James Joyce's Finnegans Wake set to music unabridged
we set the book to music unabridged twice. different musicians each time. this is the second edition, which premiered 2016 February 2. our third edition premiered 2017 may 4.
You can also listen to the first edition or locate a specific contributor. To record your own passage, get involved.
Waywords and Meansigns: Recreating Finnegans Wake [in its whole wholume]
second edition, 2016 February 2 /// download via archive.org
click on playlist and scroll to see all chapters
image by Nicci Haynes
finnegans wake collaboratively set to music, unabridged
The idea was a simple enough question. How many ways are there to read James Joyce's great and bizarre novel Finnegans Wake?
Seventeen different musicians from all around the world, each assigned to render a chapter aurally. The only requirements: the chapter's words must be audible, unabridged, and more or less in their original order.
To the wonderful world of Finnegans Wake readers, newcomers and devoted followers alike: Here Comes Everybody
Book I
I.1 - The Fall, pp. 3-29 - Mr. Smolin & Double Naught Spy Car
I.2 - The Humphriad I: His Agnomen and Reputation, pp. 30-47 - David Kahne
I.3 - The Humphriad II: His Trial and Incarceration, the Acoustic Disturbance, pp 48-74 - Steve Gregoropoulos
I.4 - The Humphriad III: His Demise and Resurrection, pp. 75-103 - Rio Matchett
I.5 - The Mamafesta of Anna Livia, pp. 104-25 - Neil Campbell
I.6 - Riddles: The Personages of the Manifesto, pp. 126-68 - Maharadja Sweets
I.7 - Shem the Penman, pp. 169-216 - Mike Watt & Adam Harvey [forthcoming in 2016]
I.8 - The Washers at the Ford (aka ALP), pp. 196-59 - Brian Hall & Mary Lorson
Book II
II.1 - The Children's Hour, pp. 216-59 - Robert Amos
II.2 - The Studies: Nightlessons, pp. 260-308 - Ollie Evans, Steve Potter & Co.
II.3 - The Stories: Tavernry in Feast, pp. 309-82 - Janken's Henchmæn
II.4 - Bride-Ship and Gulls, pp. 383-99 - Aleorta
Book III
III.1 - Shaun before the People, pp. 403-28 - SIKS
III.2 - Jaun before St. Bride's, pp. 428-73 - Kio Griffith
III.3 - Yawn under Inquest, pp. 474-554 - Hinson Calabrese
III.4 - Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker and Anna Livia Plurabelle: Their Bed of Trial, pp. 555-590 - Conspirators of Pleasure
Book IV
IV.1 - Ricorso, pp. 593-628 riverrunning back to The Fall, pp. 3-29 - Graziano Galati
Finnegans Wake is organized into four books. Roman numerals indicate the book, Indo-Arabic numerals indicate the chapter within that book. Chapter names are italicized, followed by the names of musicians. To locate a particular passages of the text, use http://www.trentu.ca/faculty/jjoyce/ and http://fweet.org/
Additional personnel & production credits
/// Track 1: Barry Smolin, piano&keys&voice; Paul Lacques, guitar; Marcus Watkins, Guitar; Marc Doten, bass; Joe Berardi, drums&percussion. Produced by Marc Doten & Barry Smolin /// Track 3: Strings: Kaitlin Wolfberg, 1st, 2nd and 3rd violins; Heather Lockie, viola; Derek Stein, ‘cello; William Tutton, acoustic bass. Winds: Claire Chenette, oboe; Elizabeth Herndon, flute. Brass: John Ciulik, trumpet; Elizabeth Herndon, trombone; Vince Meghrouni, alto and tenor saxophone. Other instruments: Justin Burrill, acoustic guitar;Corey Fogel, additional drums; Steve Gregoropoulos, piano, synthesizers, fake accordion (this is the only sample used on the piece), detuned autoharp, drums, electric bass, electric guitars, programming, penny whistle; Singers: Steve Gregoropoulos; Becky Stark; Charlyne Yi; Renee Conley; Claire Chenette; Kaitlin Wolfberg /// Track 4: With thanks to George Trier, George Parsons, Dominic Davies, Adam Bell, Thomas Kirby, Imogen Wignall and Siobhan McClusky for lending