
G. Stolyarov II
November 29, 2014
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This bright, gentle waltz for four piano parts and one cello part was composed by Mr. Stolyarov on November 28-29, 2014. It is played using the Finale 2011 software and the Steinway Grand Piano and Cellos Arco instruments.

Download the MP3 file of this composition here.

See the index of Mr. Stolyarov’s compositions, all available for free download, here.

The artwork is Mr. Stolyarov’s Abstract Orderism Fractal 9, available for download here and here.

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Man’s Struggle Against Death, Op. 57 (2008) – Musical Composition and Video by G. Stolyarov II

Man’s Struggle Against Death, Op. 57 (2008) – Musical Composition and Video by G. Stolyarov II

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The New Renaissance Hat
G. Stolyarov II
November 11, 2014
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This composition by Mr. Stolyarov depicts the most important challenge facing humankind during all of its existence – the imperative of freeing individual humans from the ghastly and unconscionable fate of eventually ceasing to exist. Indefinite physical life in this world is not only possible with sufficient advances in scientific knowledge and medical technology – it is also supremely desirable, and we who are alive now should work to attain it as early as we can.

As outlined by Dr. Aubrey de Grey of the SENS Research Foundation, there are only seven primary types of damage involved in human biological senescence – which leads to death:

1. Extracellular junk
2. Extracellular crosslinks
3. Dysfunctional cells
4. Intracellular aggregates
5. Mitochondrial mutations
6. Nuclear mutations
7. Cell loss/atrophy

This led Mr. Stolyarov to compose a work where there are seven variations on the same theme – with the theme representing the consistent, unyielding human effort to defeat death and achieve indefinite longevity.

Every time that a variation on the theme is played, this represents one of the causes of death finally being overcome by human ingenuity. Accordingly, the melody becomes more jubilant and determined as the composition progresses, because there are fewer perils awaiting man and the amount of the task remaining is reduced.

Once the seven variations are complete (which corresponds with the attainment of indefinite life), the coda of the work is meant to evoke the last line of John Donne’s sonnet, “Death, Be Not Proud”: “And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.”

John Donne was not himself a physical life-extensionist (he was alive too early), but the last line of his poem is an excellent motto for life-extensionists to adopt as we spread awareness of the need and urgency of defeating this greatest of all perils.

This composition was remastered using the Finale 2011 and Finale 2014 software. It is written for organ, two pianos, harpsichord, timpani, a brass section, and a strings section.

Download the MP3 file of this composition here.

See the index of Mr. Stolyarov’s compositions, all available for free download, here.

Read more about the quest for indefinite life in Mr. Stolyarov’s book Death is Wrong.

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Waltz #5, Op. 48 (2007, 2014) – Musical Composition and Video by G. Stolyarov II

Waltz #5, Op. 48 (2007, 2014) – Musical Composition and Video by G. Stolyarov II

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The New Renaissance Hat
G. Stolyarov II
November 11, 2014
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This brief and cheerful waltz from 2007 was the first work created by Mr. Stolyarov in Anvil Studio, a musical composition program that permits greater versatility than simply recording a piece played on a piano. The present version has been expanded and remastered using the Finale 2011 and Finale 2014 software. It is composed for two piano parts and one violin.

Download the MP3 file of this composition here.

See the index of Mr. Stolyarov’s compositions, all available for free download, here.

The artwork is Mr. Stolyarov’s Abstract Orderism Fractal 33, available for download here and here.

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Grand Procession, Op. 14 (2001-2002) – Musical Composition and Video by G. Stolyarov II

Grand Procession, Op. 14 (2001-2002) – Musical Composition and Video by G. Stolyarov II

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The New Renaissance Hat
G. Stolyarov II
November 9, 2014
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“Grand Procession” was composed by Mr. Stolyarov in 2001 and 2002. It was Mr. Stolyarov’s first attempt at a multi-instrumental composition. Since MIDI sequencers were not available to him then, Mr. Stolyarov had to play each track by hand and attempt to align it with the played-back recording of all the other tracks. The present version is remastered using the SynthFont 2 software, with the Evanescence 2 and GMR Basico 1.1 instrument packs.

This composition is written for piano, flute, organ, harpsichord, and a string section. As the name suggests, it is meant to evoke images of a triumphal procession – of a civilian rather than military nature (since most of the instruments involved would not be available to a military band or orchestra).

Download the MP3 file of this composition here.

See the index of Mr. Stolyarov’s compositions, all available for free download, here.

The artwork is “The Coronation of Napoleon” by Jacques-Louis David, painted in 1805 and available as a public-domain image here.

