It's been some time since I've posted anything that took into account the word 'music' on this blog, considering the word is under the title. Here's a video I put together in Imovie, using a recording I did in 2003 of the Queen song 'White Queen.' Written by guitartist Brian May, it's off their 1974 album Queen II. I've always felt the imagery of the album cover (the classic four heads pose made famous by the Bohemian Rhapsody video, which you can see here:
and inside gatefold sleeve, shown here:
as well as the song titles and lyrics, evoked a mythological and fantasy world. Brian May himself had a sort of wispy Pre-Raphaeliteness to him, as did the band, with their long hair and early Zandra Rhoades, flowing stage costumes.
The song 'White Queen,' in particular, has a Baroque, Medieval feel to it, with it's classical chord progressions and structure. The recording featured here is from 2003 and was made on my Roland KR-375 digital piano. I decided to use some classic Pre-Raphaelite and Art Nouveau images as the visuals to go along with it. Included are artists such as Alphonse Mucha, J.W. Waterhouse, Gustav Klimt, Maxfield Parrish, Edmund Dulac, Arthur Rackham and others.
Over the years I've done a bunch of drawings of Queen and Freddie Mercury. The painting/drawing above (it's in oils and pen and ink) was done for Peter Pop, now the VP of Creative Services at Vanguard Graphic Staffing, but at that time, one of the placement guys in the jobs office at S.V.A. He was hoisting an art show at a local bar and the theme was rock musicians, so he asked some of the students that used the placement office to participate. The pen and ink (rapidograph) drawing of Brian May, above that, is from the late 80's.
