The Crocodile Of Old Kang Pow - Darren Berry

Darren Berry is a multi-instrumentalist and composer and was born in London in 1974 and is still very much alive.

Originally training as a classical dancer he switched careers to follow music in its many faceted forms . He has written and released records as part of a band and also as a solo artist .He has scored music for television and films and writes songs for other artists ( pointing to a Grammy for the 'La Roux' album ). He plays violin with the acclaimed ' Penguin Cafe ', and legendary ska band 'The Trojans' , and is percussionist , string arranger and musical director of Johnny Borrells' Zazou project. He works recording and touring with all of these artists extensively.

In fact it was whilst being on tour ,(where there is an awful lot of waiting for this plane or for that bus ) that the idea for the crocodile Opera was hatched.

"First came the story . It began as a joke in fact between myself and Johnny (from the band Razorlight ) about the Marquis de Sade losing his joie de vivre and then under pain of death journeying to a distant land to entreat a crocodile god of fertility to help him regain his lost Mojo!

All very hallucinogenic stuff, lots of colourful imagery, and as such able to fire the creative mind. Now, it has been said of me that I can carry a joke too far,and perhaps there is some truth in this, but as the ideas poured out, I began to take our little joke a lot more seriously.

The songs, the arias so to speak came very quickly ,as I find when writing music as part of a story one is not starting from a blank pag, rather, one attempts to summon the correct feeling of music to fit the requirements of any given scene.

So the fact that we begin the opera in Paris in the year 1777 immediately called to mind the kind of music that was being played and listened to in that place and at that time .So whilst it was my not intention to create a pastiche , I did want to conjure up the feeling of pre-Revolutionary France , of ballrooms , of wigs upon heads , which idea dictated to me that I write in a style reminiscent of that era . From the opening bars of the piece this hopefully is apparent.

The overture follows the old Italian Sinfonia model of : fast . slow . fast .

And being an overture contains themes that are found in the main body of work, which I found very useful as it has served me as something of an artists palette, and a point of reference regarding the rest of the opera.

I have come to perceive the overture as a distilled version of the whole piece, finding within it a reflection of the entire story.

The first Vivace sets the scene ; an 18th century ballroom in full swing ,that continues unabated until bar 56 where we crescendo into a new theme. A darker tone , taking us on a journey ( much the same as our protagonist ) far from the bright lights and onto a river ,(suggested to me by the rising and falling sul tasto motif given to the cellos and 2nd violins) where unspeakable things lie in wait for an unsuspecting traveller . The story in my head continues but suffice to say by the end of the first vivace our reluctant hero has made it to the mythical land of Old Kang Pow.

The Adagio sees the orchestra break down to single voices , and as a result the piece becomes far more personal . One may discern characters from the opera being given musical voices . There is an interplay between the violin ( the heroine Justine ) and the bassoon (Offler the crocodile god) , until the full orchestra rejoins the telling of their tragic love story.

And finally the second Vivace ; back on the move here . Probably an attempt to escape from the jungle kingdom with the stolen elixir and find a way home. Which of course we do, stopping briefly for courtly dance ( bar 166 ) before returning to the surface triumphant.

Now I know some of this will be difficult / nigh on impossible to imagine, since I'm the only one that actually knows the story, but hopefully I've provided some insight , and for the full telling we must wait for the Opera."