When I was composing this music I was surprised to see a flock of King Parrots arrive to have a listen. Im not sure if it was the high bell-like sounds or the rainforest birds I’d mixed in. Sometimes the parrots turn up when I play the piano (hopefully as an appreciative audience – but then again my poodle Edith occasionally starts howling when I sing- so Im really not sure… ) Calligraphy circles, spiralling DNA as well as water vortices, are the images I had in mind for this composition. Ive definately been influenced by a doco I saw on Youtube recently on Viktor Schauberger and his largely unknown work in studying water and how his systems are being used for ecosystem rehabilitation. Fascinating and deeply inspiring. This is definately a headphone-listen as there are some delicious low notes – deep resonating cello sounds (They come in after about 10 minutes and continue on and off throughout the rest of the track.) Enjoy Steve Stephen Fearnley is an award-winning filmmaker, artist and composer. He composes transformational soundscapes for the meditation journeys of One Mind Live – a unique worldwide online group meditation community. To sample One Mind Live, go HERE
The Wine Dark Sea by Stephen Fearnley
‘And now have I put in here, as thou seest, with ship and crew, while sailing over the wine-dark sea… ‘ (Homer, Odyssey, Book 1, line 178) I had fun with this composition. I was needing inspiration and Naomi Janzen said “ …just do some tapping (EFT) and ask even though I currently have no idea for a composition etc…” and of course instantly the enigmatic phrase from Homer jumped into my head “ the wine dark sea”. Ok, I thought, that’s pretty random, I can certainly work with that! ‘The Wine Dark Sea’ is enigmatic because so many commentators over the years have pondered what the heck Homer was getting at .Was the sea really a dark red wine colour ? I remember a history teacher at art school saying that what Homer really revealed was the ancient Greeks didn’t see the colour blue ! – that the rods and cones in their eyes were still evolving and all they saw was a burgundy sea and a claret sky! Of course he failed to mention that the ancient Egyptians were throwing about lapis lazuli in the bucket loads. Of course if you get the chance to cross the Mediterranean theThe Wine Dark Sea by Stephen Fearnley
Rain Song by Stephen Fearnley
Photo by Stephen Fearnley This months Composer’ Choice is all about Rainmaking. In a nut shell it’s an invocation, a prayer, whatever you want to call a deep emphatic longing for the rain to come. Poor old ground is sad and dry here and every time the clouds gather they swoosh off. Wikipedia calls rainmaking a “weather modification ritual that attempts to invoke the rain”. Of course, most of us can think of American Indian rain dances and there are numerous accounts of their efficacy going way past an “attempt”. Rainmaking is a universal phenomena found in all human cultures. There is a great story passed on via Larry Dossey [1] from Willigis Jäger, the German Benedictine monk and Zen master, about a drought-stricken village in rural China: The village had no rain for a long time. All the prayers and processions had been in vain; the skies remained shut tight. In the hour of its greatest need, the village turned to the great rainmaker. He came and asked for a hut on the edge of the village and for a five-day supply of bread and water. Then he sent the people off to their daily work. On the fourth day itRain Song by Stephen Fearnley
Forest Walk – by Stephen Fearnley
It’s been 18 years since I left Sydney to live on a mountain, set up a studio with my partner and raise a baby girl. We had no idea how we were going to make it all financially work-out, splitting away from the city to a rural area with low employment but somehow everything always just fell into place. At the time some of our friends said don’t sell your house and leave Sydney , you will never be able to get back into the market ! Of course on the inside Celeste and I said Yay ! Who’d ever want to return ? For us it was a no-brainer. Trade-in a small old semi-house for a mountain top vista ? About half of my place is covered with original rain forest. Its rare and untouched. Normally one associates rain forest with hot climates but this is cool and temperate, full of tree ferns and lichen and chocolate coloured wallabies and wombats. Wisely this rainforest, to protect itself, creates boundaries of harsh prickly plants and stinging nettles to stop intruders. We have also ensured with a lot of fencing that cows and other heavy hooves cant get in – encouragingForest Walk – by Stephen Fearnley