A song that I wrote for a scene in a musical. Sara, having been duped into love by a figment of her imagination, has been placed inside of a mental institution. The song begins in Sara's mind, transferring into the institution. See Song Details for m
Classical Music, Music Theater
Byron E. Martin is a junior Music Composition Major at Oklahoma City University. He currently studies composition with Dr. Edward Knight and viola with Prof. Donna Cain.
Born in Dallas, Texas, Byron became interested in music at a fairly young age. He began playing percussion in primary school, and later began playing the viola beginning with middle school. Accepted into the Young Strings program of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, he began to receive private lessons on the viola, and had the opportunity for a large number of performance opportunities. He continued to play these instruments throughout the rest of his precollegiate education. He completed his high school education at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.
He has recently completed a piece for brass quintet entitled "Schizmo-Gadget #4 or; How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Write for Brass." Earlier pieces include "Rhapsody for Clarinet and Piano Whilst Riding Upon the Back of a Tortoise Painted the Color of the Sun in the Middle of July on a Rainy Afternoon, or What you Will" for clarinet and piano, and "David's Monologue," a piece fo voice and piano that originally was to be part of a larger piece of musical theater. He also wrote incidental music for Oklahoma City University's Spring 2006 production of The Children's Hour in collaboration with Jamie Whitmarsh, and incidental music for the Tabitha Baptist Church's 2007 production of a gospel play entitled Rennis in collaboration with Jamie Whitmarsh and Dan McPherson.
He is currently writing a song cycle for baritone voice and mixed ensemble that uses the poetry of Emily Dickinson, Carl Sandburg, and William Shakespeare. He is also writing a collection of songs that use a selection of children's poetry written by Laura E. Richards.
Major Completed Works
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(2007)
(4')
(2007)
(4')
(2008)
(7')
(2009)
(11')
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Story behind the song
The Man in the Mirror was a work that I conceived and scrapped during my years at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Sara is a woman who has had a violent nervous breakdown after her messy divorce with her ex-husband, Brian. She lost her job, and subsequently went to live with an old college friend of hers named Jeanine. During this time, she met Jeanine's friend, John, a writer, lyricist, and amateur composer, who became quite smitten with her. However, Sara's mental condition worsens, and she begins to hallucinate, creating in her mind a man that visits her through the mirror that she has a very fairy-tale like romance with. Unfortunately, The Man is very abusive and controlling.
The show begins with The Man and Sara in bed. They exchange words, and The Man then retreats back into the mirror. John comes over and invites Jeanine and Sara to a concert, but Sara is reluctant. She is finally persuaded by the two to go. However, John's true motive for the evening is to reveal his feelings for Sara. At the concert, they run into Brian and his new wife, Tracy. Brian snags a dance with her, ruining John's plans, where he reveals that Jeanine has heard Sara talking to herself. Sara has a small breakdown as The Man appears and attempts to force her to tell Brian about their relationship. Sara does tell Brian that she has been seeing someone, but does not tell him who.
Sara and Jeanine return home. After Sara retreats to her room, The Man begins a violent fight. He gives her a test of her love. A beam of light appears, and The Man tells her to step through it, trusting him that nothing bad will happen. Sara refuses, revealing that she still has feelings for Brian. The brouhaha alerts Jeanine, who discovers Sara inconsolable and admits her into a psychiatric ward.
During her visit at the psychiatric ward, Sara becomes extremely removed from real life, usually only spouting nonsense at random times from the day. In her mind, she has "stepped into the light," and is leading a romance with The Man. John visits Sara in the ward and plays her an original composition of his expressing his love, though it seems to have no effect on her at the time. Brian also visits, and John reveals his feelings about Sara.
In Sara's mind, she and The Man end the night with heated passion. However, in the morning, she discovers that the man has left and is nowhere to be found. She then sings "Mirrored Fairy-Tale," expressing her anger at the situation not only of her truely fictional romance, but the seemingly wishy-washy relationships of her life. She is then threatened by a series of lights, which prompts her to wake up from this fairy-tale turned nightmare. Sara reveals that she remembers John's song quite clearly. She and Brian have a conversation which leads them to realize that the past is the past, and that they should both move on with their lives. As such, Sara begins to date John, and Brian attempts to patch up his marriage with Tracy.
Lyrics
It's just a fairy tale.
A simple little fairy tale.
Another king, another throne
Another villian to bemoan.
Another damsel in distress
who was naive, and impatient, and...
A mirrored fairy tale.
Reflected with its evil spell.
It sends a curse
said with a verse
to some poor woman's sad dismay.
And then the tide will settle in
and maybe it will stay
and then the girl must pray,
that the house that she has stayed in
never collapses.
Praying that the wind will stay off her tracks,
and let her live her life!
That's just a fairy tale.
The tales are very swell.
They speak of a small man with pail.
And they are fun
just like a pun
that comes and stabs you in the side.
A little run could keep you up
'til feelings then erupt,
and everyone will hurt you.
Every time you turn a cheek
the light is there too.
And the man you always
thought that you knew,
is gone!
Why?!
Why?!
Why can't I feel pleasure?
Why must I feel pain?
"Step into the light, Sara"
You fool.
(The scene shifts to the psychiatric ward where the doctor and John are.)
John: Doctor? Has Sara improved any?
Doctor: I'm afraid not. Only time will tell if she ever regains her memory. And even then...
[Sara]
Is that him?
The man with the new song?
Let him in,
and let him sing year long.
Won't you sing it,
Mister bluejay?
Please!
Just one note then
I'll be okay.
(The scene shifts back to Sara's mind)
It's just mere fantasy.
A little reverie
To think life could be kind to me.
I think of birds,
I think of rain,
as tales, not
part of love's refrain.
That little trick upon my brow
it glitters with the bow
of some discorded light beams.
And this fairy tale is merely
found to be fake.
Hell, just one more twist,
I'll finally break
in half!
(A spotlight appears.)
No!
I
won't
go!
