Winner of the 2006 GANG Award for Best Original Vocal Song - Choral, 'Baba Yetu' is the opening menu music from the highly acclaimed Civilization IV. Until the release of Christopher's upcoming album, this song is available as a free download if you subscribe to Christopher's mailing list. For performance information about the piece, click the sheet music page for details.
Aloha, Lovey and Jerry! (Credits) (from Fishbowl)
The score to Kayo Hatta's Emmy-winning film Fishbowl features performances by members of the Hawaiian band Vaihi, as well as lead guitar and vocal performances by the composer himself.
Nocturne No. 2: The Insatiable (from The Insatiable)
Veteran writers Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon asked Christopher to step in at the last minute and score their debut feature The Insatiable. The film's emotional demands ranged from comedy to horror to romance, and he responded with a 'Kronos-Quartet-meets-Radiohead' melange of electric string quartet, FM synthesizers and gypsy violin solos. As an epilogue to the musical chaos, however, Christopher wrote a Chopin-esque piano solo for the end credits. Entitled simply 'Nocturne No. 2', the recording features a poignant performance by Gloria Cheng.
Coronation (from Civilization IV)
Another track from the acclaimed Civilization IV, featuring another performance by Talisman A Cappella.
Goblinesque (from Wee Three)
This comic fantasia was originally written in 1999, when Christopher was still a student at the Royal College of Music. Since then, it has undergone a number of revisions, and was recently recorded with a 70-piece orchestra at Fox Studios.
Riding Back (from Heaven's Devils)
A pack of Hell's Angels steal away on a midnight motorcycle journey. Images of urban sprawl and the California desert flicker by in this hallucinatory montage.
The Road To Freedom (from MLK Boulevard: The Concrete Dream)
Christopher came in as a last minute composer on a documentary about streets around the US called Martin Luther King Boulevard and their relevance in honoring Dr. King's legacy. As an initial pitch for the project, Christopher wrote this short suite, which got him the job. The rest of the score was a development of the themes laid out in this piece.
The Myrmidons Attack (from First Night Shift)
Originally written for a short film, this piece was also recently dusted off for recording with live orchestra, and features Christopher's orchestral writing at its most uncompromisingly modern.
Entering The Past (from The Lodge)
High up in the mountains is an old abandoned lodge, where Yuni and her sister Serena would spend their childhood summers--until the tragic day their younger brother Nayan accidentally drowned in the lake. Now adults, Yuni returns to the lodge for the first time to confront old ghosts.
Prologue (from Battle Plan Under Fire)
In a secret message to the CIA, an informant claims to know where the elusive Saddam Hussein will spend the night. If true, with one decisive blow, the United States can kill Saddam, sever command of the Iraqi military, and perhaps end the war before it begins. President Bush orders the decapitation strike, and the military orders up the most sophisticated tools in its arsenal. As the sun rises over Baghdad, two Stealth fighters and 40 Tomahawk cruise missiles scream across the sky. The most advanced technology in the world has been marshalled to kill a tyrant in his sleep, yet the success of the mission depends on the word of one, very human, fallible informant...
Daydream (from Garage Band)
This is a demo song used by Apple on their new music creation software, Garage Band. Christopher was asked to take a simple guitar part by guitarist and producer Michael Brook, and develop it with lavish orchestrations and whistling. As per the producer's request, the result is "music that you might hear in a Volkswagon commercial."
Nocturne No. 1: Night Sings Its Songs (from Night Sings Its Songs)
The complexities of the tragic love in Jon Fosse's play were best served with the simplest of melodies: a piano nocturne, almost childlike in construction, but suggesting a deep and profound pathos.
