PAINTING AND MUSIC
From time to time I am inspired to create a piece of
music from one of the paintings of Russian artist Nicholas Roerich (1874 -
1947). I began to give public performances of improvisations featuring a
selection of coloured transparencies of Roerich's artworks based upon a common
theme in 1977 with an extra set of coloured transparencies leant to myself by
Kenneth Archer. I also lived in an upstairs flat above a shop in Hornsey, North
London, with my young family (from 1976 - 1983) and had my musical equipment set
up permanently in what would have been the living room with three large
sash-cramp windows facing onto the road outside. I would often wake in the
middle of the night and feel inspired to play and would often record these
improvisations. In February of 1978 I was inspired to improvise upon the
painting Pink Mountains by Professor. Roerich. This might have been the first
time that I chose one painting for an improvisation - I'm not entirely sure.
Certainly, from this time onwards such occurrences grew.
Below the sequence of paintings from 1983 starting
with AGNI YOGA were for a project entitled SOUL EMANATIONS OF A GREAT ONE. For
that I loosely grouped Roerich's paintings around the theme of the 12 signs of
the Zodiac. For more on that project please click HERE
NEW
If you would like to explore this idea
further there are six audio-visuals each featuring a selection of the paintings
of Nicholas Roerich alongside the mediation music of Frank on his Tibetan
Singing Bowls, Tibetan Bell's, Gongs, etc on youtube
free to view.
Either click on youtube
here or visit their site and Search for Frank Perry.
If you have an interest in the relationship that
musicians or composers have found between particular paintings or the works of
particular artists and their own musical creativity then you may wish to follow
the links below where you will be able to view the paintings concerned alongside
a short clip of the music as this manifests itself in my own work.
FROM BEYOND (1982)
FIRE BLOSSOM (1984)
NORTHERN MIDNIGHT (1996)
IN THOUGHT (2007)
LOTUS (2007)
SHARUGON MONASTERY (2007)
rDORJE THE DARING (2007)
KALKI AVATAR (2007)
CHRIST (2007)