Over the summer Nathan was invited to write (and perform!) a new piece by the illustrator James Mayhew and violinist Caroline Speca for their fabulolus project Once Upon a Tune, for performance at the Fisher Theatre in Bungay on September 28th. These spectacular events, a delight for adults and children alike, see James create new works of art during the performance of live music. His canvas is projected onto a big screen while he creates the artwork, so the audience can see every detailed brushstroke of the piece come to fruition – in a matter of a few minutes or less! It is genuinely thrilling!
Nathan’s new piece is an arrangement of the Hornpipe from his song-cycle Grey and Green – the original song sees the ghosts of lost fishermen summoned by the bells of the submerged Dunwich churches, and James obliged with a painting of grisly skeletons dancing grotesquely in a submerged vault! Caroline’s violin became a sort of sailor’s fiddle, imitating the sounds of sea-shantys and becoming increasingly frenzied and devilish as the piece went on!
Other works performed/painted in the concert were taken from the Firebird, Scheherezade, Rusalka, the Carnival of the Animals, and the Per Gynt. The children were also thrilled by James vivid telling of these stories before the performance.
The resulting paintings were auctioned to raise valuable funds for Musical Lifelines, Caroline Speca’s wonderful musical provision for people living in Bungay, tackling loneliness and isolation, especially those with long-term health conditions. You can find them on Facebook by the link above.