Taking the Hopkins Aquaalt by Soundiron for a Sunday drive.

Sunseeker

This little theme is a work in progress. I will continue to update it as it evolves.
Meanwhile, please enjoy, and give feedback.

Dawn

Dawn Revisited

A single instance of solo Soundiron Aquaalt by Bart Hopkin.
I am amazed at the sonic beauty of this instrument.

I found this little piece languishing on my long-neglected soundcloud account. I couldn't remember how to play it, and the files were long lost, so I had a go at transcribing it from the original, with deliberated variations...just for fun.

We Had A Moment There

We Had A Moment There (Aquaalt)

This is the archetypal wanderer at dusk, feeling the chill of oncoming winter, and yearning for their home.
It is a really a riff on an ancient fragment of verse: 

“Westron wynde when wyll thow blow
the smalle rayne downe can Rayne
Cryst yf my love were in my Armys
And I yn my bed Agayne.”

This mysterious poem leaves you wanting the back story.
Many artists have been inspired by it and released their own interpretations. 

Some years ago I did my own acoustic guitar ballad; it was a fresh melody, and the back story I construed went thus:

“Westron wynde when wilt thou blow,
the small rain down can rain,
Cryst  my love were in my arms
And I in my bed again .

Morning mist, when wilt thou lift,
Permit the early sun;
I would that she were here with me,
And all my journey done.

For too long have I wandered,
And too long been alone.
Listen to the thunder,
Calling me back home.

I had a dream of lands unseen,
Of wonders to behold,
Of lions on the beaches,
And cities paved in gold.

My eyes were blind to my own kind,
My heart was brash with lust,
I valued only fortune’s prize, as every young man must.

But all I found was hardship, 
And the cruel wolves of war.
And countless empty souls like me,
Each one seeking more.

Now all I’ve earned is what I’ve learned,
So this I will impart:
The only gold a man can hold abideth in his heart.

So Westron Wynde rise up my friend,
And let your small rains fall.
‘To Cryst my live we’re in my arms,
And I in my bed and all.”

This piece uses that melody.

For Too Long Have I Wandered

a Dream Of Flight

A Dream Of Flight

Riffing to a melody I wrote years ago.
Featuring the Hyperion Marimba by soundiron.

Rain At Last

This theme has had to wait until I had sufficient sequencing skills to attempt it. It has an irresistible (to me) ascending momentum, as it cycles through the major keys.  I just figured out this is in part due to it being in Mixolydian mode, which is entirely a serendipity!
This is the largest sound I have attempted so far, and my orchestration "skills" are very obviously nascent, so feedback is welcome.

The View From Here

This track portrays the sunburst in the heart you feel when you greet a loved one at the airport after too long apart. Perhaps, also, it is about the spiritual stage of unconditional welcome to life experiences, regardless of whether they are good or challenging.

The music turned out quite differently to where I thought it was headed. I love the unexpected journeys that music can lead us on. In particular I like how the bass line from the verse becomes the melody of the chorus in fugue-like fashion.

The brass is a mix of sampled and synth, and is my little tribute to the majestic sound of the late great Vangelis.

Let me know if you think this would benefit from being edited into a shorter piece.

Thank you for listening.

Just Welcome Home

Welcome Friend. Rest your weary legs and vexed mind a while, and I'll tell you a tale of ancient times, when fair Gwydion roamed far and free, and the very trees rejoiced...

Gwydion's Air

The White Rose

This one was written and arranged in under 24 hours. I am at my happiest when i hit a flow state, but also burned my brain with excess screentime.
It's about the inevitable journey of loss and grief, and then acceptance, peace and the return of the life urge.

After She's Gone

This theme was written on a classical guitar in a hotel room in Chiangmai Thailand, sometime late in the 1980s. It was a moment where the head finally caught up with what the heart was feeling: I had fallen gentle and quietly in love with the girl I was travelling with, without realising it, and despite my intention to stay out of relationship.
So this is a tribute to the tendency for the heart to know, whilst the head lags behind.
It is intended as a piece of "chamber music", a courtly dance, or perhaps a dance of courtship.


Come To Me Lightly Now

This is a track for days of celebration and joy: Births, Christenings, Engagements, Weddings, Graduations, Retirements...whenever it's time to rejoice.
I am very much a novice at orchestration, so your feedback is welcome.

One Sweet Day

A simple melody to play around with. I was going for a slightly baroque/Hollywood style. I know I need to pare it back and open up a greater sense of spaciousness. Work in progress...

