Across the universe

 

Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow waves of joy are drifting through my opened mind
Possessing and caressing me

Jai guru deva om
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Nothing’s gonna change my world

Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes
They call me on and on across the universe
Thoughts meander like a restless wind
Inside a letter box they
Tumble blindly as they make their way
Across the universe

Jai guru deva om
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Nothing’s gonna change my world

Sounds of laughter shades of life are ringing
Through my open ears inciting and inviting me
Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns
And calls me on and on across the universe

Jai guru deva om
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Nothing’s gonna change my world

Jai guru deva
Jai guru deva
Jai guru deva
Jai guru deva
Jai guru deva
Jai guru deva…

 

The flavour of the song was heavily influenced by Lennon’s and the Beatles’ interest in Transcendental Meditation in late 1967 – early 1968, when the song was composed. Based on this, he added the mantra “Jai guru deva om” (Sanskrit: जय गुरुदेव ॐ) to the piece, which became the link to the chorus. The Sanskrit phrase is a sentence fragment whose words could have many meanings. Literally it approximates as “glory to the shining remover of darkness” and can be paraphrased as “Victory to God divine”, “Hail to the divine guru”, or the phrase commonly invoked by the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in referring to his spiritual teacher, “All glory to Guru Dev”. Gabriel’s overtone singing adding the exotic flavour to this song.

 

On 4 February 2008, at 00:00 UTC, NASA transmitted the Interstellar Message “Across the Universe” in the direction of the star Polaris, 431 light years from Earth. The transmission was made using a 70m antenna in the Deep Space Network’s Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex, located outside of Madrid, Spain. It was done with an “X band” transmitter, radiating into the antenna at 18 kW. This was done to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the song’s recording, the 45th anniversary of the Deep Space Network (DSN), and the 50th anniversary of NASA.

 

 

香港作曲家作品系列 -［三思］作曲 許翔威

 

三思──為兩支高音口琴及結他而作             許翔威 作曲

此曲由三個主要部分構成，反映思考的三個連續階段：
始於一念 (From the First Idea)
矛盾與聯繫 (Between Contradiction and Correlation)
進悟境 (Towards Perception of a Philosophy)

音樂由淡漸濃，濃而後淡，調性時有時無，風格亦新亦舊，融成一格。三段體結構，包括其對稱或不對稱形態，(ABC, ABA, AAB等等) 存在於整體及局部，派生的尾聲：「於無限處聚合」(Convergence at Infinity) 簡單而深邃，終結又似是一種開始。

 

Three Thoughts HUI Cheung Wai
for two treble harmonicas and guitar

This work is chiefly tripartite, reflecting three linked stages in thinking:
From the First Idea
Between Contradiction and Correlation
Towards Perception of a Philosophy

The music evolves from serenity to thicker sounds, and from vividness back to calmness. Tonality varies from vague to clear, and old or new styles dissolve to form one of its kind. 3-part structure, including its symmetric or asymmetric forms (ABC, ABA, AAB etc.) exists on large-scale and smaller parts. The simple and profound coda is entitled Convergence at Infinity. The end seems to be another starting point.

 

許翔威

許翔威早年師隨黃友棣及陳能濟研習，先後畢業於香港音樂專科學校作曲系、香港中文大學音樂系及研究院。曾獲兩項香港青年音樂家大獎，其作品多次獲選於各國際性音樂節中演出，包括於紐約林肯中心、卡奈基廳、聯合國教科文組織作曲家交流會及世界博覽會。許氏亦酷愛文學及美術，曾與也斯、靳埭強等合作跨媒體藝術。

 

 

 

 

 

Amsterdam

《Amsterdam》是比利時歌手Jacques Brel所作的一首歌。Brel 本人從來沒有在錄音室錄過此曲，而他的唯一版本是在現場專輯《Enregistrement Public à l’Olympia 1964》 。儘管如此，這首作品一直是他最受歡迎的作品之一。這首歌亦是我最初與Sean合作玩音樂時他介紹給我的，Sean除了以歌聲演譯此曲外，他還加入了不少身體語言及動作加強了這曲的感染力。

 

玫瑰木-Rosewood

玫瑰木是製作結他的常用木材，但此“玫瑰”卻非彼“玫瑰”。
無論是樂器或是家具，都廣泛用到了玫瑰木，這裡的玫瑰木屬於夾竹桃科，是一種小喬木，一般可生長至6米左右，常分佈在低海拔地區的森林裡，因其切開後會泛出陣陣玫瑰香味，所以得名“玫瑰木”。
我們通常所熟知的玫瑰花是薔薇科薔薇屬的灌木，灌木本身體型較小，玫瑰花顏色艷麗，玫瑰果可食用，玫瑰一般多用於象徵愛情。
玫瑰花與玫瑰木前者就像是長得比較高的草而後者是高大的樹木。玫瑰木不像玫瑰花那樣賞心悅目，含義豐富，但玫瑰木做成樂器之後也別有一番風味。
可能有人會問“既然玫瑰木有玫瑰的香味，那為什麼玫瑰木的結他上聞不到玫瑰香味呢？”。玫瑰木是有香味不假，但是要把這個香味留下來需要好的工藝，而且玫瑰的味道也並不一定能保持長久。
具體來說，玫瑰木的香味來自木材裡面的樹脂，但是樹脂是會揮發的。如果採用通常的機器烘乾，樹脂是保留不下來的，香味也就沒有了。所以為了保留部分樹脂，需要採用自然風乾的方式，控制溫度在常溫，這個方式需要長年累月的進行，可能五年，十年，二十年，會導致成品木材的成本急劇提高，所以自然風乾的木材只會用在高檔的琴上。同時琴也不可避免的與外界接觸，絕大部分的樹脂最終還是會揮發掉，而且琴體表面也會渡漆，最終即便保留下來極小一部分樹脂，可能其中的香味你也很難聞到，也許樹脂保留的量比較大，但隨著時間的推移，樹脂最終也會揮發掉。
可能又會有人問”香味真的重要嗎？琴的聲音不應該才是最重要的嗎？”。沒錯，對於樂器來說，香味可能並沒有那麼重要，樹脂在緩慢的揮發過程中，會使木材內的氣孔漸漸收縮，使木材的結構變得更加緊實，製作成樂器後就會有更好的傳導和共鳴。自然風乾的過程會使木材的質地更好，而機器烘乾加速了木材內樹脂和水分的蒸發，使整個過程變得簡短而急促，木材的緊實程度也不如自然風乾那麼好。木材自然風乾對其內部樹脂的處理不會像機器風乾那樣的徹底，所以會留下淡淡的樹脂香味。對於樂器本身來說，或許香味沒那麼重要，但香味是判斷木材是烘乾或是風乾的一個方法，木材的處理手段會直接影響琴的音質，也可以說琴體木材的香味和琴的聲音掛鈎了。

Remembrance from Summer Garden