3. Woodland Regrets - from 12 songs of Horizons Far

3. Woodland Regrets - from 12 songs of Horizons Far
Words by James Robinson May
Music by Michael Csányi-Wills
Baritone - James Robinson May
Piano - Michael Csányi-Wills
Foreword by James Robinson May
In 2019, Michael Csanyi-Wills and I won funding from the National Lottery and the Arts Council of England to develop a set of songs known only as Songs on the Spectrum.
The Covid-19 Pandemic hit us almost immediately, and our planned project of concerts and workshops exploring art song and autism was sunk before it began.
Last summer, having lived with the 21 songs for some four years, now divided into two distinct sets, Michael and I recorded them all over two days at the World Heartbeat Academy in London.
Michael filmed us singing the second set of twelve songs just in case the archive footage might one day be useful.
The footage reveals a very real and immediate, physically expressive, but unconscious autistic response, as I recorded these very personal songs: the record of my own journey of failed love due to ignorance of my own autism. These videos were not made as performances beyond the recording of the audio - but we feel that the footage shows the depth of feeling I go through when I sing which, in actual live performance, is always masked.
Copyright ©2024 Michael Csanyi-Wills. All rights reserved.