Starlight

This one is "Bodice Ripper", it tells the archetypal love story.
I particularly like the chord progression, and some of the melodic motifs.
I wrote it origanally as a song, so if any celtic-style vocalists want to record it, let me know.
The gender of the narative can easily be adjusted for a female vocalist.

The Tryst

A shipwreck survivor
I wash to these shores,
Just a hapless soldier,
Weary from the wars.
With mercy, they take me in,
That I might be restored,
Yet my thankless heart still wants for more.

She comes like an angel,
Bearing a tray,
Oh lady
Bide awhile, I pray.
Smiling she wipes my brow,
And jests about it all,
Into that moment we both fall…

We tryst like thieves in the dead of night,
Fearing the break of day,
We kiss and swoon into delight,
And then we must be away…
Hush now Love, let fate be kind,
Hasten now, don’t look behind.

Alone and in darkness she comes in disguise,
Oh lady,
I recognise those eyes.
Caught in a breathless trap
Whilst men seek us as prey,
Hurry now for we must be away.

We flee like thieves in the dead of night
Fearing the break of day,
One kiss, one swoon into delight,
Now there is a price to pay.

I will return, should fate kind,
Hasten now, don’t look behind….


The Tryst

I uploaded this a week ago but made critical errors in the mix in my haste. I hope this is better.
This is an acknowledgement of those we have loved and let go of. What might have been?

Wistful

* The music is original and free of A.I.*
This is an hymn to human resilience, and how we survive, regenerate, and discover new purpose, new perspectives, and new lands.

Calmer Waters

I come to the temple of dawn,
And everywhere is running water
Trickling down the walls,
In the courtyards are
Pools full of silence,
Reflecting sunlight on stone.

The silent eyes of monk cells stare down,
Seeking patiently across the centuries,
Emptiness of mind.
Born to a humble path,
Holding a simple staff,
Walking mindful through dawn

How long will it be,
'til I see the golden light?
How long 'til the long night is over?
So many stars,
We're so small against the sky.
I long to return to Beloved.

The path leads me to an ancient room,
Where darkness bleeds from the mountain's womb,
And there are flowers strewn upon
A crude stone alter.
Hewn of the living rock,
The room of an ancient god
Beneath the mountain of dawn.

I'm struck by a foreign god,
That uses my skull as a lightning rod.
I never should have trod
The sentient pathway.
One frail mortal,
Drawn through the portal
Into the emptiness of dawn.

How long will it be
'til I see the golden light?
How long 'til the long night is over?
So many stars,
We're so small against the sky.
I'm on my return to Beloved.

Temple of Dawn

This is a track about simplicity and innocence. It is about when clouds are passing over, and then the return to sunlit clarity. Especially it is a remembering of the mind of a child, and how they are able to fluidly let go of the shadows, and return to the here and now.
Also it is a remembrance of my own simple original state, and costal walks with my lovely mother, in southern England, once upon a time in a time of peace.

Simple things

This is music for the Winter's Solstice. The melody is simple and carol-like, and lends itself to four-part harmony.
It celebrates the time of year when the darkest days are finished, and each day there is a little more sunlight, and the first shoots of spring start to push through the ice. Of course, this is metaphorical. I recently experienced a "cellular" memory of a time in childhood when I decided that I had to be self-sufficient, because there was no one there to turn to.
Unknowingly, this was a hardening of the heart, that resisted the pain, but also restricted my ability to be emotionally responsive and warm. Just like so many men of my culture and generation, I grew into a man who had limitations in his ability to love (symptoms included spending way too long in your own bubble, whether it be making music, sport and fitness, gaming, gambling or numbing in front of the screen). That was the freezing. 
Now in my autumn years, I feel so much light has returned to my heart, and a simple life is increasingly punctuated by spaces of wonderment and gratitude. This is the thawing.

P.S. I attempted this melody a year or so ago under the title "For Too Long Have I Wandered". This iteration represents progress from there, both as a musician and, I hope, a human being.

The Thawing

Hello, Freind. Thank you for visiting my page.
**All compositions are original, and free of A.I.**
 As musicians we crave to be heard, to be seen, to share with another some of the joy we take in our creating. In fact our music does not really "exist" until it has evoked a response from another.  Indeed to be a human is to live with the need to be seen and responded to.
But this is world where we are distracted and drowning in content; constantly being pulled at by the algorithms competing for our attention. A world where " everybody's talking and no one's being heard" (John Lennon).
So your human attention has become a scarce and valuable thing. A commodity that is being mined.
So I really do appreciate that you have taken the time to visit my page, and listen to my offerings. Thank you.
 I welcome your comments, your feedback, your friendship. I will visit you in return.

Mogus Rougus

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