#5197, Music About Hope, Part 2
A few years ago, Australian singer-songwriter Nick Cave responded to a fan who had been feeling “empty and more cynical than ever” on his interactive platform, The Red Hand Files, with these words: “Unlike cynicism, hopefulness is hard-earned, makes demands upon us, and can often feel like the most indefensible and lonely place on Earth. Hopefulness is not a neutral position either. It is adversarial. It is the warrior emotion that can lay waste to cynicism.”
And as hard as it may get to remain hopeful when tragedies around the world continue to unfold, there are countless musicians who manage to do so through their compositions. So tonight, we resume our exploration of music about hope.
Indian-British multi-instrumentalist Arun Ghosh’s “Hope Springs” is a celebratory, culturally rich piece with jazz at its core. Australian instrumental rock trio Dirty Three’s “Hope” provides a volatile listening journey in comparison, with broken violin melodies and melancholic guitar chords that eventually resolve into an uplifting chorus section that provides some much-needed relief. One common point between these two pieces is the reliance on a steady groove, which British pianist Neil Cowley’s trio also shares in “Hope Machine”. As the intensity of the drums builds, the sense of a breakthrough grows.
In other parts of the world too, the word “hope” appears often, albeit in different languages. Czech singer Marta Töpferová gives us the heartwarming “Descarga De La Esperanza”, which roughly translates to “Release of Hope”. Senegalese rap duo Daara J also utter the Spanish word for “hope” often in their lively multi-lingual song, “Esperanza”. And though in some places like Afghanistan hope is often very hard to come by, composer Homayoun Sakhi eagerly reflects on his challenging journey to hold on to his “Arman” as an artist living under Taliban rule.
We wrap up this chapter with “Stream of Love” from Indian sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Chinese pipa virtuoso Wu Man’s collaborative album, Music for Hope. - Sırma Munyar
(Photo of Arun Ghosh, Courtesy of the Artist's Bandcamp Page)
Program #5196, Music About Hope, Part 2 (First aired 10/20/26)
ARTIST: Dirty Three
WORK: Hope [1:17]
RECORDING: Horse Stories
SOURCE: Touch and Go
INFO: https://dirtythree.bandcamp.com/album/horse-stories
ARTIST: arun ghosh
WORK: Hope Springs [6:10]
RECORDING: Seclused in Light
SOURCE: camoci records
INFO: https://arunghosh.bandcamp.com/album/seclused-in-light
ARTIST: Dirty Three
WORK: Hope [4:53]
RECORDING: Horse Stories
SOURCE: Touch and Go
INFO: https://dirtythree.bandcamp.com/album/horse-stories
ARTIST: Neil Cowley Trio
WORK: Hope Machine [6:14]
RECORDING: The Face of Mount Molehill
SOURCE: Naim Audio Ltd / Hide Inside Records
INFO: https://neilcowleytrio.bandcamp.com/album/the-face-of-mount-molehill
ARTIST: Marta Töpferová
WORK: Descarga De La Esperanza [4:51]
RECORDING: Trova
SOURCE: Moravia Publishing/World Village
INFO: https://www.discogs.com/release/13983951-Marta-Topferova-Trova
ARTIST: Daara J
WORK: Esperanza [3:58]
RECORDING: Boomerang
SOURCE: Wrasse
INFO: https://www.discogs.com/master/50731-Daara-J-Boomerang
ARTIST: Homayoun Sakhi, Rajvinder Singh, Apollo Chamber Players
WORK: Arman "Hope" [10:35]
RECORDING: BAN: Stories of Censorship
SOURCE: Azica Records
INFO: https://www.apollochamberplayers.org/ban.html
ARTIST: Amjad Ali Khan & Wu Man
WORK: Stream of Love [1:46]
RECORDING: Music for Hope
SOURCE: Zoho Music L.L.C.
INFO: Available on digital streaming platforms including Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music.
