19 Nov 2011

"Incantation"

Imaginary Garden for real toads had a musical prompt for Friday, but as soon as I read the words "Sometimes, I write about how experiencing live music feels", I knew I would have to use this piece for my post. I saw this group, back in the eighties, play live at Chichester Festival Theatre. For those who don't know, its modern architecture is closer to the original form of 'theatre in the round', and the accoustics were incredible when Incantation played this music.

                      

(Sorry this video no longer works, but  try this link instead...

Cacharpaya - Incantation - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSkYpzikcdM )
Below are two poems I wrote as a result, and I'm leaving them just as they hit the page all those years ago, when this music spoke to me for the first time.

Incantation 1

Tarka, Quena, Drum, make the ether thrum.
The theatre's high vaulted dome would be the sky,
if the pipes were home, in Bolivia.

Joyous, noisome sound echos far around
and struggles to unleash the ties
that hold it earthbound, under skies that beckon.

Incantation 2

Bright music swirls around. Pan pipes, drums and flutes
hurling notes into the air, that soar on high and hover there,
then dive down helter-skelter chutes,
to the depths of the bass drum notes .

The ancient rhythms pound, robbing mind of thought;
soul and body both repeat the ancient music's dancing beat
that all the instruments have caught
with their glorious, rainbow sound.

9 comments:

  1. Wow! What evocative music - love the combo of sounds: pan pipe is particularly earthy; the heart-beat drum and high flight of the flutes create a sensational musical experience. Thanks for sharing these remarkable pieces inspired by the song.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love this ~

    The beat and rhythm are lovely...I can feel your words swaying to the beat ~ I am clapping along ~

    Thank you for sharing this ~

    ReplyDelete
  3. Such joy in this music! You have caught its essence so well. Thank you for sharing these, Jinsky.

    ReplyDelete
  4. oh, how lovely! this has me dancing in my kitchen, the music and your words.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Remarkable likeness to your words.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Incantation... I remember that tune, well, possibly a re-release, but I remember the track getting faster and faster almost hypnotically trippy. You still hear it being played today by pan pipe buskers.

    You've captured the heart and soul of the music in your poems, I want to go to S.America now!! Great read. Thanks for sharing :)) Best wishes.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Fabulous, Jinksy. We were so impressed with Andean music when we were in Ecuador. It was just as you put it "soul and body both repeat the ancient music's dancing beat"!

    Kay, Alberta, Canada
    An Unfittie’s Guide to Adventurous Travel

    ReplyDelete
  8. Happy music. Can't stay still when listening to it. Thanks for making my hop around like an idiot. Fortunately nobody saw that ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love this! The first line ... 'Tarka, Quena, Drum, make the ether thrum.' is such a brilliant lead in. It literally sounds like the beat of a drum ... and it does just, makes the ether; the joyous inner mystic within me, thrum. Music like this sends strength to the cosmos.

    ReplyDelete