The Lady of Shalott
Listen to "The Lady of Shalott" here: https://soundcloud.com/mrinal-desai/the-lady-of-shallot-remix
Vocals: Ana Machado, Portugal
Piano & Composition: Danaë Xanthe Vlasse, California, USA
Mastering & Sound Design: Mrinal Desai, Lousiana, USA
Program Notes:
The text is borrowed from Part IV of the epic poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson. This moment in the poem is particularly poignant because it encompasses the moment of action taken by an otherwise “passive” protagonist who lives in perpetual shelter from her curse; she is effectively self-imprisoned by the fear of leaving her island. The crux of the story lies in questioning, in this very moment of action, whether the Lady of Shalott finally acts out of free will (choosing the moment to face her fears instead of continuing a life of isolation and virtual imprisonment), or whether she is merely a pawn of fate, fulfilling her predetermined destiny.
The rhythmic foundation of the piece is a time signature in 6/8 such that the depiction of a boat swaying on water can be musically approximated. The flow of this rhythmic backdrop keeps momentum behind the dramatic narrative which, told in the 3rd person, is meant to be delivered with stoically repressed anguish, and fatalistic drama.
Poem by: Alfred Lord Tennyson:
In the stormy east-wind straining,
The pale-yellow woods were waning,
The broad stream in his banks complaining,
Heavily the low sky raining
Over tower'd Camelot;
Down she came and found a boat
Beneath a willow left afloat,
And round the prow she wrote
The Lady of Shalott.
And down the river's dim expanse –
Like some bold seër in a trance,
Seeing all his own mischance –
With a glassy countenance
Did she look to Camelot.
And at the closing of the day
She loosed the chain, and down she lay;
The broad stream bore her far away,
The Lady of Shalott.
Vocals: Ana Machado, Portugal
Piano & Composition: Danaë Xanthe Vlasse, California, USA
Mastering & Sound Design: Mrinal Desai, Lousiana, USA
Program Notes:
The text is borrowed from Part IV of the epic poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson. This moment in the poem is particularly poignant because it encompasses the moment of action taken by an otherwise “passive” protagonist who lives in perpetual shelter from her curse; she is effectively self-imprisoned by the fear of leaving her island. The crux of the story lies in questioning, in this very moment of action, whether the Lady of Shalott finally acts out of free will (choosing the moment to face her fears instead of continuing a life of isolation and virtual imprisonment), or whether she is merely a pawn of fate, fulfilling her predetermined destiny.
The rhythmic foundation of the piece is a time signature in 6/8 such that the depiction of a boat swaying on water can be musically approximated. The flow of this rhythmic backdrop keeps momentum behind the dramatic narrative which, told in the 3rd person, is meant to be delivered with stoically repressed anguish, and fatalistic drama.
Poem by: Alfred Lord Tennyson:
In the stormy east-wind straining,
The pale-yellow woods were waning,
The broad stream in his banks complaining,
Heavily the low sky raining
Over tower'd Camelot;
Down she came and found a boat
Beneath a willow left afloat,
And round the prow she wrote
The Lady of Shalott.
And down the river's dim expanse –
Like some bold seër in a trance,
Seeing all his own mischance –
With a glassy countenance
Did she look to Camelot.
And at the closing of the day
She loosed the chain, and down she lay;
The broad stream bore her far away,
The Lady of Shalott.