their voices, and to Frank Shovlin, for holding my hand as I first dipped my toes in the Wake /// Track 5: Recorded summer 2015 /// Track 6: In addition to M. Sweets, Suzanne keeps count and demands answers. Also without her, M. Sweets' Joyce journey and recording of this piece would not have happened — thank you and much love! Wes Tirey wrote, performed, and recorded the answer to question 3 ("Thine Obesity…”). Broc Rob sings on question 4. Mike and Pete from Lost Gloves play bass and drums on question 5 /// Track 8: Narration by Brian Hall. Music and sound effects by Mary Lorson. Additional ambient audio by Tim Neal /// Track 9: Robert Amos recorded by Robert Martin /// Track 10: (i) Prologue (Family stroll with HCE), FW 260-266/00:00. (ii) Storiella as She is Syung (Issy knits and splits), FW 266-282/14:00. (iii) The Muddest Thick that was Ever Heard Dump (Dolph & Kev draw ALP), FW 282-304/48:40. (iv) Conclusion (ALP puts the children to bed), FW 304-308/1:33:00. Text arranged by Ollie Evans. Recomposed, recorded and edited by Ollie Evans and Steve Potter. Voices recorded at the Derek Jarman Lab, London (June & October, 2015). Read by: Leanne Bridgewater (Issy/footnote n., ii); Koshka Duff (Issy, ii); Ollie Evans (Shem/Shaun, i-iv; right margin, ii; Dolph, iii); Richard Hames (Margins, i-iv); Eleanor Massie (ALP, iv); Steve Potter (Shem/Shaun, i-iv; footnotes, ii, Kev, iii). Kate Evans (right margin, iii); Kirstin Smith (footnotes, i-iv; Issy, ii; parenthesis, iii). Music performed by Nathaniel Dye (treble and bass trombone, percussion); Ollie Evans (percussion, toys, violin, guitar, vacuum pipe, kaoss pad, synth, piano, keyboard, xylophone); Richard Hames (harmonica, glockenspiel, rulers, mud, eggs); Kate Evans (acoustic guitar, kazoo); Steve Potter (electronics, toys, rulers, mud, eggs); Leanne Bridgewater (vocal electronics). Additional voices and sounds by Nathaniel Dye; Rebecca Varley-Winter; Jane Evans; Kathi and Torsten Wieser; Students Against Cuts; Popeye the dog; Barry White; Orlando de Lassus; George Lucas & many anonymous. Various field recordings from London; Isle of Wight; Amman; Petra; the Dead Sea; Innsbruck; Vienna; Brussels, and New York. Thanks to Bartek Dziadlosz and Lawrence Dunn /// Track 12: Daniel Bristow, voice, clarinet, piano, synths, electronics and digital media manipulation /// Track 13: Voices in order of appearance are Simon Ross, Stuart Ross, Kevin McCardle, and Ian Kearsley. All music spontaneously composed and performed by Simon and Stuart Ross. Edits and assembly by Stuart Ross. Recorded in Stonehouse and Edinburgh, Scotland in the spring of 2015 /// Track 15: Hinson Calabrese with Colin Clarke, Colin Grant, Albert Lionais, Steven Wilton /////// Track 16: Simon Underwood: electronics, tape loops, and modified bass. Poulomi Desai: electronics, modified sitar. Veena: text to Speech synthesis. Performed & Recorded at Usurp Art Gallery London 2015 /// Track 17: A Zendiyogi production, with special thanks to Joe Galati for the formative years of jamming and his introduction to recording techniques, to Sadie Nardini for her teachings that helped to re-ignite my artistic voice giving me the confidence to be my own artist, to Adam Harvey whose production of Don't Panic: It's only Finnegans Wake at the New York Fringe impressed me to no end and set a standard for me to strive for, and to Derek Pyle for creating the space for the emergence of this work.
thanksbetogiving! Waywords and Meansigns would not be possible without the dedication, support and encouragement of many people
/// To all past, present and future W&M contributors and co-conspirators, thank you for your passion, dedication, humour, generosity and creativity.
