STEREO!

A poem, accompanied with original background piano music:

 
The Indian Upon God by William Butler Yeats

I passed along the water's edge below the humid trees,
My spirit rocked in evening light, the rushes round my knees,
My spirit rocked in sleep and sighs; and saw the moor-fowl pace
All dripping on a grassy slope, and saw them cease to chase
Each other round in circles, and heard the eldest speak:
Who holds the world between His bill and made us strong or weak
Is an undying moorfowl, and He lives beyond the sky.
The rains are from His dripping wing, the moonbeams from His eye.
I passed a little further on and heard a lotus talk:
Who made the world and ruleth it, He hangeth on a stalk,
For I am in His image made, and all this tinkling tide
Is but a sliding drop of rain between His petals wide.
A little way within the gloom a roebuck raised his eyes
Brimful of starlight, and he said: The Stamper of the Skies,
He is a gentle roebuck; for how else, I pray, could He
Conceive a thing so sad and soft, a gentle thing like me?
I passed a little further on and heard a peacock say:
Who made the grass and made the worms and made my feathers gay,
He is a monstrous peacock, and He waveth all the night
His languid tail above us, lit with myriad spots of light.


Analysis

In "The Indian Upon God," William Butler Yeats presents a Hindu man reflecting on the diversity of religious belief and the nature of God. The poem emphasizes a universal spirituality, acknowledging different cultural perceptions of the divine. Through the Indian’s serene acceptance of various religious symbols and practices, Yeats explores themes of religious tolerance, unity in diversity, and the quest for understanding God in multiple forms.



Concerning the background music:
 
Neo-Contemporary Ethereal Fusion music is an attempt at an extraordinary and intricate musical journey that incorporates an array of innovative elements and artistic influences. Drawing inspiration from Neo-Classical, Avant-Garde, and Contemporary music, it stands as a tribute to the limitless possibilities to poetic exploration. 

This track showcases relentless commitment for pushing the boundaries of musical expression beyond the musical rules. 

Its Experimental nature invites listeners to embrace the unknown, as it delves into uncharted sonic territories. The result is an intricate tapestry of sound that challenges traditional norms and expectations.

The Indian Upon God By William Butler Yeats

STEREO!

A poem, accompanied with original background piano music:

 
The Lady's Second Song by William Butler Yeats


What sort of man is coming
To lie between your feet?
What matter, we are but women.
Wash; make your body sweet;
I have cupboards of dried fragrance.
I can strew the sheet.
(The Lord have mercy upon us.)

He shall love my soul as though
Body were not at all,
He shall love your body
Untroubled by the soul,
Love cram love's two divisions
Yet keep his substance whole.
(The Lord have mercy upon us.)

Soul must learn a love that is
proper to my breast,
Limbs a Love in common
With every noble beast.
If soul may look and body touch,
Which is the more blest?
(The Lord have mercy upon us.)



Analysis

"The Lady's Second Song" by William Butler Yeats explores themes of love and its transformative power. The lady reflects on her past passionate relationships, portraying love as both a source of joy and sorrow. The poem captures the fleeting nature of beauty and the inevitable passage of time, emphasizing the bittersweet aspects of love and life. Through lyrical and evocative imagery, Yeats conveys a sense of longing and nostalgia.


Concerning the background music:
 
Neo-Contemporary Ethereal Fusion music is an attempt at an extraordinary and intricate musical journey that incorporates an array of innovative elements and artistic influences. Drawing inspiration from Neo-Classical, Avant-Garde, and Contemporary music, it stands as a tribute to the limitless possibilities to poetic exploration. 

This track showcases relentless commitment for pushing the boundaries of musical expression beyond the musical rules. 

Its Experimental nature invites listeners to embrace the unknown, as it delves into uncharted sonic territories. The result is an intricate tapestry of sound that challenges traditional norms and expectations.

The Lady's Second Song By William Butler Yeats

"Tales of Wonder"
Valhjim

In the quiet heart of the forest, where the trees whispered secrets older than time, there stood a hidden lake that mirrored the sky. Its waters shimmered with a soft glow, as if stars had fallen into its depths and were learning to swim. One moonlit night, a traveler stumbled upon this place, his eyes wide with awe. 

As he approached the shore, he noticed a silver fish rise from the water, its scales glinting like constellations. The fish spoke in a voice like distant chimes, offering the traveler a single wish. In that moment, the traveler realized that wonder was not in the wish itself but in the belief that such magic could exist at all. And with a smile, he simply whispered, "Thank you," and turned to walk away. 

