The Tongs and the Bones |
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Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream is inhabited by various mischievous lesser deities who spend a fair amount of time diverting themselves by messing around with humans. Though most pranks are at the expense of the pitiable men and women trying to figure their way through the pitfalls of love and lust, there is that one episode in which a fairy queen becomes enamored of a donkey-headed bumpkin... At least he seems to like music. 4:37 |
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Ascending - The Flight of Father di Carli |
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I never fully appreciated the concept of tragicomedy until I read the story of Antonio di Carli. To put it into words here would seem crass, and would diminish the man's purpose, which was noble. I leave it to those who are interested to discover the backstory. Suffice it to say that, even though there are helium balloons and a chair involved, the song is meant as an homage, and a sincere hope that the good Father's soul has found a happy home. 10:31 |
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Forests of the Night |
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"Tiger, tiger, burning bright..." According to the World Wildlife Fund, world tiger populations are down to about 4000 total. "Tigers are poisoned, shot, trapped and snared, and the majority of these animals are sought to meet the demands of a continuing illegal wildlife trade - which includes traditional Chinese medicine." "In what distant deeps or skies burnt the fire of thine eyes?" 5:48 |
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Oxygen Debt |
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Deep breaths...relax, take deep breaths. It's easy to detect something that's not really there, or interpret the mundane as meaningful. All that's needed is the right (wrong?) mix of chemistry surging through one's cognitive apparatus. Too much of this, too little of that, and you end up seeing the cast of CSI dancing a tarantella on the summit of K2. We put an awful lot of faith in an organ that can't seem to remember where it left its car keys. 5:26 |
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Her Perilous Purity (A suite for New Orleans) |
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My motivation in writing this will be immediately identifiable: None of us is an island, we are connected in ways both nuanced and overt. A tragedy of the proportions of Hurricane Katrina sparks emotions of empathy that propagate like a wave throughout the human medium. We can look away, but we cannot be unaffected. I conceived of this piece in three sections, each of these in turn in three parts. It is intended to roughly correspond with a hurricane's three stage drama: the arrival, the passing of the eye, and the storm's return. |
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Some segments are meant to be representative, others not so much. It was my intent that one might experience in the listening... |
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...a sweep of sentiment ranging from desperation to determination, exhaustion to agony, and resentment to respect. |
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Along with extensive use of melodic metaphor, there is quite a lot of internal reference throughout the phrasing and arranging of this piece. There are few themes that are not foreshadowed or reprised in some fashion. It was my desire that there should be a sense of continuity, even though the means of expression are varied. Please forgive a songwriter's conceit in asking that enough time be spared to experience the song as a whole. 25:52 |
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Rock the Ground |
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Most of the ideas in this little tune are derived from themes used in The Tongs and the Bones. I like the symmetry of musical bookends. Kind of ties things up. "Come, my queen, take hands with me, And rock the ground whereon these sleeper be." 2:57 |
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All music written and recorded by Robert Camp, © 2009