Happy Christmas Mum and Dad, in it together, Love Rob

Muqi Li - Guzheng
Rob Shipster - Cello, clarinet, flute, all other parts
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Rob Shipster


The Darkling Thrush 
BY THOMAS HARDY


I leant upon a coppice gate 
      When Frost was spectre-grey, 
And Winter's dregs made desolate 
      The weakening eye of day. 
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky 
      Like strings of broken lyres, 
And all mankind that haunted nigh 
      Had sought their household fires. 

The land's sharp features seemed to be 
      The Century's corpse outleant, 
His crypt the cloudy canopy, 
      The wind his death-lament. 
The ancient pulse of germ and birth 
      Was shrunken hard and dry, 
And every spirit upon earth 
      Seemed fervourless as I. 

At once a voice arose among 
      The bleak twigs overhead 
In a full-hearted evensong 
      Of joy illimited; 
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small, 
      In blast-beruffled plume, 
Had chosen thus to fling his soul 
      Upon the growing gloom. 

So little cause for carolings 
      Of such ecstatic sound 
Was written on terrestrial things 
      Afar or nigh around, 
That I could think there trembled through 
      His happy good-night air 
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew 
      And I was unaware.

Strings of Broken Lyres

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I’ve got a brand new name to introduce you to today. Well, perhaps a new name to our “music scene,” with this debut self-release, titled 2 Years Stranger, but not necessarily a new name to music composition. This Bristol-based classical electronic musician has been working on film scores [see, for example, the soundtrack to Douglas King‘s dark comedy, Do No Harm; and the score to Alexander Klaus‘ indie drama, STATIC], documentaries, operas, stage and dance pieces. Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres even studied continuous music for piano with Lubomyr Melnyk and has performed at music festivals alongside artists such as Talvin Singh, Gabríel Ólafs, and Throwing Snow. Listening to her compositions on the debut confirms her well-deserved spot on these pages – if anything, I’m surprised we haven’t heard her of her before. Perhaps the reasons for this introspective, somber, and melancholy first release lie in the events surrounding the last two years of her life. “In 2017, much like so many of us in 2020, Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres found herself in limbo. Her dad had fallen ill with ARDS, a severe type of respiratory failure, and sepsis. As a result, he was induced into a coma, to arrest the immediate failure of his organs. Alexandra found herself alone in her family home, her dad suspended in a state between life and death in France, surrounded by his possessions and a lot of time to ruminate on the fragility of life.” The resulting rollercoaster of feelings was poured into the album, where pure emotion is expressed through a medium devoid of words. 

Today I am premiering a track called “Dance,” which captures an interplay between organic piano keys and synthetic atmospheric treatments, “telling the story of the freedom Alexandra found through reconnecting with her passion for contemporary dance, after being encouraged by her friends to join them for a show.”

“Movement relieves the inner tension,” says Alexandra.  “Focusing on your body makes your mind feel free. You reconnect with yourself and through that connect with other people”.

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Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres

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