Prayer is the last resort of hope in times of trouble, according to composer Jonathan Elias of bicoastal Elias Associates. It is also the central theme of his latest project, The Prayer Cycle, a CD just released by Sony Classical, which features the voices of Alanis Morrisette, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Salif Keta and Ofra Haza, among many others. Parts of the composition were also used in the soundtrack of the Peter Jennings-anchored The Century, a 12-hour series focusing on major events of the past 100 years, which appeared on ABC in March.
The vocal prowess of the impressive collection of singers in The Prayer Cycle is featured against a backdrop of Western symphonic and choral music-nine melancholy Adagio movements, to be precise. The CD mixes a potpourri of styles and elements. Pop as well as world-music singers perform in a classical setting, with lyrics sung in 13 different languages. The score is introspective and lyrical while the singing is at times oddly fragmented and always intensely impassioned, and its theme-and perhaps its ultimate message-is one of hopefulness while the overall mood of the work is anything but cheerful. And yet these seemingly disparate threads hold together in a cohesive way. The album, indeed, is quite successful and popular. Four weeks after its release, The Prayer Cycle appeared among the top five CDs on Billboard’s Classical Crossover chart.
Elias originally cut his teeth composing music for trailers (Alien, Ghandi, and Blade Runner) and formed his music and sound design house Elias Associates in ’80. High profile spots that have come out of Elias Associates include "Frozen Moment" for Nike directed by Jonathan Glazer of bicoastal/international Propaganda Films, through Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, Ore.; Apple’s "Think Different," directed by executive producer Jennifer Golub of TBWA/Chiat/ Day, L.A.; and most recently, "Lobster" for Budweiser, directed by David McNally of bicoastal Omaha Pictures through DDB, Chicago. The company represents 10 composers, specializing in varying genres, along with several sound designers. The West Coast office is headed by creative director Elias himself, who continues to do compositions for spots and network identities. While overseeing his company over the course of two decades, Elias has contributed to and scored several feature soundtracks and has worked with some of the giants in the trade, including composer John Barry.
Praise Be
Though some may consider The Prayer Cycle an unusual direction for a commercial composer, Elias sees it otherwise. "With all due respect, many movies are essentially extended commercials," he says. "I wanted to do something where music was the guiding force, where I got to write not just from a visual sense."
It took Elias approximately three years to complete the project, which was conceived when his wife was pregnant and he was forced to take a hard look at the world in which his child was about to enter. "It was one of those things that was sort of a catharsis, when you’re reaching inside yourself and you take a look at the future, and realize it’s not all that hopeful."
Elias had recorded some sketches for The Prayer Cycle in his studio when Sony Classical in Germany contacted him. They had heard the Nike "Frozen Moment" track and wanted to see if he had any similar material in mind for a CD. "It was very smooth-I was really fortunate in getting signed," Elias says.
The composer finished writing lyrics and recorded all the music at Abbey Road Studios, London, with The English Chamber Orchestra Choir before approaching the featured performers, who ended up overdubbing their vocals. "I sent the tape out to the singers’ management, and they all responded to the project-it really wasn’t all that difficult. Certainly some of the appeal must have been the unusual casting and the cross-cultural nature of the CD."
Elias’ vision for the project was to represent a global nation on one album. Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn-who passed away during the project, and whom Elias praises as one of the great singers of the century-performs a piece in Urdu inspired by a Muslim devotional song while Israeli singer Ofra Haza sings along in Hebrew, using a text based on the Lord’s prayer. Alanis Morrissette, who is Canadian and has a Hungarian grandmother, sings two songs in French and two in Hungarian, while ex-Jane’s Addiction and Porno for Pyros frontman Perry Farrell performs a personal chant in no particular language. Linda Ronstadt sings in Spanish, and James Taylor, the only featured performer singing in English, quotes lyrics from a 12th century fishing song.
Although Elias says that he was moved to create this project out of concern for the ecological and political climate his child was entering-a climate which, in his words, is "a race to destruction"-the composer insists The Prayer Cycle is very much a personal project, rather than a lofty humanitarian mission. "When you’re an artist, you just really want to write and to express from your heart how you feel." In prayer, Elias found a subject in which "everyone’s linked together" by looking to a higher being or personal deity, religious or spiritual, to confront times of trouble. The composer encouraged all the performers to tailor this theme to their unique interpretation, which sometimes resulted in the singers contributing their own lyrics, or slightly adapting the existing text.
Elias, already well on his way to having his next CD sketched out, plans to return to doing some feature film scores in the future. Meanwhile, he remains involved with Elias Associates. "I’ll find techniques and ideas in my personal work that I’ll bring back to commercials, and vice versa." Doing a longer form project, he says, is "like having a workshop, where without a deadline you really get to explore and expand on something that inspired you from a commercial, where you may not have had the chance to really dig into it. "
Elias is entirely at ease with the prospect of licensing some of the material on The Prayer Cycle for spots. "Basically, I’d like to reach as many people as possible with this music, and commercials are a great way of doing that." He finds no conflict between the artistic intent of one form vs. the commerce of the other. "We have a lot of talented people [at Elias Associates] and we do a lot of beautiful things in commercials, so I’m certainly proud of what we’ve accomplished in the field." As for his next CD, Elias remains vague. "It will have a cinematic and choral element, but there isn’t a defined theme at this time. It’ll be dark-I’m just not sure which darkness it’s going to be about yet."e
