Teal

Written and performed by Deborah Stokol, 2006

Teal

A few words on the piece: I have synesthia. Always have. In my case, that means I can visualize numbers and letters in color. So in my mind’s eye, the letter “F” has ever adopted a middling shade of blue. I wrote Teal in the key of F, and it follows I should think of the tune in blue–and not simply for the occasional inclusion of blue notes.

But perhaps the more important contextual point lies in the fact that the melody and its harmonies came to me while feeling nostalgic–for what, I am no longer even sure. Facing college graduation, the end of an era and the exit from a strange, haunting and beloved place–the Bay Area–I was nostalgic in advance, looking ahead to a moment when I would look back at the past that was this present and miss it. In short, I was missing a moment while it was still occurring.

These chords, to me, say nostalgia…and wistfulness. Moreover, when I think of the color teal, a favorite of mine, I think of the sea, and in this case, the bay. It’s haunting and lonely, vast and lovely, and it shares its wealth with quiet dignity. Sometimes.

These venerable progressions said something of that yearning and elegance to me, and I hope that comes through.

But if nothing else, I hope they say something sweet to you. Playing them in a deserted UC Berkeley Music Department auditorium certainly felt so to me.

—

Photo by Deborah Stokol. Santa Monica Bluffs, 2006.

Recording by Jackson Jordan Cone, May 2006.

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