Draft:Dawn of another Sun (song)

"Dawn of another Sun" is a progressive rock song by the Hungarian composer Tomcsik Marcell, released on his first studio album, The Tomcsik Marcell EP (2024). It was released on YouTube as a single on the 25th of March, 2024.

The music and the lyrics were entirely composed and produced by Tomcsik Marcell, who based them mostly on the beginning of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the current global "cold war"-like situation. The guitars and keyboard instruments were played by Tomcsik Marcell himself, as well as the lead vocal. The female vocals were sung by Laura Kamarás and Lili Fehér. The drum part was played by Tamás Sümeghi, and the chorus parts were sung by the Song Factory Budapest chorus. The composition reflects on the raw reality of war, devoid of any pathos or romanticization, from an ethological perspective but primarily from the viewpoint of the everyday person. It doesn't just focus on this but also on the pervasive apocalyptic mood. The title of the song was inspired by one of Roger Waters' songs, "Two Suns in the Sunset," which also alludes to a nuclear flash.

The composition incorporates the millennia-old aesthetic elements of classical art music and combines them with the stylistic elements of the "golden age of rock music." This integration is achieved naturally, grounded in many years of studying music theory.

The song spans ten minutes and is comprised of four continuous sections that flow into one another. Its melody is the simplest, its dramaturgy concentrated and raw. The lyrics address the absurdity of the situation, its personal horror, and reflect on the deep and indelible backdrop of wars.

Marcell notes that the composing process took just a day and a half, while recording extended over a year and a half.

The quality and refinement of the recording commend the work of Sándor Nyíri, a creative sound engineer who embraces the avant-garde 'studio as an instrument' principle.

Composition
Marcell composed the song in the spring of 2022. The recording process took one and a half years due to financial difficulties and the search for the right audio engineer to realize Marcell's ideas. The composition employs modern music theory. It is 9:53 in length and consists of four sections, written in 4/4 metre signature. The first section is a ballad written in G as the tonal axis. The doubled solo guitars move through the tonic, subdominant, and dominant functions chromatically, while the doubled lead vocal sings in the acoustic scale. The sound recalls the early Beatles' style. When the third verse arrives, we can hear glissando noises in the background that suddenly shift into an air raid siren sound.

As the music reaches the dominant function, the second section begins in the E axis (the same tonality as the G axis). The dissonances created by, for example, using F as the dominant instead of B, along with diminished chords, tritones, plus the flanged and troubledly whispering chorus and the heavily modulated synth paired with the bass guitar, paint the chaos of war. Only the supplicating bridge section features a brief classical cadence in the subdominant function, swiftly leading back to the E axis through a predominant augmented sixth chord.

The guitar solo was played on a Stratocaster with its strings reversed, plugged into a Marshall amp through the console. The solo includes noises created by feedback on the guitar, then it suddenly shifts to a melodic section that goes back to the chorus singing "stop the war" with a fast-paced blues scale. Over the chorus singing "stop the war," we can hear a megaphone speech that serves as a grotesque satire of the moral reasoning of leaders who have committed war crimes throughout history. In the background of the final chorus, we can hear soldiers marching to the tempo of the quartel notes.

At the end of this section, a piano melody, also played by Marcell, is accompanied by a pedal bass drum in the background, leading into the third section featuring a symphonic orchestra in the axis of A as the tonic, playing tonic and dominant alpha chords. Following an eerie, distorted, ring-modulated monologue creating a contemplative atmosphere, short excerpts of speeches from historical and contemporary leaders and war criminals are interspersed. A guitar then plays alternating heptamode equivalents to alpha chords, contributing to the composition's abstract ambiance within the symphonic passage.

After the dissipation of the fog in this section, a chorus initiates the final segment of the composition, cautioning listeners about the consequences and their responsibility amidst the ongoing war situation. Composed in D major with clean classical harmonies, the chorus sings in unison, accompanied by a piano, 12-string guitars, Hammond organs, bass guitar, and a snare drum maintaining a march rhythm. With the progression of the section, the more instruments join, enriching the musical arrangement. Consisting of two continuously repeated verses, a reprise introduces a female vocal performance by Lili Fehér, heightening the atmospheric tension. As the last section concludes, the music seamlessly transitions into a sound montage crafted from military radio signals, delivering a cynically poignant ending to the composition.

Music video
The official lyric video for the composition was released on the 25th of March, 2024 on the birthday of Béla Bartók, Hungarian composer. Created by Gábor Vető, it provides an artistic visualization of the composition.

Personnel

 * Tomcsik Marcell – vocals (lead vocal, chorus, bridge, distorted monologues), stratocaster, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, 12 string guitar, Hammond organ, piano, synthesizer, rhodes electric piano
 * Lili Fehér – vocals (chorus, phased bridge vocal chorus, fills over the final chorus)
 * Laura Kamarás – vocals (chorus, phased bridge vocal chorus)
 * Tamás Sümeghi – drums
 * Song Factory Budapest – chorus

Mixing and mastering by Sándor Nyíri.

Cover versions
Marcell stated that he is working on an art music composition covering the themes of  'Dawn of Another Sun. ' Its title will be  'Réminiscences de "Dawn of Another Sun," ' involving polyphony and real counterpoints.