Chris Christodoulou | Chris Christodoulou - Reks' Mundi @AstronautDown | Uploaded July 2016 | Updated October 2024, 15 hours ago.
Download: chrischristodoulou.bandcamp.com/album/reks-mundi

Art: Sunset across the Ryōgoku bridge from the bank of the Sumida River at Onmayagashi, from the "Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji" by Katsushika Hokusai (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty-six_Views_of_Mount_Fuji)

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In the winter of 2013 I got my first-ever private commission. Alex asked me to compose an orchestral piece for his boyfriend Reks, who was in the navy, at the time stationed somewhere in Japan. I was both excited and intimidated by the idea.

Composing a soundtrack for a video game or film gives you plenty of space to develop your material and tell your story. On the other hand, writing a short, self-contained piece with a proper "arc" is an entirely different thing. I was constantly aware—and pressured by the fact—that I needed to get this right on the first try. I'm so used to sending demos, unmixed versions, rough edits, etc. but this time there would be no early versions, no back-and-forth with the client, no feedback and no re-writes. Plus, I was conflicted by the fact that despite having full creative license, I was still not writing for myself. Someone was waiting for this...

And waited they did, for quite some time. Many themes and ideas were put to paper only to be unceremoniously discarded, with considerable lapses of time between the discarding of said themes and ideas. But in the end it was all worth it. I boldly declared "this is it" and sent the piece over. And the client was happy.

Thank you so much Alex & Reks for the experience!

Enjoy!