A Soulful Journey transported upon the Spirit of the Wind.
William Ashley Cooper | Allentown, Pa United States | 12/27/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If you had command of a spirit to serve the most inner needs
of your heart and you utilized these powers to bring the most
inner peace possible into the every fiber of your being then
you might just get an idea of the ten cleansing pieces of
inspired collective music that encompass this CD.
Based on the character of the devoted servent spirit, "Ariel"
to his master's wishes, "Prospero" in William Shakespeare's
imortal classic, "The Tempest" the listner is given a fabric
of velvet sound that has been woven from the deep devotion
of Ariel's bountiful duty to his master for being set free
from the terrible afflicted imprisonment of a wicked witch
named Sycorax. Prospero, having freed Ariel from a 12 year
bondage in a pine tree, has Ariel and his powers join together
in a conditional dual alliance to help Prospero get justice
for himself and his daughter Miranda. They were banished to
this island by a brother who took advantange of Prospero's
position of Duke of Milan and had them become vanished so he'd
assume his brother's ruling position. Years later a "touch
of luck" voyage by his brother Antonio and numerous other enemies
of Prospero happen to be passing by the island. Properso
engages the powerful magic of Ariel to create a tempest and
snare them onto the island in isolated locations. One of the
voyager's is Ferdinand, the son of Alfonso, King of Naples,
who is cleverly led with song by an invisible Ariel to
Prospero's cave where he encounters Miranda and a love bonding
occurs.
This is just some of the magic that Ariel is co-conspirator to
under Prospero's continuous efforts to set matters straight.
Now the music created by Karen Bentley on violin and Bruce
Hanifan on piano delves etherally into the soul of the spirit
of the winds, Ariel. Each title reflects on words that
appear in, The Tempest, and help us get a feel for what such a
devotional spirit could possibly be like. He is a prankster
as sorts but never in a vain and usurping manner; he follows
the commands on his master to the letter and waits for the
momment he can be totally free after his master's final bidding.
The opening piece, "gentle breath" is found in the closing
epilogue that Properso renders after setting Ariel free.
This music is tender, warm, and deeply heart felt as are all
the others on the CD. You can indeed "FREE YOUR MIND" with
this whole disc if you let Ariel's essence get into your
being and dispell out the worldly impurity that may have
built up inside you during a day in the so-called imprisioning
real world we all must face. Let your mind flow into the
simple gifts these two artists have woven for you. Indeed it
is as if the innocence of Miranda and Ferdinand's spirits
have transported in to Karen and Bruce. There is some really
subtle unity of hearts chemistry being unfolded with all this
music. "sands of the printless foot" has its inspiration in
Prospero's poetic vision of his invisible spirit servent singing
a magical song as he leads Ferdinand along the yellow sands
to finally reach Properso's cave. "in pearl eyes" appears in
the song Ariel sings to Ferdinand about his father as a vision
in the depths of the sea.
Each piece gives you marvelous mind imagery to mould a perfect
picture of the dynamic little sprite who will masterfully render
all the necessary elements to bring the captured participants
into full closure with Properso's poetic justice.
I really loved "in pearl eyes", "heart flight" "ariel view" because the melodies and structure touch or reflected on some
pre-conceived music in my head as if I'd heard it in another place or time; sort of a musical precognition.
Bruce enhenced "ariel view" with some sampled
processed sound and plenty of spatial depth to bring the greatest sonic pleasure for Karen's violin work in a tribute
to the spirit of the winds. This ethereal wonderworld is continued in "Sprirtual aparition". "Solemn Temple" is a phrase from Act
IV spoken by Prospero in his vision of the world and its
monuments all desolving along with time; All things shall Pass!
The real world is but an illusion and shall disappear while
the finer substance of our beings will continue to move on in
eternal soulgrowth. The acts and deeds we collect for ourselves
in this life will ultimately bear witness to the purity and
virtue of our soulgrowth. The Tempest is a statement of the
act of forgivivg and getting on with proper good-willed deeds
to be sowed in the mysterious migrations we call "Life".
Properso sets Ariel free and by his promise and seeks Ariel's
guidance back to Milan in the final Epilogue. Jesse's Joy, a special tribute to a endeared supporter of this work"
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1