10 years ago on a solo vision quest while high up in a cave in the Cederburg Mountains, Megan de Beyer heard a song that drifted up from the wild valley below me. So convinced that she actually heard the solo voice of a foreign man lamenting and longing for his home, she searched for it only to discover that this voice was the 'vision' she had received - that the song was a vision for her to contemplate like a zen koan. After all these years it became evident that Rob's voice was the one that would capture it for her. Because the song was foreign she wrote words that she imagined were sung. They speak of searching for a home that may never exist in reality. They speak to the longing in all of us to find ourselves and the truth of who we really are at the core of existence. It also speaks of the longing of our souls or spirit to return to essence, to source from whence we came. As much as we enjoy our embodied existence it also traps us in time and space.

Here Robert Woodford moves into the words and the 'ghost' of the foreigner who sang a solo in a wild valley in Africa, and depicts the essence of longing so hauntingly for all of us. It is an improvised solo performance, based on his musical interpretation of the words written by Megan.

Song of Longing

A rough piano improvisation/sketch recorded shortly before an Earth Talk at Schumacher College on November 27th 2013, from my iPhone.

A Lament

Another recording from a wonderful time in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2006 with a great bunch of friends.

Bethlehem Down

Little Ripple 1

Little Ripple 2: Painting Complexity

Little Ripple 3

Little Ripple April 1 2016

Silent Night, recorded in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2006. Part of the Memento recording set.

Silent Night

Recorded live in 2001 for my sister's wedding; sung by Robert Woodford, accompanied by Timothy Woodford, composed by David Woodford.

Psalm 23
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff—
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
my whole life long.

Robert A Woodford

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