Ceridwen McCooey is an Australian, Melborune based cellist and composer. She has announced the release of the debut album called The Conference of the Bird which will be out later this year via Rhodium. According to the press release, her passion lies in creating music that does not conform to perceptions of the cello as a classical instrument.
The Conference ofthe Birdsis based on an ancient poem byFarid Ud-Din Attar, a Persian Sufi poet in the twelfth century. The poem describes a journeywhere one bird, the Hoopoe, calls upon his fellow birds to join him on a voyage to find The Great Simorg (the mightiest bird of them all anda higher being).The Conference of the Birdsis McCooey’s musical interpretation of each bird refusing to go on this journey and why theydecline.
Today we have the pleasure to share the new single called “The Nightgale“. It represents the first bird to respond to the Hoopoe’s summons. The Nightingale states that he is too in love with the rose to take the journey. He says “it is demanding to be filled with such love; my desire for the slenderrose is sufficient.” He does not need a higher power like The Great Simorg; his lover, the rose, is enough for him.
In McCooey’s own words, “In writing this moment, I wanted to capture the tranquil naivety that comes with intense love. The pureness ofheart that the Nightingale shows and his utter devotion to the rose. I wanted to capture lightness and joy and love.”
Listen below.