Poet and Composer Collaborate on Avant Garde Song Cycle

“Whispers of Arias”, Volume 1 & 2

 

Sound collages, songs as stories, songs as films…from the opening doorbell  on the first track of Stephen Mead’s  “Whispers of Arias” , Volume One, the listener is invited to enter no ordinary musical experience.  Instead, drawing on classical, folk, and alternative traditions, these songs owe more to the works of John Adams, Phillip Glass, & their librettists, for defying contemporary verse/chorus composition.  Even the rhyme schemes are not typical moon/June/spoon, but more that of soliloquies set to music. Including voices from myths (Ariel, Isis), and voices of history (Nefertiti, Helen), through characters set in 21stCentury scenarios, (a welfare mother on-the run), the song cycle of this CD weaves a thematically comprehensive whole, while the musical backdrops provided by Kevin MacLeod makes each piece a journey unto itself.  To be human is to know how valuable life is, these songs seem to say, and will hopefully leave the listener emotionally transported by that message.

“Whispers of Arias”, Volume Two, picks up the Ariadne thread of the first CD, to bring the listener further through a compelling musical maze.  Indeed, conceptually, the two CDs could easily be combined as a double-set.  Again there are voices both historic (Eva Braun), and from legend (Cassandra), while the themes of love, loss, war, and perseverance remain Universal.  Again Kevin MacLeod’s instrumentation provides a haunting display of colors, ranging through a palette which could come from both Weimar Republic cabarets (Liebestraum), to Gregorian choral chants, (Rites).  Whether exploring the legacy of 911 (“Rings”), or the passing of his own mother (“now, in this stillness”), a sense of human frailty and struggle for dignity remains vibrant in Stephen Mead’s explorations, and, although defined as whispers, perhaps ultimately something of spiritual truth will come through for the listener in these esoteric songs.

 

Excerpts from these works can be heard via StephenMeadArt on SoundCloud.com, http://soundcloud.com/stephenmeadart

CD Demos available at Lulu.com, http://stores.lulu.com/stephenmead

 

Should any choral group/soloist on this network be interested in using any of this material for performances/recording please contact Stephen Mead via   Please note:  Mr. Mead is not a composer, but lyricist, yet would certainly look forward to working with anyone who would like to interpret (compose/arrange) his material.