All music composed by Francesco Forgione and Alessandra Santovito,
except ‘Asturiana’ by Manuel De Falla.
All lyrics written by Alessandra Santovito, except ‘Le Lacrime di
Proserpina’a, by Alda Merini, and ‘Moon Spell’ and ‘Summatem Deam’,
by Apuleio.
Lyrics on ‘Queen Mab’ and ‘El Velo Azul’ freely inspired by Shakespeare
and Ruben Darío.
Recorded and Mixed at Hexperos Studio by Francesco Forgione.
Mastering by Frederic Chaplain at Magic Mastering Studios.
Layout by João Monteiro and Nuno Roberto.
Press-release:
Following their debut
“The Garden
of the Hesperides”, successfully welcomed by fans and
press alike,
Hexperos return with
“The Veil of
Queen Mab”, whose title is inspired by Nicaraguan writer
and poet Rubén Darío. The new album pays homage
to the queen of fairies and dreams, a creation of the Anglo-Saxon
mythology, probably with roots in Celtic legends, referred in
works by numerous artists, from Shakespeare or Percy Shelley to
Gustave Doré.
In this partially conceptual work,
Hexperos once again
combine classical and contemporary approaches to chamber music,
incorporating Celtic, Mediterranean, Medieval and Baroque elements
in a meticulously crafted and varied opus, shaped into perfection
over the past 3 years. Its orchestral arrangements come together
to form a rich setting for the haunting soprano of Alessandra
Santovito, highlighted in the dramatic crescendos found in ‘Queen
Mab’, or on the majestic ‘Moon Spell’ and ‘Summatem Deam’, with
Latin verses from Apuleius’ (c.125 – c.180)
Metamorphoseon
(Liber Undecimus).
The darker shades of
Hexperos appear in ‘Le Lacrime di
Proserpina’, an homage to Alda Merini, or ‘Diadem of the Night’
(an early
Gothica song which is hereby revisited), both
instant classics in the Gothic Neo-Classical genre with their
overwhelmingly blissful melancholy. On the other hand, tracks
like ‘Summoning of the Artists’, ‘Time of Spirit’, or ‘El Velo
Azul’, with dreamy medieval textures and trickling harp, offer
a more soothing side to the album.
On ‘A Reason to Live’, voluptuous violin lines and sensual percussions
mix with lulling vocals in a mysterious piece, followed by ‘Nocturne’,
a perfectly titled somber epic that would find a comfortable place
in a Nyman or Glass score and which underlines
Hexperos’
talent in taking Gothic Neo-Classical a step closer to cinematographic
soundtracks. Finally, and as they had already done on their previous
record, the band pays tribute to Manuel de Falla’s legacy
on ‘Asturiana’, which features a guest appearance by Riccardo
Prencipe of
Corde Oblique on classical guitar.
Pressed on gold disc and housed in a matt-varnished Digipak with
gold foil print,
“The Veil of Queen Mab” will
be released on September 20th and comes with a 16-page booklet
beautifully illustrated with visuals by Polish artist Malgorzata
Maj, of Sarachmet Photography & Illustration.
A presentation of “The Veil of Queen Mab” by Alessandra Santovito
The title of this album comes from
El velo de la reina Mab, by the Nicaraguan
writer and poet Rubén Darío (1867 - 1916). A short tale from the
collection
Azul, whose immense lyricism, resulting from melancholia and
fairy tales, has brought fame to Dario’s verses, and in which we find typical
South American magical realism, ancient mythology and pure fantasy.
Queen Mab is a creation of Anglo-Saxon mythology, probably with roots in Celtic
legends. She is the queen of dreams. Many will remember Shakespeare mentioning
her, through the mouth of Mercutio, in scene IV of the first Act of
Romeo
and Juliet, or refer to her myth in
A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Apart from Darío and Shakespeare, quoted here in our lyrics, many other
artists have also paid tribute to Queen Mab in their works, from classical painters,
writers or composers, up to rock bands, cartoonists and film makers. A few of
our favourite examples include Ben Jonson’s
The Entertainment at Althop
(1603); Michael Drayton’s masque
Nymphidia (1627); Jane Austen
on
Sense and Sensibility (1811); Percy Bysshe Shelley with
Queen
Mab: A Philosophical Poem (1813); J. M. W. Turner on his oil painting
Queen
Mab’s Cave (1827), on display at Tate Gallery, London; the French composer
Hector Berlioz, whose symphony
Roméo and Juliette (1839) includes
the piece
Queen Mab Scherzo; Herman Melville, who named the 31st chapter
of his novel
Moby Dick (1851) after her; the painting entitled
Queen
Mab by the French painter Gustave Doré (1832 - 1883); and J.M. Barrie
on
The Little White Bird (1902), where Queen Mab lives in Kensington
Gardens and helps Peter Pan to fly again.
In our album, like in Darìo’s tale, Queen Mab is seen as an inspiring
Diva or Goddess. She is the comforter. It is thanks to her veil, “el velo
de los sueños, de los dulces sueños, que hacen ver la vida de color
de rosa” (
“the veil of dreams, of sweet dreams, that make the
world appear rose-colored”), that sadness abandons the heart of the
four protagonists of the story. In their chests, Queen Mab has placed hope and
a touch of vanity that bring solace to these poor artists - a painter, a sculptor,
a musician and a writer - when faced with their deep disappointments.
The moon is also a recurring figure on this album. In fact, it is yet another
source of inspiration for many artists, and perhaps simply one of the various
faces of the artist’s Muse. The moon is present through the verses of Apuleius
(c.125 – c.180) and his
Metamorphoseon (Liber Undecimus), which
we used for ‘Moon Spell’ and ‘Summatem Deam’. It is also
the protagonist of ‘Diadem of the Night’, an old song of mine which
I wrote for the second demo tape of my previous juvenile project named
Gothica.
That demo was entitled “Proserpina”, a fascinating mythological subject
and again a Muse for me and many others, among whom the great Italian poetess
Alda Merini, who passed away recently on November 1st 2009. We used one of her
most famous poems for the song ‘Le Lacrime di Proserpina’ as a tribute
to her and to a theme whose interest we share: folly. The notion of folly in this
song is embodied by the whispered voices, while the harp's harmonics represent
le lacrime or tears, highlighting the particular care that has been placed
by Francesco and me in the choice of the right sounds for each atmosphere we wanted
to evoke.
Coming back to Proserpina, I will never forget the great impact that a painting
of her by Dante Gabriel Rossetti had on me the first time I saw it. This feeling
is even stronger each time I recall that this great Pre-Raphaelite painter and
his famous family (his sister is the poetess Christina Rossetti) have their origin
in the same small Italian town where the illustrious father Gabriele, Francesco
and I were born.
Last but not least, we have again chosen to include a song from Manuel De Falla's
Siete Canciones Populare Españolas since we adore this opus. Furthermore,
the lyrics on this song are an old traditional composition with a naturalistic
theme congenial to my way of writing and to our souls.
The rest of my lyrics are inspired by Mother Nature and, as always, by the atmospheres
found in Gothic literature.
We adopted the pronunciation of IV-V century AD on our Latin songs following a
tradition of the Italian school.
The photos by our friend Donatella Lemma were taken at Rocca Calasci, in Abruzzo,
a magical medieval land among our mystical mountains, which was struck by a serious
earthquake last year. We hope that this land and its heritage will return to its
full splendour soon.
This is an album dedicated to art and artists, to their physical and spiritual
journeys, to their efforts, and to the magnificent and sometimes terrible Mother
Nature, of whom we all are children.
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“The Veil of Queen Mab”
“The Garden of the Hesperides”
