Soul House
about
Soul House is an exploration of memory, reflection, and childhood nostalgia that uses Robert Honstein's 35 minute work of the same title as a point of departure. An extended love letter to the composer’s childhood home, Soul House unfolds over nine movements with each movement depicting a different scene in home. Of the piece Honstein writes:
“Each movement is a fragmented story representative of feelings and memories from that part of the house: a contemplative nook in a sun filled Bay Window; a cozy Alcove; the rush of action through the Hallway down the Stairs and a triumphal arrival on the Landing; the running, chasing play of the Backyard; the morning rush (and endless struggle for the ‘front seat’) of the Driveway; a stately old Copper Beech, majestic and noble in its rooted splendor; and finally a Secret Place, somewhere just for myself where all the dreams and frustrations of childhood mingle in private, a wondrous cocktail of confusion and delight.”
Soul House is also available as a dance program presented in collaboration with Boston’s Urbanity Dance. Soul House was commissioned by the Cricket Foundation. Choreography for the dance production was commissioned by the Peabody Essex Museum (Salem, MA).
