[NetBehaviour] Dark Playing, Never Song, Hard Sarangis, Hard Rebab

[Alan Sondheim]

Dark Playing, Never Song, Hard Sarangis, Hard Rebab

http://www.alansondheim.org/never.jpg
http://www.alansondheim.org/oldsarnever.mp3
http://www.alansondheim.org/newsarnever.mp3
http://www.alansondheim.org/nevernewsar.mp3
http://www.alansondheim.org/rebabnever.mp3

"NEVER

"Never such
Pain again
They will not
Have it
They will come first
And kill first
They will open
Maw and ruin
Death never
Stops for death

"Nevermore
Our loves to please
Nevermore
Somewhere you smile
And our chains
Seem as one
Disappearing
Crying nevermore
Crying out
Nevermore
Before the coming
Of the pain
Cessation
Denouement
Never death
A passing away
Never death
Dont mourn for me
Never death
Dont mourn for me

"Never such
Pain again
They will not
Have it
They will come first
And kill first
They will open
Maw and ruin
Death never
Stops for death"

Azure Carter, singer, song
Alan Sondheim, modern sarangi, antique sarangi, Afghani rebab

"I chose to use difficult and hard to play instruments, for solo
work and to accompany Azure's song; one blends into the other.
The old sarangi (around 1910-1930?) has extremely thick strings
well above the body; its gruffness seems perfect for the song.
The new sarangi has thinner strings (including a cello one)
closer to the body; they're stopped with nails, not cuticles.
The rebab presents both tuning and picking problems for me; it's
intended to be played with a pick, but I'm using fingers
instead. It also tends to go out of tune, and some of the drone
strings can't be turned properly in the body. I try to work
around the limitations. It's also a very old instrument. In any
case, the difficulty of these instruments, for me, results in a
caustic environment, one of arms, hands, fingers, bodies at work
in an untoward way - as if there were disappearances, fade-outs,
what the song indicates to me."