Magenta mainman Robert Reed has released a video for Cursus - A Symphonic Poem. It's taken from A Symphonic Poem, an orchestral companion album to his recently released new electronic prog concept album Cursus 123 430, which has been released through Tigermoth Records. A Symphonic Poem is a 20-minute orchestral interposition of themes from the main album.
Cursus 123 430 is a concept album, written by Reed's sometime collaborator Les Penning, who has also acted as narrator. Reed has also commissioned acclaimed artists Matt Rooke and Peter Rogers to construct a graphic novel as the ultimate companion to the music. His stunning artwork, along with a detailed novella, is displayed in the full-colour 20 Page Cursus 11 x 7 Inch Companion Book.
"It was great to set myself a challenge to orchestrate the whole piece," says Reed. "I’ve not attempted anything like that since my days of TV and film work and doing it has really wetted my appetite for doing more, and plan to do a similar project along side the new Sanctuary album. I’m a huge fan of John Barry, John Williams and Ennio Morricone, so it was great fun to bring some of those influences to the album."
The new animated promo video was derived from the graphic novel that accompanies the Cursus album. You can watch the video in full below.
"It was magical seeing the concept story of the album come to life in images," adds Reed. "Matt Rooke, the artist and Pete Rogers who was my consultant on the project really understood the music and what we were trying to achieve. It’s really exciting when we come up with a mad idea and see it realised in such a way."
