The Shine Award 2010: Recognizing this year’s outstanding achievement in creativity. To celebrate a work that reminded us what it is to be human and shows us a new way to see the world.
This year’s winner is Natalie Merchant’s song cycle Leave Your Sleep
It is the holy grail for popular musicians: to cross to the other side of the tracks to work in the classical music field -- to create a timeless work of art that will sit in the bin next to Mozart and Bach. But those are some mean streets and, really, only George Gershwin and Richard Rodgers have any street cred in Wolfgang’s hood. That is until this year. Submitted for your approval: Natalie Merchant’s song cycle Leave Your Sleep
Leave Your Sleep is the most exhilarating CD I have heard in a decade. Natalie has taken poems from around the world celebrating a child’s imagination and set them to her playful, compelling music. They are 26 dreams. 26 worlds of dance, exuberance and charm. The musical styles are so varied from song to song that it reminded me of the Beatle’s White Album or the Clash’s London Calling. That stunning variety of styles, from blues to Irish to country to classical, heighten the sense of magic and adventure for me. Her dark, cello-like voice engages me to play. Luckily, she wisely resists the temptation to use a full orchestra on most songs. These are small, tender moments that need the light of only a few instruments to illuminate them.
My favorite song as a child was “It’s a Small World (After All)” the theme for the Disney ride. At six I wore my parents out by demanding to go through that ride over and over. Scenes of children playing from all over the world past by this child's eyes and that song was the key that transported me. Even to this day it has the magic to do so. As I was lying in bed listening to this double CD, I was six again -- full of the joy that only a child with endless energy and enthusiasm can muster. Some part of my mind never really grew up -- I guess that is why I became an artist. Well, I didn’t choose it, it chose me. Besides, it sounds better than saying, “Me play now.” But it is really the same thing -- my finger-paints are just a little more expensive and my mother’s fringe is now the internet or an exhibit opening.
This isn’t a lullaby CD to toss at the kids to keep them quiet. This is the key to another world: the world of a child’s imagination and endless creativity. There is no dust or pretension in a child's longing. This is the soundtrack to my forgotten dreams -- dreams that filled me with wonder again.
“I willed into being this parade of witches and fearless girls, blind men and elephants, giants and sailors and gypsies, floating churches, dancing bears, circus ponies, a Chinese princess and a janitor’s boy, and so many others. I tried to show her [my daughter] that speech could be the most delightful toy in her possession...” -- Natalie Merchant, January 2010
Discover Leave Your Sleep at:
This year’s winner is Natalie Merchant’s song cycle Leave Your Sleep
It is the holy grail for popular musicians: to cross to the other side of the tracks to work in the classical music field -- to create a timeless work of art that will sit in the bin next to Mozart and Bach. But those are some mean streets and, really, only George Gershwin and Richard Rodgers have any street cred in Wolfgang’s hood. That is until this year. Submitted for your approval: Natalie Merchant’s song cycle Leave Your Sleep
Leave Your Sleep is the most exhilarating CD I have heard in a decade. Natalie has taken poems from around the world celebrating a child’s imagination and set them to her playful, compelling music. They are 26 dreams. 26 worlds of dance, exuberance and charm. The musical styles are so varied from song to song that it reminded me of the Beatle’s White Album or the Clash’s London Calling. That stunning variety of styles, from blues to Irish to country to classical, heighten the sense of magic and adventure for me. Her dark, cello-like voice engages me to play. Luckily, she wisely resists the temptation to use a full orchestra on most songs. These are small, tender moments that need the light of only a few instruments to illuminate them.
My favorite song as a child was “It’s a Small World (After All)” the theme for the Disney ride. At six I wore my parents out by demanding to go through that ride over and over. Scenes of children playing from all over the world past by this child's eyes and that song was the key that transported me. Even to this day it has the magic to do so. As I was lying in bed listening to this double CD, I was six again -- full of the joy that only a child with endless energy and enthusiasm can muster. Some part of my mind never really grew up -- I guess that is why I became an artist. Well, I didn’t choose it, it chose me. Besides, it sounds better than saying, “Me play now.” But it is really the same thing -- my finger-paints are just a little more expensive and my mother’s fringe is now the internet or an exhibit opening.
This isn’t a lullaby CD to toss at the kids to keep them quiet. This is the key to another world: the world of a child’s imagination and endless creativity. There is no dust or pretension in a child's longing. This is the soundtrack to my forgotten dreams -- dreams that filled me with wonder again.
“I willed into being this parade of witches and fearless girls, blind men and elephants, giants and sailors and gypsies, floating churches, dancing bears, circus ponies, a Chinese princess and a janitor’s boy, and so many others. I tried to show her [my daughter] that speech could be the most delightful toy in her possession...” -- Natalie Merchant, January 2010
Discover Leave Your Sleep at:
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