I had prepared myself for an experience of abstract, probably abrasive music. On the contrary, Threnody for Rocking Chair by Newfoundlander Robert Humber was a soothing dive into a sound world tinged with gentle nostalgia. The composer no longer lives in his native province, but returns frequently. It is the feeling of fullness and natural happiness that he feels with each return that he wanted to convey to the public. He used musical instruments present in his childhood home (his father’s first guitar, a “barely functional” double bass, harmonicas, a piano, and many more things picked up here and there) and he touched, randomly but respectfully and gently, the strings, the keys, etc. The material, 100% acoustic, was then filtered through a computer program. What we hear still sounds acoustic, but strangely (and beautifully) out of sync. Humber manages to brilliantly communicate the ghostly impressions that inhabit him and that lull him when he delves back into the world of his memories. The whole (four pieces) is very seductive, but I particularly remember the third track (Capelinclipping) whose delicate glimmers make the sound space shimmer, creating an almost fairy-like enchantment, and the fourth (I am right here and Far away) in which Humber adds the voice of Bridget Swift, which unfolds like the fragmented echo of a past faded by time.
Poetic, soothing, symbolic, and enchanting.