But just before he left, he noticed a bright light coming from the fish, which he now identified as a trout. In a flash, the trout became a golden girl with apple blossoms in her hair. She whispered the traveler's name thrice and disappeared. Since then, the traveler goes around the world, in forests and lakes, looking for his golden girl with apple blossoms in her hair. 

(This tale was inspired by W. B. Yeats' "The Song of Wandering Aengus.")

Hope you like both the tale and the music, folks.

Valhjim - Synthesizers, samplers, bass, and guitars.

Thank you for listening
and for your kind and candid words.

Valhjim

(C) 2024 Jim Valero (all rights reserved).

Tales of Wonder

A setting of Yeats' famous poem - not the first!

Song of Wandering Aengus

Uma conversa de meia-hora sobre William Butler Yeats, muitas vezes apenas designado por W. B. Yeats, um poeta, dramaturgo e místico irlandês nascido em Dublin em 1865 e falecido em Menton, na França, em 1939, que foi galardoado com o Prémio Nobel de Literatura de 1923.

Autores Nobel

William Butler Yeats

Premiered by the University of Louisville Cardinal Singers under the direction of Dr. Won Joo Ahn on November 7th, 2024.

Soprano Soloist: Sarah Byrd

Program Note: What haunts you? Though Protestant in faith, William Butler Yeats was deeply fascinated with and influenced by the mystical folklore of Ireland, particularly with spirits that resided in Ireland’s lush natural beauty. In “The Everlasting Voices,” Yeats is not merely referring to these external spirits; he’s also referring to his inner anxieties and doubts. He implores the “voices” to return to the natural landscape where they belong and be found in the wind and on the shore instead of driving him insane.

In today’s digital, algorithmic age, we are bombarded with continuous media and online voices showing us all of the atrocities the world has to offer and “influencers” with all the answers for how to fix our own lives while revealing nothing of their own. We are more connected than ever before, and we are more disillusioned with our sense of self as a result. In this piece, I sought to evoke the rich natural landscapes Yeats vividly portrays along with the anxieties he implores to leave him and the digital anxieties we all encounter today. Despite a vastly changed world since Yeats’ passing, I imagine his advice would be unchanged: engage with the natural world around you. Find a creek, or a shore, or a mountain, or a plain, or a cave, and leave time for wonder. May your everlasting voices be still.

The Everlasting Voices 
-by William Butler Yeats 

O sweet everlasting Voices, be still; 
Go to the guards of the heavenly fold 
And bid them wander obeying your will, 
Flame under flame, till Time be no more; 
Have you not heard that our hearts are old, 
That you call in birds, in wind on the hill, 
In shaken boughs, in tide on the shore? 
O sweet everlasting Voices, be still.

The Everlasting Voices

I know there are people in the world who do not love their fellow human beings and I HATE people like that

Give Me The Plant (Slight Return)

Endless

Dracula

Dracula(Vlone2)

95% of the population of Ireland speak English as their first language. English is the first language spoken by the majority of people in Wales and Scotland. But these other nations reverberate with their ancient Celtic languages, they seep through, will never be suppressed.

Glanmore, Wicklow

Text: W. B. Yeats, Music: Evan Hause. World premiere by the Ann Arbor Vocal Arts Ensemble, 4-25-22, Benjamin Cohen, dir.

The Two Trees (SATB, cello, piano)

I was flipping bricks for Mansa Musa before ya'll even became a type-1 civilization.

Composer, Conductor, Pianist, Vocalist, UofL BM ‘23, UofL MM ‘25

Composer of concert music, electronic, improvisatory, rock, jazz, and other eclectica.

Abyssal 
We are spirits (souls) locked within our vessels until the appointed time of ascension. Cursed and blessed with the ability to vocalize emotion so heavily that it can lead a multitude , or destroy a colony. The power of our voices can never be muted nor silenced , for it is our energy and our essence that grants us the ability to make sounds. This life can be a gift or a burden depending on your mindset. If you seek heaven , don’t look anywhere but at the mirror. It is already in you. As above so below.
-sxffer

Psychic Investigations:
exploring the weird British Isles

Valhjim is a music composer with an eclectic approach to different genres: rock, pop, folk, New Age, and experimental electronic music. Greatly driven by imagination and poetic imagery, he combines multiple instrumental textures to fire the imagination of his listeners. 

His more experimental ambience and electronic music is built with layers of suggestive sound textures, rhythms, and melodic lines that stir the imagination into suggestive imagery and worlds unseen, true architectures of sound that open up limitless spaces to explore. Often Valhjim's melodies sail through genre thresholds, crossing over from one genre to another, from neo classcal to electronic, or from jazz to rock or new age.

New tracks tagged #Yeats