Music for a short film by Meredith Serota
I. The Cross [0:00]
II. To The Altar [0:48]
III. The Interlude [2:04]
IV. Inner Struggle [4:15]
V. Contrition [5:20]
VI. The Cross (reprise) [6:47]
The music for Forfeit was composed for a silent film by Meredith Serota. Unfortunately, the film never materialized, but the music still seems to stand on its own telling the story of a former priest who left the church because of falling in love with a woman, then later regretting his decision.
The first movement, The Cross [0:00], begins after the former priest drops a necklace given to him by the woman. The music begins and sets up the reflection of his thoughts.
Continuing right into the next movement, To The Altar [0:48], we hear the church hymn, “Seek Ye First” from Matthew 6:33 in the Bible. This reflection of his days as a priest begin getting cloudy as his thoughts turn to the woman. The hymn through this entire scene begins to become dissonant and unclear as he becomes disillusioned.
Into the next scene, the music in The Interlude [2:04] begins with a piano melody which depicts a memory of the love and happy relationship between the two characters. Soon, the music, and his thoughts turn back to his thoughts of regret.
Inner Struggle [4:15] continues into the next scene as his thoughts or betrayal to the religious order and the conflict within himself start to strongly emerge. The music becomes intense and anxious in portraying his feelings and thoughts.
The next movement, Contrition [5:20], brings back hints of the church hymn peacefully as he finds some clarity in his thoughts – almost as if he is now at peace with them.
Finally, the film ends as a reprise of the music from The Cross (reprise) [6:47] returns – bringing us back to that first moment when he is looking at the necklace once again.
Forfeit was composed using many different sources, electronic instruments, and audio software for the virtual realization.