Lamentations

Tom Atwood

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Description

Sometimes grief remains unexpressed for years. The three selections in this piece explore grief and sorrow while at the same time giving voice to hope and redemption. All three were written during Lent 2005, at the same time I was recording "Larger Than Life," an elegy for my father, who died 20 years ago.

The three selections feature the Fitch cello, and have a looped feel, while using only three loops, just in the first section. This all started as a contest entry for TUMi, but grew from there into something else.

I. Three Loops
II. Common Bones
III. The Road to Emmaus

Artwork: "Jeremiah" (by Marc Chagall)

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Song Stats

Hits: 2080
Comments: 23
Fans: 9
Plays: 243
Downloads: 145
Votes: 29
Uploaded: Apr 23, 2005 - 08:02:08 PM
Last Updated: Apr 23, 2005 - 10:45:09 PM Last Played: Sep 27, 2009 - 11:53:52 AM

Song License

Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial

Song Actions

Hardware:

Casio Privia PX-300
G5

Software:

GB1

Comments

Mcboy	Mcboy said 1673 days ago (April 24th, 2005)
	evokes the feelings of sadness and then hope... compositionally...i would say u have succeeded. i enjoyed the phillip glass style middle... great work! Check out my latest song called Heros( aclarke/mcboy)

White Hawks	White Hawks said 1673 days ago (April 24th, 2005)
	very emotinal and dramtic this is perfect!! very emotinal and dramatic. and the great cello tunes. again, this is perfect Mr. Atwood! thanks for sharing your great song! - Hawks Check out my latest song called Shepherds Out in the Field

stevel	stevel said 1672 days ago (April 24th, 2005)
	Quite beautiful This is a really lovely piece of music..very ambitious in its scope and drama. Thanks for sharing it S Check out my latest song called Electricity

stevel	stevel said 1672 days ago (April 24th, 2005)
	Quite beautiful This is a really lovely piece of music..very ambitious in its scope and drama. Thanks for sharing it S Check out my latest song called Electricity

Rebsie

Rebsie said 1672 days ago (April 24th, 2005)

Darkly atmospheric
There's an amazing variety in the tone and dynamic
here, even within each piece. The first one is
particularly elaborate but the recurring theme of
descending notes helps it all to hang together. All
three have a heartfelt quality to them, deep and sad
but with something uneasy and edgy going on in the
background. It's a very skilful blend of sounds and a
very beautiful lament ... I'm very impressed.

I love Marc Chagall! Great choice of artwork.

Check out my latest song called Amongst The Colours (w/ Luna Trick)

drakonis

drakonis said 1672 days ago (April 24th, 2005)

Deep, dark, resonant
Very, very nice piece... love the rich minor textures, and
the deep bass of the cello, with the synthy bells
juxtaposing in the middle (would that be a bass relief?)
Well thought out, and the parts go together nicely.
Especially like the melodies in the opening of your 3rd
movement (cello, then piano). The only critique I can
think of is It seemed very slightly muffled, not as much
crispness as I would have liked (thus the low "7" on
production :-). Downloaded & Faved. Washes over me in
sweet waves of watermeloncholy.
9-7-9-8
ttfn,
Drakonis

Check out my latest song called Lullaby for the Inner Child

Tom Atwood

Tom Atwood said 1672 days ago (April 24th, 2005)

Deep, dark, resonant
I think some of the 'muffled' sounds come from the very low notes, almost
pedal tones, of some of the synths. I have noticed on different speakers the
notes sometimes seem a little distorted. It was a tough mix, especially on
Three Loops.

Thanks for the comments, and for letting me know how you voted. I
appreciate that. (I may start doing that in my comments on other songs.)

Check out my latest song called Keep Looking for Jesus (MJRF)

_nderscore	_nderscore said 1672 days ago (April 24th, 2005)
	an inspiring sadness beautifully done. nice to hear this in it's entirety-the 3rd piece doesn't seem to carry the weight of the first two, but still finishes very nicely. looking forward to more of your compositions Check out my latest song called glyd

Cori Ander

Cori Ander said 1672 days ago (April 24th, 2005)

Emotions...
Thank you for this one! Strong and really interesting!

As before with your compostitions I appreciate the
honesty ... the will to face life and to meet what is difficult
... to stay honest by emotions.

One of Beethovens strenghts was his ability to depict
emotions. In many of his works you can feel how different
feelings succeeds and interacts. Sometimes there are
almost nothing but emotions taking over one after each
other.

That was long ago and the emotions were often grand,
stormy and changeable - emotions in which there was the
risk to drown. My assosiation with your music is that it
instead depicts emotions of a thoughtful, consideate man
of today.

Things are really happening in your music. And they are
happening in some logic way. I sense a progression as it
goes along. A progression in the logic of emotions. Not
the stormy way, but a more dependable way.

Wisdom require living emotions but not any emotions. It is
a beliefe of mine that the most important factor of
wisdom is some ground of strong and reliable emotions. I
hope not anyone think I am taking this too far, but my
association is that Atwood owns someting of that.

