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THE CELTIC CONNECTION • APRIL 1992
Pilgrimage of a Wounded, Unfulfilled Artist
By GARY BARCLAY
"How am I fallen from myself, for a long time now
I have not see the Prince of Chang in my dreams."
—Khoung-Fou-Tseu "Though the leaves are many, the root is one." — W.B. Yeats
VANCOUVER — Here in the global village, during these unsettled times of transition from one level of art, science, philosophy and religion to another, certain economic adjustments and social changes are imperative if social disaster is to be avoided.
By daring, however, to naively explore the best of other cultures from within by means of symbols, we can share meanings, and further the transmission of knowledge and wisdom to succeeding generations. As
THE MUSIC OF THE STONES
this sudden mix of diverse cultures may at times test one's level of tolerance, we need new models of intimate working relationships to maintain personal values and principles, stabilize the ideals of humankind, and contribute to the progression of planetary destiny.
One such cross-cultural collaboration was unveiled at the Com-munity Arts Council of Vancouver Gallery on January 31, at the premiere of a newly commissioned production "The Music of the Stones", by poet Trevor Carolan and composer Mark Arminini.
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The work was performed by the five-piece Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble, soprano Erica Northcott, and percussionist Salvador Ferrares. Carolan narrated his imagistic texts portray-ing the pilgrimage of a wounded, unfulfilled artist named Mcjazz.
Dislocated from his background of Celtic mysticism, harassed by insecurities, and beset by anxieties common to the modern age, he is in dire need of a healing.
While contemplating the archaic simplicity of a Zen Stone garden, Mcjazz comes to admit his own impatience and turbulent discontent and, thus, begins a trekon the dharmic trail with an intellectual approach to integrate the symbols of Taoism of all Eastern teachings with those of the Catholic Mass and Western mystical traditions.
"This is no land for heroes!" he rants in dismay, rambling over the barbarous splendour of the Asian landscape. Brandishing his range through bamboo thickets, barren countrysides, and clamorous swarms of impoverished plebeians, Mcjazz arrives at the foot of the Healing Buddha of the Golden Temple in Mandalay.
It is here that, in an instantaneous conjunction of religious symbolism, he spiritually awakens to the pure and true inner voice which transforms his splintered personality into a unified whole, revealing newfound compassion, feeling and depth of understanding.
Through meditation, Mcjazz comes to realize that this genuine guidance within, when heeded, is The Way. Turning homeward, with time out for the practise of deep breathing and tai chi, he culminates his journey in "satori 'On the Sunny Side of the Street'" of Lonsdale Avenue on Vancouver's North Shore. There in an outburst of obstinate joy, Mcjazz shouts poetic praises of thanksgiving amidst the natural surroundings of creation.
Derived from a harmonious blend of Carolan's eidetic texts, Armanini's lyric and meditative compositions, and performed by an eclectic orchestra of conservatory-trained musicians, "The Music of the Stones" is charged with new possibilities and succeeds in thawing the frozen forms of tradition into the liquid liberties of an enlightened coming together.
After a recent matinee attended by an acutely attentive audience of ESL and senior high school students, Carolan and I fell by the Westbrook Hotel on Hornby Street for coffee and apple pie. Wearing a seersucker jacket over an ornately decorated Nepalese vest, he told me that, "We have to get past the science of division into the science of oneness."
A descendant of Turlough
O'Carolan, the harpist who flourished in the late 1700's, Trevor Carolan comes from forty years of Irish parentage. "Strangely enough," he added, "through a twenty-year search for inner wisdom in the East, I've gradually come to realize the veracity and power of my own Celtic upbringing. This knowledge — from the folk wisdom of the healing potencies of natural medicines, such as bur-
dock root, to the devotional and mystical experiences of the Celtic/Christian tradition — preserves signposts that lead through rites of passage."
Born in Yorkshire and raised on the West Coast, Carolan now lives with his wife and two children in their home overlooking Deep Cove in North Vancouver. He has worked with Mark Armanini for the past four years and "The Music of the Stones" is their third co-production. He has translated, with Bella Chen, Tao master Loy Ching-Yuen's The Book of the Heart, published by Shambhala, and his latest anthology, Rim of Fire: Stories from the Pacific Rim, will be published by Vintage/Random House this fall.
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