This is a new series of writings, Fascinations. I’ll be looking at things that, well, fascinate me in various ways, and how those things then take me deeper into relationship with my own body and the body of landscape and community around me and finally deeper into relationship with the entirety of the earth body.
Once in a while, Spotify throws up some new music that makes me stop whatever it is that I’m doing or (most likely) typing while I have it playing in the background. If it makes me stop, it’s special.
It hasn’t happened like this for a while — where it makes me stop, I add some things to a list, and then… then I go even further, listening to whole albums straight through and even looking up the composer.
Richard Skelton is my new fascination musically, and after using some of his work in a class, I know he has the Shaman-Composer nature of Max Richter. I saw it change bodies and deepen body vocabulary right before my eyes.
After I read about him in this short piece here, it makes perfect sense.
He started to compose seriously when his wife died in 2004 as a way to process grief, and his work has been compared to some of the greatest minimalists, including some of our favorites: Arvo Part, Henryk Gorecki, Brian Eno.
I want to play with this 35 minute piece in class soon. And as I said to some students, if you simply put this piece on, sit on the ground and let yourself begin, by the end, you will have gotten somewhere.
If you are on Spotify, find me and follow along so that you don’t miss out on my new discoveries.