CD RECORDING

A Hound a Horse and a Turtledove

I am an ornithologist/conservationist dedicated to preserving populations and habitats of declining and endangered species, from the magnificent broad salt marshes of the east coast to the forests and grasslands of the Northwest. As long as I can remember, I have been interested in birdsong and nature, have been composing songs since I was young, and am self-taught on the piano. The songs tend to be in a minor key, with the suggestion of something lost. However, some are optimistic, in a major key, with dissonances worked into the music. The flavor is correpondingly melancholy or cheerful. In two tracks (#1 and #3) birdsong is combined with the music.

The name of the CD I owe to Thoreau, who wrote, enigmatically: “Many years ago I lost a hound, a bay horse, and a turtledove, and have been on their trail ever since. Many are the people I have spoken to concerning them… and they seem as anxious to recover them as if they had lost them themselves.”  Which of course, each in his or her own way, they had! Loss, and the searching for what is lost, are universal themes in music, literature, and life. The purpose of the music on this album is to connect us with what is most important to us, to bring us to our senses, which for each individual has a different meaning.

A Hound a Horse and a Turtle Dove is available and can be ordered from CD Baby.

http://cdbaby.com/cd/sharpbrian

Click the underlined tracks below to download streaming samples of a few songs.

Tracklisting

  1. Spiral Stairway to Heaven
  2. For the One I Love
  3. Return of the Light
  4. Something Simple
  5. Pleasure of Conversation
  6. Morning After
  7. Yorkshire Boyhood
  8. Psilocybin
  9. Lounge Lizard
  10. Cascades
  11. Holy Grail
  12. Home and Heart