Anyway ... to be less solemn, I feel that music like this is
good for me!

I wish you had a real orchestra. Or at least a set of better
synthesizers. This talent of yours can go far.

Check out my latest song called Guitar test — Martin CSN (Gerry Tolman Tribute)

Tom Atwood	Tom Atwood said 1672 days ago (April 24th, 2005)
	Emotions... Thanks Johannes. I emailed you. Check out my latest song called Keep Looking for Jesus (MJRF)

mandolinquent	mandolinquent said 1672 days ago (April 24th, 2005)
	Astonishing... What a really, really great piece of writing; really unconstrained. I am gobsmacked. I love the pianos going at each other in the early section; the two electric piano patterns; the way you use that lovely cello sound. Really brilliant work. One of the most original pieces I've hard on MJ. Check out my latest song called Had We But World Enough

Tom Atwood	Tom Atwood said 1672 days ago (April 24th, 2005)
	Astonishing... Thanks for the kind words, William. You made me pull out the dictionary again with 'gobsmacked.' (Last time it was 'twee.') Check out my latest song called Keep Looking for Jesus (MJRF)

Cori Ander	Cori Ander said 1672 days ago (April 25th, 2005)
	Paff That word gobsmacked really existed in my dictionary too. Swedish for gobsmacked showed to be PAFF. I wonder what it is in other languages. Well I was also paff when I first listened to this song. Check out my latest song called Guitar test — Martin CSN (Gerry Tolman Tribute)

mandolinquent	mandolinquent said 1672 days ago (April 25th, 2005)
	Paff I think I'll call my imaginary band Paff... Nice word. Check out my latest song called Had We But World Enough

aclarke	aclarke said 1672 days ago (April 24th, 2005)
	Amazing Tom- great work here! You capture the whole range of emotions brilliantly. Sometimes, in between the hope and the redemption we encounter "moments" where the grief, anguish and heartache come rushing back unexpectedly for a short, excrutiating time. You even managed to capture that. Check out my latest song called Ballad of The Little Tiki

Tom Atwood	Tom Atwood said 1671 days ago (April 25th, 2005)
	Amazing Adam, I deeply appreciate your comments re: grief and this piece. I know that you write from experience, and I am very sorry about that. Thanks for listening and taking time to comment. Check out my latest song called Keep Looking for Jesus (MJRF)

thetiler	thetiler said 1672 days ago (April 25th, 2005)
	Nice I like the whole piece but I especially like the last part. It really seems quite melodic in a quiet sort of way. Nice going Thanks much for sharing Check out my latest song called The Bluebird Cafe (with two other guest)

	said 1671 days ago (April 25th, 2005)
	Amazing... how you move through different ranges of emotions with such seemless segways. Bravo. Thank you for sharing this song here.

EdensEve

EdensEve said 1671 days ago (April 26th, 2005)

Unbroken mood
I enjoyed these pieces separately. Maybe it was my mood,
maybe I'm into songs with words and singing more, and I
consider myself a fan of yours, but all three strung
together was just too much for me. Kind of boring. Not
to take anything away from what others have said, but in
stringing all three together, maybe a faster or more
melodic section stuck in somewhere would have helped.
Or maybe it would have broken the mood.

Tom Atwood	Tom Atwood said 1671 days ago (April 26th, 2005)
	Unbroken mood Thanks Eva. I'll sing again. Promise. Bronco's on me, too. Check out my latest song called Keep Looking for Jesus (MJRF)

SpasmodicMan	SpasmodicMan said 1669 days ago (April 28th, 2005)
	What restaint Impressive. Never too much. Diving through water without needing to breathe. A waking dream. Walking into a Chagall painting. What a brush you use! Check out my latest song called The Androgyne

dotwood

dotwood said 1659 days ago (May 7th, 2005)

Words …
… are much too limited for these tones, they always are and they should be.
yet I'm typing!
It gives satisfaction on all senses. All moods in one symphony. You're a great
artist. Very colorful, tasteful and sensitive timing.
Only thing I've missed is an agressive mood, which is an essential part of our
lives. But that's only my anticipation, which off course is very personal. I
adore contrasts.

---
"The diatonic system lives, even in bi-lingual communities"
(Frank Zappa)

Check out my latest song called Milk & Oranges

Mystified

Mystified said 1542 days ago (September 1st, 2005)

Putting sadness in perspective.
There is a yearning --almost a bitterness -- in some of
the later cello passages. Grief beheld and expressed.
And then, as the first notes of the piano enter in the final
selection, they fall like rain--gentle, cleansing and
renewing, while the synths shimmer softly like slender
shafts of light.

All things are passing.

Moving, poignant, beautiful music...

thank you.

Check out my latest song called Father Time

Fan List

Artist Info

Name: Tom Atwood

I guess I could be a 'poster child' for MacJams. I joined the site on New Year's Eve 2004, after several years of not making much music at all. A long dry spell. Since then, I have posted more than 50 songs here, collaborated with some wonderful arti... [see more]

Check out some of my other songs:

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