Author Description

Dr. Gary Funk's "Songs of the Pandemic" is collection of nine song settings of poems by Seattle poet, Brian William Taylor. Each of the compositions deals with unique human experiences with and responses to COVID-19. The song cycle begins by describing a normal couple's slow walk through the streets before the plague arrived in full force. The piece "It Takes One's Breath Away" deals directly with the loss of taste and smell – one of the common first-symptoms of the illness. "In Despair" describes the difficulties with adjusting our lives while struggling to maintain balance in an ever-unstable world. People have been asked to quarantine or "social distance". This missing human connection with others is explored in "So Much is Missing Now". A poet wonders, "Have I Any Right to Marvel at the Sun?" when the world is so awry. The fictional character, Don Juan, must decide whether to continue his seductions while risking his own health and the health of others. What human beings most crave beneath the shadow of the plague is to get back to normal – the way it was before. "Songs of the Pandemic" concludes with a light-hearted plea for that return in the song, "Until We Convene Again".