WORDS BY VERA WEBER:

Selected from a short story about expansive, ghostly landscapes, "a soft lunacy" is my first multi-media work– a music album, photo collection, and experimental film, including collaborators near and dear to me Vicki Ray & Shanthal Caba Mojica.

Thank you to Orenda Records for supporting the creative ecosystem in Los Angeles, and to everyone who helped bring this concept to fruition.

Inspired by Messiaen’s Catalogue d'oiseaux ("Catalogue of birds”) – in which the composer transcribed bird calls to create a piano piece – I was curious about trying out this transcription-to-composition method with another form of nature.

In Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, I learned that wolf mothers are one of the only species that will kill their own babies if it is suffering to the point of unavoidable death. Though regarded as monsters by many, Estés argues on behalf of the emotional intelligence of female wolves – that in the act of murdering to end suffering sooner, they are actually doing so from a place of compassion and remarkable wisdom.

Reflecting on this phenomenon, I stumbled upon a public domain field recording online of wolves calling to each other. Mesmerized by the melodies, I transcribed them, and recorded my own voice singing along. I digitally pitch my voice precisely to the microtones of the wolves, and timestretched this manufactured wolf + vera choir to be the first playback piece you hear in this performance.

Following suit, I time-stretched string compositions of mine to create the other playback pieces, which were live orchestral recordings from The Ensemble of California Institute of the Arts. Pianists Vicki Ray and myself perform on two prepared-pianos to accompany the playback pieces.

Our first live performance of this composition was documented and created into an experimental film by Shanthal Caba Mojica, where she incorporates her own unique footage juxtaposed with our performance: : vimeo.com/539945154. This film premiered at REDCAT in 2021 as well as 2220 Arts + Archives, and has won several awards at film festivals.

35mm photo collection & prints included with digital purchase, shot by Vera Weber. Proceeds go to Wind River Foundation.

INDIVIDUAL PRINTS FOR SALE:
https://veraweber.darkroom.com/collections/a-soft-lunacy

ALBUM CREDITS
composition & album artwork : Vera Weber

Performers:
Prepared-piano, Vicki Ray
Prepared-piano, Vera Weber

Recording Engineers: Caleb Veazey & Clinton Patterson
Mixing/Mastering Engineer: Clay Burton

Recorded at The Sharon Disney Lund Dance Theater at California Institute of the Arts.