Harry Pearce is a designer, artist and photographer and is a long-standing partner at Pentagram’s London studio. He records and paints his dreams and has been doing so since his early teens. He is a Jung aficionado and tells the story of, when on an impromptu pilgrimage to Jung’s Bollingen Tower on Lake Zurich, his garrulous Italian taxi driver takes him on a little detour to a mercury-like lake. Harry started to tingle all over. He realised he had dreamt of this exact lake two nights before. In the dream he had to repeatedly cross the lake, walking through the air, and each time he crossed the shimmering silver-white water it became a little harder, and each time, in the depths, he was followed by a whale. Detour over and heading to Jung’s Tower he asked the driver the name of the lake. “Lake Walensee,” he replied. The Lake of the Whale.
Maybe that explains why, when Harry learnt that the genesis of ARgENTUM was a dream, he felt ‘right’ compiling this soundtrack. Dreams for Harry are prophetic and amazing ~ and deeply felt. With the MAGICIAN archetype present, like the whale, in his consciousness, it took Harry much longer than he’d anticipated to whittle down his selection to twelve tracks. Music has been so important to him through his life and is a very personal thing. He said he couldn’t share this unless there was great resonance. We’re honoured he felt such resonance and his truly multi-cultural selection, tinged with melancholy, reveals the magic manifested in diversity.
Biko: Peter Gabriel
I was at Art College in Canterbury in 1981 when I heard this song about the murder of Steve Biko by South African police four years before. It forever changed me. I got involved in Human Rights, working with Peter’s WITNESS charity – putting cameras in the hands of oppressed people to witness atrocities and hooking them up with top lawyers to get changes made. I helped by using design to raise awareness of the charity and particular issues. Peter has become a good friend. He is also a guiding light – someone who combines real human issues with an extraordinary creative life.
Kol Nodrie Adagio for Cello Opus 47: Max Bruch
My father was an English teacher/lecturer and into metaphysical poetry; my mother was at our home in Gloucestershire and deeply into poetry, music and art. When I was 9 or 10 she used to get me to lay on the floor in a dark room alone and leave me with a piece of classical music. This was one of the first pieces she played. This beautiful melancholic piece was overwhelming, it had a huge effect and has stayed with me always.
Man Kunto Maula: Orchestral Qawwali Project
This is a recent discovery, at WOMAD Festival, which I regularly attend. Qawwali is 13th century Sufi music from southern Pakistan and southern India. The lead singer - Abi Samba, brings a not so often heard female voice to the tradition. As soon as the music started up - I just cried – like a blow to the solar plexus. This music channels something magical and deeply moving.
Sankara: Cheikh Lo
This is a Senegalese song about Sankara, who was assassinated aged 37. It’s a straightforward song to honour him – Cheikh Lo’s voice is so beautiful.
Isa Lei: Ry Cooder and V.M Bhatt
This is originally a Tongan song about farewell taken over by Fujians and in this version a blend of West and East reimagined by Ry Cooder and Indian sitar player V.M.Bhatt. It’s a very spiritual song, so connected to the roots of human nature – it’s wonderful. A blend as we all are.
All Apologies: Sinead O’Connor
This is a Nirvana song sung by the inimitable Sinead O’Connor who’s voice was so pure. Such depth of soul, so connected, channelling such power – definitely on the MAGICIAN scale. She is such a loss.
Dark Was the Night, Cold was the Ground: Blind Willie Johnson
A 1927 gospel blues song. The song is primarily an instrumental featuring Johnson's self-taught bottleneck slide guitar and picking style accompanied by his vocalisations of humming and moaning. It’s so raw, so moving – the aching pain of the wailing – it’s a very pure piece of music.
Wiyathul: Gurrumul
A song of oppression and longing for place sung by a blind indigenous Australian – the last of a clan from an island off the Northern Territories. There’s such power – I read he believed his ancestors sing through him. He died in 2017.
Symphony No 5 - IV. Adagietto: Mahler
Another piece first heard in the ‘dark room’. It was written after Mahler had had a horrific haemorrhage. There’s a beautiful softness. We played it at my mother’s funeral down in Somerset 18 months ago. It is so pure and lifts one up – right from the soul.
All is Mended: Steve Hackett
Steve is a very dear friend. He showed me how to play passages from this beautiful piece of music. It heals me every time I play it. Kindly he played this at our wedding. Steve and I have shared dreams for many years. One other acoustic piece of his – ‘Until the Last Butterfly’ was given this title directly from a dream I had.
Into My Arms: Nick Cave
From the album ‘The Boatman’s Call’, a record that opened my eyes to the world of Nick Cave. Music that has fortified me ever since. This must be one of the most completely beautiful albums of all time.
When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease: Roy Harper
I grew up in the small idyllic village of France Lynch in the west country. This is quintessential England on a late summer’s afternoon, the cricket pitch of course a metaphor for life and death. It is so deep and textured and one of the most meaningful songs in my whole life. I read it as a poem at my father’s funeral in the village church and I would like it read at mine. I met Roy when I was at Canterbury College of Art and we became lifelong friends. I’ve designed album covers for him and he too has taught me much on the guitar.
Listen to the MAGICIAN Soundtrack, curated by Harry Pearce:
