Nocturnes is a beautiful dreamy and rich series of journeys into the world of classical concepts created by Michael King via Dream Cloud Orchestra, which is both enriching and delightful, beginning with the evocative A Twilight Walk which establishes the beauty of the various works on the ten-track album.
Immediately transporting both the mind and emotions into a place of magic is A Twilight Walk followed by the intriguing Night Clock Waltz, a deliciously romantic piece that evokes the subtle, sensual emotions encapsulated within the delicate steps of the dance; dancers swirling and swooping through the haunting shadows of the night.
King, as a teen involved with musical theatre, was fascinated by the almost immediate lift the addition to a musical performance a live orchestra made, realizing that music alone can tell a story and when added to a story, changes the vibrancy of the storytelling immensely.
The amazing world of Silent Movies with the accompanying live music, also had a profound impression on King, as these movies demonstrated comprehensively the immense power of music and storytelling.
As a more mature musician, he wanted to explore the ability to tell stories through the many nuances of the orchestra, which resulted in his debut album full of magic and mystique. Summer Night Wonders captures this perfectly.
Traversing the Darkness changes the ambience as it is a little darker and more hesitant; the shadows of the night are everywhere to be seen, and the eerie nature of the unknown is hidden within nocturnal obscurity. The chanting of voices adds to the ghostly layers.
Each of the pieces is considerably lengthy but nonetheless, well worth becoming immersed in the music, allowing the story you wish to tell to be woven. A dog lying asleep nestled at your feet, the switching on of the stars in the night skies, the slumber of refreshing sleep and the echoes of times past and still to arrive are all there, yours to enjoy as you drift gently through the night.
To awake wiser than when having first gone to sleep could be a wondrous thing and on occasion can indeed occur; the ethereal Slumber’s Wisdom takes you to this place of profound knowledge allowing you to choose, to enjoy, to relax and let the pieces coalesce into a whole.
Nocturnes created by Dream Cloud Orchestra began as a project for Michael King and has arrived as a beautiful, fully fledged, in his words, “cinematic neoclassical work (with) a touch of ambience’’ which describes the work to perfection.
Artist     Michael King
Distributor Dream Cloud Orchestra
Website     https://dreamcloudorchestra.com
Note from Michael King
I’ve always loved the orchestra, and I’ve always loved storytelling. When I was
about 12 years old, I was in the musical Oliver, and I was amazed at how much
life and energy came to our rehearsals when we progressed from piano
accompaniment to a live orchestra. When I was in high school, I saw a
restoration of The Thief of Baghdad, a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks,
with a live orchestra playing the score. A few years later I saw the amazing
organist Dennis James play the music for The Cat and the Canary, another
silent film. I loved the way music and storytelling worked together.
Around the same time, I also discovered the moody, evocative soundscapes of
ambient electronica artists like Harold Budd, Mark Isham, and Vangelis. I also
began listening to classical composers from the impressionists to the modern
day, and revelled in the complex chords, orchestral colours, and the great
variety of emotional landscapes these pieces could portray.
I decided I wanted to see if I could somehow combine all of these music
enthusiasms together. I created the Dream Cloud Orchestra project to give
myself a place where I could explore how this might sound.
While the music doesn’t accompany a specific story, each piece strives to
evoke a particular mood or setting: the twilight world that lives on the
the border between day and night, the excitement of a late-night waltz, the calm
wonder of a little dog falling asleep next to you. And some pieces do tell a
story of sorts. For instance, the first piece I wrote, “A Slumber Journey,â€
depicts the protagonist’s journey through a night of sleep: first slowly dozing
off, then slipping into a dream, then awakening… and perhaps rejoining the
waking world a changed person in some way.
I composed, performed, and mixed all of the tracks on Nocturnes. (Special
thanks go to my mixing engineer extraordinaire Joël Dollié for his reviews of
my mixes, and his expert advice along the way.) I’m amazed and grateful for
the technological wonders that allow me to create an entire album from my
home. I hope you enjoy these compositions as much as I’ve enjoyed making
them.
Michael King
Santa Cruz, California
October 1, 2022
