"Tales of Being" Album, Concept and Thoughts on the Process
Track list:
- John Dowland (1563-1626) - A Fancy, P. 5
- Hans Werner Henze (1926-2012) IV. Ophelia
- John Dowland A Fancy, P. 1a
- Hans Werner Henze II. Romeo and Juliet
- John Dowland La Mia Barbara, P. 95
- Hans Werner Henze V. Touchstone, Audrey and William
- John Dowland Forlorn Hope Fancy, P. 2
- Hans Werner Henze VI. Oberon
Programme notes and storyline:
This programme presents psychological states that are deeply inherent to human nature. By incorporating the melancholic music of John Dowland with Hans Werner Henze’s musical portraits of Shakespearian characters, I am creating a universe where the messages of the two composers are enhanced. The compositions are complementing each other in a seeming multidimentional discourse between the 463-year-old soul of Dowland and the 100-year-old soul of Henze. These two brilliant minds have expressed a profound knowledge of the human condition and each of their works is a vessel toward comprehending the essence of character. Melancholy, sorrow, loneliness, suffering, hope - forever intertwined in an endless repetition throughout the centuries.
The opening piece on the record is a statement about the tragedy of life – the Fancy P. 5 by Dowland. This introduction is followed by Henze’s depiction of Ophelia. Profoundly sorrowful, vulnerable and suffering, she is the epiphany of the burden of circumstance, incapable of achieving her own desires. In this seemingly unfolding dialogue, Dowland responds with the joyous Fancy P.1a, presenting an escape from darkness, showing a way toward a future that can be brighter and hopeful.
Henze then presents the anguished tale of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, asking Dowland if he remembers the purity of true love. ‘La mia Barbara’ is his answer. Perhaps a woman he was helplessly in love with, ‘Barbara’ reminds us of the times when we could have had something beautiful, but it slipped away without a reason or a warning. Her name will remain shrouded in the lost pages of history, but she will always recall us to those things in life that could have been but never will be.
And so, in the fifth act of Henze’s First Royal Winter Music Sonata, Touchstone’s love for Audrey never will be either. His wit and vast knowledge are precisely
what keeps him from having what he wants – a simple life with a simple lady. That is why she prefers William. Running away from the truth, trying to mask it with jokes and mockery, and yet wanting to be loved – that’s the story of loneliness and being misunderstood.
Loneliness and melancholy are Dowland’s expertise, as he proves in the masterly, chromatic ‘Forlorne Hope’ Fancy P. 2. Though alone, one must look toward the light and remain true to the beauty of life. With his closing statement – ‘Oberon’, Henze conclusively presents two faces of life – its magical majesty and its dark deviousness. Our minds are influenced by all kinds of externalities, leaving us confused with our own vision of the world. In the same manner, the last chords of the programme remind us of the last words of Puck in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”:
“If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended:
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
if you pardon, we will mend:
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call:
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.”
Links
Apple music:
https://music.apple.com/gb/album/tales-of-being-the-royal-academy-of/1849072994
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/00QMG588jX0G4zGidPiCLD?si=_7SI1wNCR-uynnBJb05KIg
Other links are available here as well:
Interview on Instagram:
Member discussion