Rapids (The Dam part 3)

[Christopher Stewart]

("Stromschnelle" by Gerhard Rießbeck)

In « Rapids, » the third part of « The Dam, » the protagonist/narrator is being carried from a mostly uneventful and rather disappointing river straight into an heretofore unseen dam.

The intent behind this instrumental section is to convey a feeling of being taken ahead by an unrelenting force, and to let the listener reflect on the discourse presented in « River. »

In the storyline, the rapids represent the rising tension which accompanies the recognition that one's chosen course is not only increasingly unsatisfactory, but that the situation has evolved beyond the point of no return, and thus that a change of direction has become an unavoidable necessity. Our hero is being accelerated towards an ineluctable collision which is portrayed in the fourth section, entitled « Dam. »

« The Dam » is a 22-minute long suite in 8 movements that uses the metaphor of water flowing from source to ocean to illustrate the process that we affectionately refer to as life.

As the title suggest, the focus is directed on one major obstacle/life-changing experience, symbolized by a dam on the river, which the protagonist/narrator has to conquer in order to reach their intended destination.

The storyline is inspired by my own life and struggle to reach the goal of earning a living through my artistic output, as opposed to working a day job to support myself and invest what’s left of my energies in artistic pursuits on a part-time basis, as I’ve done for the most part of the last twelve years or so.