We welcomed Qatar-based Vincent Corver to our Fish Pond family of musicians in March 2015. A talented composer with multiple awards to his name, he is highly qualified and respected in his field. His 2014 work “Why”, produced by Nyk Schmalz, is a study in what Vincent would call “Key-Precision Progressive Music”; it’s the art of making the complex simple, and by the close of precisely four minutes, should leave you with one simple word – “Wow”.
I love the almost 8 seconds visual of that beautiful silent keyboard just aching to be played, as the artist prepares his hands for the instrument. There’s something amazing about the reflections in a grand piano, and in this case, in its austere keyboard, it is breathtaking.
The initial melody is simple, chords and trickling streams of white and black, music perfectly reflecting the emotion, Vincent’s darkened form setting up the mood. I’m experiencing thoughtful, colored memories of a celebration, better and more romantic days with an ex, as the simple music pulls me ever forward.
The looped percussive vocal is short, intense, I particularly enjoy seeing our artist grooving to it at his keyboard, hands multi-tasking, and I already feel invested in the music and the short story. A beautiful sound, it makes your body instinctively move, traces of the best of Michael Jackson’s rhythm in this interesting technique. It precedes a more sinister note, as we’re introduced to the heroine’s other lover, and the dark overtones of an illicit affair.
The following theme is beautiful, I’m hearing all waterfalls and autumn leaves caught in a river’s ebb and flow, soaring and dipping in the piano’s melody. The visual is intense, as the cheating takes on a real form, our artist working the piano keys, the lover playing the game with both protagonists, in scenes of playful innocence and strained introspection. The complexity grows with the music, as memories of mutual friends are brought into the mix, the sad remnants of a party long-since over. The sound of the keys are delightful, playful, fully engaging me with the story.
Our opening theme returns, the emotion never more dark than this, although the music is so light and breezy; contrasting imagery and sounds of the fun-loving frivolity of the cheaters, red graffiti hearts and sports cars, and the heartbreak of discovery; the piano builds and builds with the mood, I’m feeling anxious, pulled into this short story like the victim of a kidnap. An empty bed, a confused kiss, a spray of water under an overpass, a heart halved, and the separation is complete, unresolved and yet somehow so final.
It’s a beautiful little story which yields so much emotion in it’s 4 minute form; it doesn’t have a happy ending, nor does it have a sad one. It’s honest, tragic. Why? Because sometimes the world just…well, it just is.
The true beauty in Vincent’s art is what it evokes in the eyes and ears of the beholder. The above is what I see and hear – not necessarily the artist’s intent. Take from it what you will, and I hope you enjoy the piece as much as I have.
You can find out more about Vincent Corver, artist and producer, including all of his media links, at his Fish Pond profile.
David Mark Smith
Founder, Global Musicians Fish Pond
david@globalmusiciansfishpond.com
