something there
2002 (REVISED 2021)
VOICE & ENSEMBLE
Voice | Piano | Soprano Sax | 3 Cellos | Double Bass | Percussion
Something There is an extended vocal work in five parts — Wondering About The Rose, Contemplating A River, The Sun Comes And Goes In The Land Of Woop-Woop, Love: That Smiling Fugitive, An Introduction To The Art Of Flying.
The piece is a long meditation pondering love, wonder and uncertainty, with lyrics ambiguously shifting between vocalised sound-poetry and words — a feature which recurs throughout many of my songs and vocal works.
See below for more information and sound samples.
Words & Music by David Paul Jones
Performed by DPJ Ensemble
© ℗ 2002 Linn Records
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ABOUT
Something There is inspired by the poem Something There (1974) by Samuel Beckett, commissioned by Cryptic (Glasgow) as the centre-piece of their Beckett Time Festival in 2000. The original version was staged by director Graham Eatough for a co-production with Cryptic, Tron Theatre and Lemon Tree, Aberdeen.
I later restructured and orchestrated the piece for live concert performance and in preparation for the Linn Records studio recording. The recording was released in 2002 with album launch dates at the Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh (during the 2002 Edinburgh Festival) followed by dates at the Wigmore Hall, London and The Arches, Glasgow.
"five mysteriously beautiful songs from the land of Woop-Woop"
THE GUARDIAN
My early sketches for Something There were composed in Australia when I was performing at the Sydney Opera House with actor David Benson, during the Sydney Festival in 1999. It was in Australia where I was introduced to the enigmatic concept of woop-woop — an Australian colloquialism for a timeless place alluding to remoteness, the outback, a forgotten land, a place everywhere or nowhere. I returned to the world of 'woop-woop' in my later song collection, Palmstar Poppy (2007).
"music that is completely suffused with atmosphere, from start to end, from top to bottom, in all of its layers and all of its inflections"
THE HERALD CD REVIEW
Something There was a defining point in my music as it introduced my vocals to my work for the first time and brought about the formation of the DPJ Ensemble. We continue to perform the work live — our most recent appearance was at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh in Winter 2017, for a one-night-only 15-year anniversary of the Linn Recording, featuring actor Alison Peebles narrating the original Beckett poem. 2022 marks the 20th anniversary release on Linn Records.
DPJ Ensemble Live @ Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh - Nov 217 © Rob McDonald
Promotional Trailer - Something There live @ Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh 2017
ALBUM CREDITS
Words & Music by David Paul Jones
Recorded at Castlesound Studios, Edinburgh on 9 Sept 2001
Produced by Philip Hobbs & Calum Malcolm
Artwork by John Haxby
Released on Linn Records on 18 September 2002
Performed by DPJ Ensemble featuring:
David Paul Jones - vocals & piano
Carolyn Hamilton - vocals
Steve Kettley - soprano sax
Donnie Gillan - cello
Lucy Gillan - cello
Robin Mason - cello
Carole Melrose - double bass
Neil Sommerville - percussion
ever watched the sun go down in the land of wood-woop?