Tim Corpus
Tim Corpus Tim Corpus
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Composing for the 2021 Sound of Silent Film Festival

I am thrilled to be once again working with Access Contemporary Music and the Palomar Ensemble for the Sound of Silent Film Festival.

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Indebted Department by director Daniel Guillaro

I composed the score for the film Indebted Department by Daniel Guillaro. This film was much shorter than I realized when I started the project, which presented its own difficulties. Silent films are tricky. Often times there is a pull to fill all of the space with sound. However, with this project I really wanted to use silence as a 7th instrument. There are a lot of moments of measures that are carrying over chords from previous measures. I felt that this helped bring space into the sonic environment. As you can see from the picture above, it’s a very cold looking space with metal and hard floors. I wanted to use the piano and the bowed vibraphone to really make this a cold environment to reverberate. This film was also shot on 8mm with no post-production editing. So the film was shot straight through.

The beautiful and edgy look of the 8mm film made me want the sound world to be less of a big Hollywood melodic sound, but more of an experimental-melodic sound. If you know my music, you know I tend to still be quite melodic. However, in this score, I tried to really separate the instruments in an “almost impressionist manner”.

Especially coming off of my previous score for Immortals, which is an animated action film, this project provided the opportunity to write in a very different style. I wanted this score to be more contemporary classical in style than soaring Hollywood horns. I wanted to score for this project in a way I haven’t before. So I wrote without measures.

I composed straight into Reaper via MIDI keyboard and filled out my instruments as I went. I wasn’t thinking about the meter start to finish, so the instruments had a lot more freedom than I’ve ever given them before. I was really excited about how that turned out, and as a percussionist who loves groove, writing without measures was a radical approach. There are a lot of extended techniques throughout the piece for everyone and there aren’t many tutti moments in this score. The feeling of the music is more atmospheric.

I can’t wait for audiences to see this and tickets are still available for May 1st LIVE in Chicago. This is my first live performance back with audiences since the pandemic started. You can get your tickets HERE. You can also see the show for the digital performance on May 8th.

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Tim Corpus is a composer with a genuine lyric impulse. He writes music that is at the same time challenging and appealing - which should be the ideal of any composer. He has a wonderful ear for sound and for shape. This is a composer with a real and important voice.

Henry Fogel Retired Dean of the Chicago College of Performing Arts and CEO/President of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

...`{`Three Pieces for Five Timpani`}` is an outstanding addition to the literature for timpani and great for advanced recital programs.

George Frock Professor Emeritus, The University of Texas

Tim Corpus is a wonderfully skilled composer who has important things to say with his music. His debut album, Breath, is extremely impressive. Beautiful and exciting music to be sure!

Larry Alan Smith Composer

Tim Corpus' music is complex, original and steeped in tradition. His Three Pieces for Five Timpani is clearly an extension of the composers, such as Elliott Carter, that came before him. The pieces are challenging but fulfilling to learn and perform. Possibly the most important thing about Tim's timpani writing is that audiences will enjoy listening to his compositions. He is taking solo timpani writing to the next level.

Ed Harrison Timpanist of the Lyric Opera of Chicago

The melodic gestures in Tim Corpus' masterful piece for strings, ``Breath``, are paced so that a listener’s respiration pattern aligns itself instinctively with the slow and even pulse of the piece. Breath creates a powerful performer/listener symbiosis, a remarkable accomplishment on the part of the composer.

Steven Gryc Composer

Tim Corpus’s music is beautifully lyrical, nicely voiced and technically well-realized. In person, he is a pleasure to work with. We very much enjoyed recording his first two string quartets and hope to see more from him in the future.

Jen Leckie Violinist, Grant Street String Quartet

I recently had the pleasure of conducting the premiere of First Flight. It is artfully written, fresh, unique, and best of all – a beautiful piece of music! Tim is a major talent with big things in store for his future. It clearly deserves a permanent place in the repertoire of any serious wind ensemble. I can't wait to program it again!

Stephen Squires Conductor, Chicago College of Performing Arts Wind Ensemble

I have worked with Tim Corpus as a performer, composer and teacher. He brings passion and energy to his craft. He is a young lion who is making his mark on the Chicago music scene.

Kevin Miller Retired Band Director, Schaumburg High School

I've had the pleasure of knowing Tim for years now, and I learned very quickly that his passion and talent as a performer and composer are unquestioned. Everything he does is handled with a rare combination of intensity and care, and his works display such attributes. His lyricism in particular, along with his rich, beautiful harmonies and intricate polyphony set him apart from many of his colleagues. In a world littered with simple, non-intellectual music, Tim is breaking through and creating a new, exciting, accessible, and, most importantly, intelligent style of music that is imperative to the future of our art form.

Matt Bronstein Axiom Brass Quintet

Breath is very professionally produced, and the overall impression is of a lyrical and rhapsodic voice. I think Breath is a great starter, very ample and serene, even ecstatic. The second quartet is lively and engaging throughout.

Dr. Robert Carl Composer
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