Album Notes

My first “triple album” - inspired by my first experience at the Opera - Richard Wagner’s ‘Tanhausser’. Metamorphosis’ three “acts” parallel those in Tanhausser. Wagner’s first act takes place in a kind of heaven (The Celestial Plane), the second in the royal palace (The Kings Court), and the third has Tanhausser on a pilgrimage to Rome (Into the Wood). Mine is titled Metamorphosis in the dramatic sense of transformation of character by epic events or rites of passage.

Act I has an “overture” with themes reprised at the end of Act III. The bass is kind of the central “character” with many solo “arias”. The featured character besides the bass is different for each act; flute for The Celestial Plane, french horn for The King’s Court, and oboe for Into the Wood, with all returning in harmony for the finale. I played all the instruments on this album in order that it might be true ‘composition’ in the sense that the whole thing has one author. The flute, organ, french horn, trumpet, oboe, and percussion are all from the MIDI bass.

Though I certainly did not write an “opera” with words and singing characters, I did use certain structural elements from that opera experience to become part of this project. I chose acts 1 and 3 in order to release this as a single CD.

Grant Clarkson - drum programmes, fretless fender bass, rhodes, fender guitar,
MIDI bass - oboe, french horn, organ flute, electronic percussion
All compositions by Grant Clarkson
recorded February - July 2008 Licitysplit Studios
copyright 2008 Grant Clarkson