Dale Cornelius – “What Is Carried, What Is Left Behind?”: Finding Peace Through Modern Classical Music
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I can understand that everyone deals with stress and hurdles differently and thus we can’t make people use what doesn’t work for them. But if there’s a universal theme that we all wanna achieve when life throws if hurdles at us, then it’s peace. It’s not easy organizing your thoughts when life throws a huge curveball at you, it’s a lot like trying to untangle a box of Christmas lights in the dark. Award-winning Australian screen composer Dale Cornelius offers a much more graceful way to find clarity on his deeply personal modern classical album, “What Is Carried, What Is Left Behind?“.
The six track album which got released earlier this month is an album that actually moves away from his extensive film and television credits, such as ‘Mary & Max’ and ‘The Doctor Blake Mysteries’, to explore memory, fragility, and renewal. Often a time life can crash us to the ground that, we don’t even believe in the process again. We become too weak, too inconsiderate and too much of whatever will happen should happen. And that’s because the memories of past failures still haunt us, freeze us and even make us feel like we can’t make it again. But what if we take a deep breath, recharge, find the peace we need and come back again? The story might change and we will be in a much better state to protect what’s left behind.
Collaborating with the Melbourne-based string collective Eclective Strings (featuring members of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Partridge String Quartet), Cornelius has built an immersive chamber world that blends expressive string arrangements, subtle synthesizers, and environmental found sounds, complete with a spatial Dolby Atmos mix, and this is what makes this album unique and special. I love how each sound and instrument is felt, they come clean, swing together and move like sweet night breeze. Talk about creating an atmosphere that feels like sitting inside a quiet, sunlit concert hall while an experienced master craftsman thoughtfully lays bare a lifetime of memories, and you will have Dale Cornelius at the heart of it. Let’s enjoy the tracks and see how they unfold.
You know life can be Soo cruel to you that sometimes you begin to ask “In This Moment, What Matters Most?“. A track that welcome listeners to a more deeply reflective mood, making them feel how life can take be hard on you, leave you in despair. It’s a deeply grounding question that Cornelius adopted as a personal mantra during a period of family illness and anxiety. How the track starts is all of it for me, you get this warm, sustained string quartet chords swelling gently, while subtle synthesizer textures drift in the background, creating a calm, reflective space that forces you to pause and catch your breath and sigh. The way the strings swings in and out like an elastic balloon that’s difficult to blow it big, you put all your effort in it, it gets big, then gets small again, you keep trying again and again and you wonder if you gonna let it be or keep trying?
On “What is Carried, What is Left Behind?“, the track starts like a late night wind-blown metal door, before the strings sweeps in slowly and begins to grow. It’s worth noting that the wind-blown metal door outside a cathedral in Montalcino, Italy, was the inspiration behind the track. This is the title track and builds an eerie, percussive rhythm out of environmental friction. I love the fact that, though the string arrangements weave around this metallic pulse, mimicking the way memories rattle around in our minds over time, yet you feel the wind blowing in the background. It’s such a nice creative process and makes you ponder on a lot of things. Sometimes we can’t do much about the things life puts out against us, and all we can do is let the wind carry them away, though sometimes the same wind brings the memories of such events back to us, and that what’s left behind.
Okay, I always say musicians are sometimes nature itself. Tell me this track “Innocence” starts calmly like an innocent person. The calm face, the naiveness, the surprise, how emotional they can be when lied upon and are felt defenseless. The track shifts into a more lighter, more fragile emotional space, highlighting the pristine interplay of the string collective. The way those violin and cello lines rise and fall with an i don’t have anywhere to go kinda grace is just pure joy. And just like I said earlier on, as a child, the innocence and having the freedom to do whatever you want cos you don’t even have any burdens on you. The song captures that pure, unburdened clarity of earlier years before life gets complicated. It’s very bright and lively, the violin doing the talking whilst the cello responds is very alluring.
I don’t know about you, but nothing is more terrifying than dealing with a strange stalker in the middle of the night. And this track “A Whispered Dawn (Spencer’s Lullaby)” which serves as the emotional anchor of the album. A bit history here, this composition was written in 1999 during a terrifying period when Cornelius’s first-born son was born prematurely and fighting for survival. Imagine being a parent for the first time and your first born had to go through all this pain just to live. You can’t even sleep, any shush or movement then you’re up, you wanna be close to them, offer them some sort of comfort and let them know you’re here and you ain’t going anywhere. I love how tender and delicate the violin feels, the way it melodies wraps you in comfort harmonic bed is wholesome offering you a powerful sense of closure and hard-earned hope. Though it was left as an unrecorded manuscript for 26 years, its final realization feels like an act of profound musical reclamation. Also the way it swells into a more heavy cellos and switches back to the tender violins are just nuts.
On “Under an Impersonal Sky There is Hope“, you get a piano notes laying down the foundation before a sweet violin melody swings in, moving into a more broader, more atmospheric perspective. I like how the track uses expansive string pads and floating synth elements to evoke the feeling of looking up at a vast sky. Sometimes all hope is lost, you’re filled with soo much pain and devastating moments, but when you lift your eyes into the sky, you get some sort of renewal strength, some sort of energy to keep going, for all hope is not lost. I love how cinematic it feels too, striking a good balance between heavy themes of uncertainty with a quiet, persistent undercurrent of optimism.
We bring our journey to an with a “Bloom”. A track that closes the album in a renewed strength, providing a cathartic release. The string arrangements gradually build in warmth and volume, representing renewal, growth, and the quiet beauty of stepping out on the other side of grief. It’s not easy, but going through all of it and coming out strong and ready to go again is awesome. When you pay attention you realize how joyful the track feels, this particular drum like melodies from the cello sweeping in the background, it’s not a drum though, it feels like a march after victory.
Whew, what can I say? This is a masterpiece and you should give “What Is Carried, What Is Left Behind?” a listen. Not only does it take you through the stages of grief, but it also offers a rare, deeply human masterclass in contemporary chamber composition. It delivers gorgeous string instrumentation, breathtaking spatial production, and an emotional honesty that will stay with you long after the final notes fade into sunshine. Go ahead, stream “What Is Carried, What Is Left Behind?” and let the music speak to you.
Enjoyed that and want more from Dale Cornelius? Check him out on the links below;
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