Perfectly Awake First Time
October 20, 2008 11:19 AM
This is the center piece in a 5-song ep length project I finally got around to "releasing". (Translation: I uploaded it to my website and posted a myspace bulletin. Strange times we live in.)
The subject matter is a former British conductor and Renaissance music expert who contracted viral encephalitis and lost all but his shortest-term memory. Each time he takes a drink of coffee is his first drink, but he remembers well what coffee is. He can still play the piano and conduct beautifully, but the moment the music stops, "he's lost again" and begins spluttering in a near-seizure. His continued and deeply emotional love for and connection with his wife is as powerful as the frustration and anger he feels every time his brain snaps back to the present, which is every minute or so. I am deeply affected by this story, and working on this piece was intensely rewarding.
This particular song is a picture of the inside of his head. It's some weird music, methinks.
The subject matter is a former British conductor and Renaissance music expert who contracted viral encephalitis and lost all but his shortest-term memory. Each time he takes a drink of coffee is his first drink, but he remembers well what coffee is. He can still play the piano and conduct beautifully, but the moment the music stops, "he's lost again" and begins spluttering in a near-seizure. His continued and deeply emotional love for and connection with his wife is as powerful as the frustration and anger he feels every time his brain snaps back to the present, which is every minute or so. I am deeply affected by this story, and working on this piece was intensely rewarding.
This particular song is a picture of the inside of his head. It's some weird music, methinks.
posted by nosila (1 comment total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
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Where's the dialogue from? Is it original?
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 1:47 AM on October 31, 2008