Inside No. 9, Episode #5: When I Sing, Mountains Dance

Episode #5: When I Sing, Mountains Dance – a collection of pieces to accompany the book by Irene Solà

Here are a collection of songs I put together to accompany my reading of the book ‘When I Sing Mountains Dance’ by Irene Solà. I can’t recommend this book highly enough. She rights with a deft hand and godly imagination; voicing the flora and fauna, as well as humanity and the mountains. True magic in words. I have tried to match the storytelling with equally evocative and playful music. This mix, like the book, is a medicine for our age – allowing for escape, whilst facing what’s important head-on. It’s an Earth prayer; an exercise in reconnecting with the natural world. Rather than waxing lyrical on each song, I will let the music speak for itself. I implore you, dear listener, to track down a copy of the book and read it whilst listening to this mix in its entirety. 

Here is a short paragraph from the book:

“After reciting my verses, I always pause for a small moment. After the words have echoed, after my voice has touched everything, and filled the spaces between all things, I am silent. To separate the poem from the rest. And I listen. The poet speaks. The poet proclaims. But the poet also listens. A bird or two. The air that once again stakes its claim as lord and master of the space between the leaves. The thin whistle the world makes, at the bottom of every ear…”


Chapter One
Af Ursin
Elegy
2012

Chapter Two
Green-House
Palor Palm
2020

Chapter Three
more eaze
A Romance
2022

Chapter Four
Ana Roxanne
4
2020

Chapter Five
Friend of God from the Oberland
On Modernity
2022

Chapter Six
Orphan Fairytale
Titania Moon
2020

Chapter Seven
Log (Perila & Ulla)
Log 7
2020

Chapter Eight
Andrew Chalk & Daisuke Suzuki
屋根の上の見張り番
2018

Chapter Nine
My Cat is an Alien
Music for Phantoms IV
2022


Inside No. 9 is an attempt to share unique narratives through the mixing of 9 songs. Every episode will showcase a new theme, opening up new tributaries of discovery. Inside No. 9 is presented by Peter Taylor, a former features writer for Foxy Digitalis from back in the late 2000s. Peter is a visual artist and musician and has been creating music as MAbH since 2008. 


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