/// Thanks to everyone who believed in and supported the proj early on. Marie Broadway, Jake playin’ the Shirt tozer, Sam Nordli and Emma Pampanin were down from before the beginning, and Zach Leavitt has always been down. Thanks to Chelsea Westra for reminding me to keep a cool head during crises of faith. Mike Robbins was helpful in ways too complicated to explain. Kelley Kipperman was instrumental in the project's co-founding. Jason Gross introduced me to Mike Watt who in turn introduced me to Raymond Pettibon and David Kahne. You guys fucking rock. Watt in particular has been incredibly kind and supportive of the proj — I even stole the word “proj” from him
/// Great thanks to the Joyce community, including the fwread listserv, especially Peter Quadrino, Peter Chrisp, Roman Tsivkin; Adam Harvey; Finn Fordham; Mariana Lanari; Fabrizio Ciccone; and the James Joyce Gazette. Thanks to Bill Brockman for the invaluable Checklist. Hervé Michel, Marcelo Zabaloy, Fuat Sevimay, Patrick O’Reilly, Yehuda Vizan, plus Rebecca Hanssens-Reed, Patty Nash, and co-conspirator Ryan Mihaly; transmitting across the worlds of Joyce & translation. Thanks to Krzysztof Bartnicki for continued conversation and friendship — May the Force / May the Fourth be with you. Thanks always to Robert Spoo, for your dedication to the legacy of HCE
/// Big thanks to friends in the Wake, off the ‘net. Joe Nugent and the Boston College Wake Raiders, and Cahal Stephens, Donal O’Sullivan of the Here Comes Everybody Players and the Cambridge Thirsty Scholars, and Robert Amos. What evolved out of a high fashion-music proj with Sara Jane Young turned into the Tim Finnegan Glam Rock Band: Parker McQueeney, Henry Anderson, Matthew Delvaux, Jesse French, Abigail Hobart, Luke Lanza, Ivan Liptak, Charlotte Malin, Rebecca Malin, and Eli Salus-Kleiner. Thanks to Mike Medeiros, Brooke Steinhauser, the Emily Dickinson Museum, the Amherst Poetry Festival, Íde O’Carroll and the Amherst Irish Association, and Flywheel Arts Collective for hosting W&M this year. W&M contributors plus Adam Matlock and the Catercloth Family Players joined. Greg McKillop, thanks for putting up with all those microphones
/// Elaine Thomas taught me succinct yet incredibly invaluable lessons in publicity. As a total DIY proj with no record label, no PR rep, nothing except word of mouth: huge thank you to all the journalists weird and adventurous enough to “get it”. Dan Colman played a huge role in getting the word out about our first edition. Thanks also to Denis Fitzpatrick, James Heflin, Jesse Jarnow, Tom Jackson, and everyone who featured and reviewed the proj
/// Thanks to L. Brown Kennedy and Annie G. Rogers, and Mary Russo, for first introducing me to Joyce
/// Richard Exelbert, David Kahne, Steve Greogoropoulos, Neil Campbell, and Barry Smolin, thanks for the ongoing conversations, friendship, and responsiveness to never-ending questions and requests throughout this edition
/// Miles Mosley, Chris Rael, S.A. Griffin, Tanya Donelly, Eric Wagner, Kaitlin Wolfberg, John Ciulik and Finn Fordham, thank you for your words
/// Thanks to Nicci Haynes, Robert Berry, Robert Amos, and Sara Jewell for the incredible artwork. Neil Llewyn Bean is the preeminent Thunderword tattoo artist
/// Sara Jewell is the fundamental ongoing operations of W&M — thank you
/// Special thanks to Mark Traynor and Marty Gilroy of the James Joyce Centre
and thank you James Joyce
May we add majesty? Well, we have frankly enjoyed more than anything these secret workings of natures (thanks ever for it, we humbly pray) and, well, was really so denighted of this lights time. FW 615.12-15