For part of my Masters course I chose Layla & Majnun, an ancient Persian love story, from the 6th century, written by the poet Nizami Ganjavi. Qays, a young boy and Layla a young girl fall into an innocent, pure love whilst still children. As they grow older, Qays’ love for her drives him into a frenzy and he becomes known as “Majnun”, which means ‘mad’. Layla’s parents forbid this relationship and she is kept imprisoned at home. Majnun wanders off to the desert and creates the most exquisite poems, reciting them for people who flock from all over the land to hear. They repeat it as they pass beneath Layla’s window, which is how she knows he still loves her.

I took the first part of this story, wrote a new version of the tale for myself as narrator, then took a series of poems by Rumi, Shakespeare, Philip Sidney, and John Clare and set them to music.

The singers are Keara Donohue (mezzo); Benjamin Caukwell (baritone)

 
 
 
 

CREDITS

Composer:  Felix Cross

Love Poems:  John Clare, Sir Philip Sidney, Rumi, William Shakespeare.

Narrator’s verses:  Felix Cross

Recording & Mixing Engineer: Jason de Wilde 

Performers: Keara Donohoe (mezzo); Benjamin Caukwell (baritone); Felix Cross (Narrator)

Instrumentation and Narrator vocals recorded at home studio in Sydney from March-June 2017. All tracks recorded in Logic. Singers recorded at AIM studios 23 June 2017, also mixed there. Instruments sounds initially by Logic software samples; during mixing most replaced with Native Instruments Samples, courtesy of Jason de Wilde.

Many thanks to:

Dr Phillip Johnston for his supervision, encouragement and rigour, all beyond the call of duty.

Jason de Wilde for his excellence, flexibility and cool head at the controls.

Halee Isil Cosar for her valuable advice on Islamic poetry and thoughts on Layla & Majnun.

The many friends and colleagues who answered my call-out for lists of rappers and spoken word artists who focussed on narrative in their work. I received a huge response that helped me understand the genre.

Finally, to the Graduate Studies department for their understanding, yet again, regarding my request for a deferral.