The painting is an 1888 John William Waterhouse piece called 'The Lady of Shalott' depicting the title character from the poem of the of the same name by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The painting is very popular and I know it has been an inspiration to many other people. Living close to London I was lucky enough to be able to see the painting myself at the Tate Britain art gallery recently.
More can be read about the painting and the poem on Wikipedia at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lady_of_Shalott_(painting)
Something about this image inspired me. The idea of the lady finally making the difficult decision to leave her isolation and travel down the river, despite her knowledge that doing so she was doomed, seemed so powerful. I tried to express the idea in music with haunting voice sounds and a fragile bell type sound. The synthesiser-strings then come in as she realises the foreboding fate that she sails towards. All the while the soft voices and bell sounds highlight her fragility and delicacy. The piece ends on a major chord as if to express the beauty of the lady that the knight Lancelot beholds as the men find her body in the boat.
Having said all that I'm pretty sure when I recorded it however many years ago I did it without really thinking that much and have only attributed many of those meanings to it afterwards! But as with all music I encourage you to form your own meanings and interpretations. But above all I hope you enjoy it!
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