Commentary

Thomas Cole’s Voyage of Life is a four-part allegorical cycle of paintings depicting one’s tumultuous journey through life. The paintings depict a human life through the sailing of a boat along a changing river. This compositional project translates each painting into a solo piano work, transforming their motifs into music whilst including my own perceptions of ageing. Each piece mirrors the themes of its corresponding painting— Childhood, Youth, Manhood and Old Age (Manhood retitled Adulthood in my project). The artworks are heavily rooted in European romantic traditions, yet they carry an American sensibility shaped by Cole’s approach to landscape painting. My introduction to music was with pop, R&B, soul and rap, and it was not until January 2020 that I began to teach myself the piano. My ultimate goal was to compose, so I familiarised myself with the music of Chopin, Debussy and Ravel. By pinpointing what resonated with me in their music, I found a personal path to studying their works. I could analyse the harmonies and let them re-emerge as I developed my technical capability at the piano. Whilst this lent itself to my personal voice, it meant I lacked the ability to notate effectively that which I played. However, since September I have learnt various techniques such as using three-staved systems, curving and extending slurs in unintuitive ways, and also taking a critical approach to performance markings, balancing traditional Italian terms with English and occasionally French to increase legibility for the performer.