It was here in Nelson at a DTUC concert that a Schumann lieder lyric (Zwielicht) hit me with an image I knew could be interpreted in a modern context. I went to the library for a German dictionary, and tinkered with the text, fitting it as best I could in English within the patterns of the musical rhythm and phrasing of the original – at the same time being note-for-note as true to the original meaning as possible.

Then I turned it into a rock ballad – the idea being to tap the youth audience without compromising the song’s integrity. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but then, no one could ever accuse me of being a purist; but I knew that I was on to something. I scrambled together a demo recording some years later in Stratford, and later began to develop a hypothetical symphonic concert series dramatizing the historical linkages between music and history.

At that point, I was getting into early 19th century European culture – Beethoven, the Congress of Vienna, Napoleon and the Rothschild family. Toronto Symphony Marketing Manager Michael Buckland was interested from an audience development perspective and we had several meetings, but not for the first time marketing difficulties did not encourage innovation, so the project went nowhere. (See also Music Group V)