"Un compositore racconta un sogno della sua giovinezza che ha ispirato il movimento lento del suo primo quartetto d'archi, Preghiera del Mare. Il sogno, che ritraeva una pacifica dissoluzione nel mare e nel vento, simboleggiava la sua futura morte. Decenni dopo, riscoprire un disegno della prima del quartetto – che catturava perfettamente l'essenza del sogno – ne ha ravvivato le emozioni. Ora più anziano, riflette sul messaggio del sogno: una serena accettazione dell'inevitabile fine della vita.

Preghiera del Mare è un'elegia audiovisiva che offre una prospettiva calma sull'esperienza universale del trapasso."

As a music composer, I occasionally dream of complete compositions. When I wake up, I simply write them down. When I was about 20 years old, I dreamt of such a piece for a string quartet. In the dream, I was standing in the surf of a cold sea, facing north. Then, I dissolved into the wind and the sea. It was clear that the dream symbolized my own death in the future. Yet, there was nothing sad about it; it felt good and liberating. It was like a vision, a gentle prophecy.

The entire dream was accompanied by calm string sounds, which I wrote down upon waking. I called it Prayer of the Sea. The music became the slow movement of my first string quartet.

At the premiere of the string quartet, a man in the audience made a small drawing during the performance. I didn’t know him, but after the performance, he gave me the drawing. To my surprise, he had captured the essence of my dream in his art.
Now, many years later, I stumbled upon that drawing again by chance. The feelings from the dream came flooding back. I am much older now – more than 30 years have passed. I feel as though I am getting closer to understanding the message of the dream.

This led me to reflect: on one hand, I wanted to bring closure to the dream’s experience and sensation for myself; on the other, I hoped to make it emotionally tangible for others – a calm perspective on what lies ahead for us all. The calmness of a gentle passing, something we can only hope to experience one day.

Prayer of the Sea is an audiovisual elegy offering a calm perspective on the universal experience of passing.