Dreamscape PROgram notes

When we sleep, we hash out the emotions and impressions that planted themselves in us during our waking hours. Familiar people, places, and experiences appear, but all mixed up. Suddenly, I’ll be playing beach volleyball with Obama, my middle school friend, and my next door neighbor’s cat. And somehow I don’t question any of it!

But maybe that’s just me…

While the inner workings of dreams remain elusive, they enable us to make sense of the world. Perhaps more importantly, they allow us to heal from psychological stress.

In Dreamscape, musical apparitions cry out from the diverse worlds of jazz, classical music, tango, and electronic ambient music (‘Strange Fruit’ by Abel Meerpol/Nina Simone, ‘Andante for Strings’ by Ruth Crawford Seeger, ‘Mumuki’ by Astor Piazzolla, and ‘This Life’ by Tim Hecker).

As the music swirls around in this unsettling purgatory, a healing gradually begins. Despair subsides into melancholy (‘Doomed,’ by Moses Sumney) and melancholy modulates into tentative hope (‘Summer of Now,’ by James Blake). Hope leads to confidence and culminates in celebration (Finale from ‘Symphony No. 5,’ by Jean Sibelius).

As the dream inevitably unwinds, the music wakes up in a soft morning light (‘Appalachian Spring,’ by Aaron Copland). The morning starts sleepily (‘Best Part,’ by Daniel Caesar and H.E.R). Soon, refreshed and invigorated, it concludes with a richly integrated musical jam between Copland, Caesar, and H.E.R.

— Juan-Salvador