Notes for UNFATHOM'D TIDE

The 2017 Four Last Things album, UNFATHOM'D TIDE, was a tribute to the immortal American poet, Edgar Allan Poe. Fourteen of his poems are represented; five are sung and nine are recited over music. One unique aspect of this collection is that the overwhelming majority of the poems are very early works of Poe's, from his teens and early twenties - no Raven, Bells, or Annabel Lee here.

As the album was being assembled, I wrote some notes of explanation about the compositions, originally thinking they might be included as liner notes in the CD. That didn't happen, but noticing the word file, I thought, Well, there's an instant blog post. So here it is....

1. Imitation

The music in Imitation comes from a short instrumental piece I recorded in a one-take, off-the-cuff version in November 2008. It is based around a repetitive marchlike bass riff, with a brief adlibbed middle part providing some variety.

2. A Dream

The whole song is one 4-chord sequence repeated throughout. The chords and melody had lingered in a sketchbook since about 1990, and I found the Poe poem fit the tune without much trouble.

3. Dreams

The main chord sequence was written in 1979 and intended for a “Mass” for Rock band - inspired, I’m sure, by hearing an excerpt of the Electric Prunes’ “Mass in F minor” in the film, Easy Rider. This bit was to be the “Sanctus” section. The livelier middle portions were added in 2016 for variety.

4. Sleep On

Based solely on a 2-bar bass pattern that carries two different sets of chords on top, the music (including the melody) is from the early 90s and was actually part of an earlier Poe project that never got off the ground: a complete setting of Poe’s 1827 volume, “Tamerlane and Other Poems.” This was originally going to be the music for “I saw thee on thy bridal day.”

5. Romance

This heavy chord riff was created sometime in the late 90s.

6. The Lake

The slashing main chord sequence – more of a “chord riff” – is from 2004, while the blunter middle sequence comes from 1978.

7. Fairyland

The main portion is from 1983, a fragmentary song called “Critical Ocean.” The brief middle part seems to be from the 90s or early 2000s, and was added for contrast.

8. Israfel

This contains more remnants of the 1979 “Rock Mass,” the first half being the “Kyrie” and the second, the “Credo.” The 3/4 section of the first half is all new, 2016.

9. Sonnet to Science

The fast jazzy chord sequence was in a notebook, uncertain date, but probably ‘90s. I added a very brief “main theme” which is played here only once before improvisation takes over.

10. To One in Paradise

This music is another leftover from the earlier “Tamerlane” project. The main bassline was supposed to go with a very early Poe poem called “The happiest day.” I fleshed it out for this new purpose, adding the continuous alto saxophone counterpoint.

11. The Sleeper

The big chord riff in The Sleeper is from 1997. It needed something with a different feel for the breaks, and I thought of this minor key chord progression from around 2008, which seemed to join nicely. This was the last of the “singing” vocal numbers (as opposed to “spoken” numbers) composed for the album.

12. The Coliseum

The heavy main chords are from 2003. The contrasting middle section comes from a high school era (1975) song – yet another example of my ongoing recycling of “castaways” from a well-stuffed musical warehouse.

13. Lenore

I made this setting of selected lines from Poe’s poem in 1980. It occurred to me rather late in the development of Unfathom’d Tide that “Lenore” could fit in, so I added it, with no changes from the 1980 original.

14. Ultima Thule

The repeating minor-key bassline – I thought of it as a “chaconne” originally – must have been written in the 80s; it lingered as a brief sketch, waiting for something to happen. The first four bars of the contrasting major-key section are from an unfinished song of 1985, “Planets of the Sun.” I developed a new chord progression in the same vein, and interspersed the new parts with the repeats of the C minor bass.