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Lullaby, Op. 47 (2005) – Musical Composition and Video by G. Stolyarov II

Lullaby, Op. 47 (2005) – Musical Composition and Video by G. Stolyarov II

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The New Renaissance Hat
G. Stolyarov II
November 8, 2014
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This is a peaceful, gentle, innocent lullaby for piano, composed by Mr. Stolyarov in 2005.

This work was remastered using the SynthFont2 software, with the Evanescence 2 and GMR Basico 1.1 instrument packs.

Download the MP3 file of this composition here.

See the index of Mr. Stolyarov’s compositions, all available for free download, here.

The artwork is “Alabama Kitten” by Wendy D. Stolyarov, painted in 2009 and available for free download here.

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Fibonacci Rondo (Rondo #1), Op. 54 (2008) – Musical Composition and Video by G. Stolyarov II

Fibonacci Rondo (Rondo #1), Op. 54 (2008) – Musical Composition and Video by G. Stolyarov II

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The New Renaissance Hat
G. Stolyarov II
November 7, 2014
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The Fibonacci Rondo, a 2008 composition by Mr. Stolyarov, was inspired by the Fibonacci Sequence of numbers, where each subsequent number is the sum of the two previous numbers. If the Fibonacci Sequence begins with 1 and 1, then the first six numbers of the sequence are 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8.

The recurring theme of this composition – which occurs once at 0:32 and again at 1:30 represents musically the beginning of the Fibonacci Sequence and the process of its formation.

If we assign the value 1 to the note C, then we can assign the following values to other notes in relation to it:

2 = D

3 = E

5 = G

8 = C one octave above the “1” note.

Then, through two eighth notes, we can represent the numbers being added, while the following quarter note represents their result.

So two eighth-note C’s will be followed by a quarter-note D to represent “1 + 1 = 2.”

Then the eighth notes C and D, followed by a quarter-note E, represent “1 + 2 = 3.”

Then the eighth notes D and E, followed by a quarter-note G, represent “2 + 3 = 5.”

Then the eighth notes E and G, followed by a quarter-note C from the next octave, represent “3 + 5 = 8.”

Thereafter, the same pattern is applied to other harmonies – both major and minor – to ensure a melodic progression.

The timpani accompaniment in the second appearance of the theme relates this basic structure without any other notes added to reinforce the harmony. Quite a bit of harmonic reinforcement is added in the parts for all the other instruments, however.

This composition is written for a piano, two string sections, and timpani, and remastered using the Finale 2011 software. It probably could not be played by a human orchestra, as the 32nd notes in one of the string sections are simply too fast to be played by human musicians. The ability to reproduce music of this sort is yet another way in which computers have expanded the range of human creativity.

Download the MP3 file of this composition here.

See the index of Mr. Stolyarov’s compositions, all available for free download, here.

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Escalation, Op. 53 (2008) – Musical Composition and Video by G. Stolyarov II

Escalation, Op. 53 (2008) – Musical Composition and Video by G. Stolyarov II

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The New Renaissance Hat
G. Stolyarov II
November 6, 2014
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This 2008 composition by Mr. Stolyarov for string orchestra, piano, organ, and timpani conveys an impression of increasing intensity and complexity as the same theme is varied by the addition of new instrumental parts. The melody in the strings is the same throughout the work, and once a melody has been established in any of the other parts, it does not change. The change and movement in this piece come from the “layering” of  newer instrumental parts on top of the older ones.

This work was remastered using the Finale 2011 software, with the Full Strings Arco, Full Strings Tremolo, Steinway Grand Piano, Church Organ, and Timpani instruments.

Download the MP3 file of this composition here.

See the index of Mr. Stolyarov’s compositions, all available for free download, here.

The artwork is Mr. Stolyarov’s Abstract Orderism Fractal 45, available for download here and here.

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Composition for Harpsichord and Piano, Op. 50 (2008) – Musical Composition and Video by G. Stolyarov II

Composition for Harpsichord and Piano, Op. 50 (2008) – Musical Composition and Video by G. Stolyarov II

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The New Renaissance Hat
G. Stolyarov II
November 4, 2014
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This experimental composition, Mr. Stolyarov’s first attempt at polyphony in 2008, explores the interplay between two instruments, including their potential to simultaneously play two different but complementary melodies. The mood of this piece also alternates between tense and jubilant.

This work was remastered using the Finale 2011 software, with the Steinway Grand Piano and Harpsichord instruments.

Download the MP3 file of this composition here.

See the index of Mr. Stolyarov’s compositions, all available for free download, here.

The artwork is Mr. Stolyarov’s Abstract Orderism Fractal 57, available for download here and here.

Remember to LIKE, FAVORITE, and SHARE this video in order to spread rational high culture to others.