Exodus by James Shields

i) Exodus
This movement sets the scene of the forest village. The humble and peaceful inhabitants are forced to flee their forest home due to an approaching darkness.

ii) Remembrance
The survivors remember their home as they start their new lives. Not all who attempted to flee were fast enough. However, there is some peace to be found in their new land.

iii) Hephaestus
The son of a blacksmith, Hephaestus is a kind and cheerful soul. However, he believes that if the people band together they can reclaim their land. He amasses an army and begins the march towards their old home.

iv) Reclamation
Hephaestus leads the army against the darkness, after a fierce battle they manage to reclaim their home and drive away the dark force from their lands.

This piece is linked thematically throughout, with the theme from the B section of the first movement appearing most frequently. A lot of the material is based upon this section, whether that's the chord progression (F,G,A) or the melody, or fragments of it.

I tried to aim for a filmic sound that would be at home in a fantasy film/game and was inspired by composers such as Joe Hisaishi, Jeremy Soule and John Williams. I listened to lots of different works to try and learn ways of using instruments and themes and feel I managed to blend them into my own sound.

James Shields is an upcoming composer form Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. He currently resides in Birmingham and studies Music Technology at Birmingham Conservatoire.

He has a keen interest in music for media and hopes to pursue a career in this field.

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