Video evokes Acadian memories Composer, photographer capture beauty of Mount Desert Island

MOUNT DESERT – Thousands of people visit Acadia National Park every year seeking a few days of respite from the hurry, hurry, ding, ding of 21st century existence. Some come to hike, bike and swim, others to perch quietly on ancient granite above the rhythmic tides.

They squirrel away thousands of memories and snap millions of photographs in their effort to capture the park’s beauty and carry it home with them. Now, thanks to the efforts of an Orono composer and a Seal Harbor photographer, people can return to the beauty of the park and Mount Desert Island at the touch of a button on a remote control.

Their 34-minute video combines music written in Acadia with still and video images shot on Mount Desert Island. “Serenity: A Balm for the Soul” begins with “A Coastal Sunrise” and ends with “Wave Tag,” as the setting sun leaves Acadia’s retreating tide drenched in orange light.

Photographer Tom Lawrence and his wife, Marguerite, stumbled upon Barbara Smith’s CD “A Sense of Acadia Vol. 1” shortly after it was released in 1999. A former piano teacher, Smith wrote the 12 solo piano pieces during the summer of 1998 in her favorite places in the park and around the island. Lawrence is known on the island for his slides shows such as “The Geology of Acadia,” “The Carriage Roads,” and “Wildflowers of Acadia.”

“My wife listened to Barb’s music and was moved greatly by it,” said the 53-year-old photographer. “I thought, ‘Wow, I’ve got images to go with that. They’d really complement each other.’ I put together the first two or three segments just playing around and showed them to Barb. Even though they were pretty crude, we decided, ‘Let’s go with this thing.'”

There was just one little hitch. Smith had not titled her pieces, she’d simply numbered them. Both felt that a video would need titles, but the 67-year-old composer refused to tell Lawrence where she’d written each piece. He had to listen to the music and guess what images the composer had been trying to capture. To Smith’s surprise, the photographer was right more often than he was wrong.

“In the ‘Autumn’ segment, I videotaped and photographed leaves swirling in the water by the Somesville library,” he explained. “She said, ‘That’s it!’ when I told her where I’d filmed it. It’s interesting that from her music, our own imaginations pictured where she’d been.”

It took a while for the project to get off the ground, according to Lawrence, because he felt that the music needed movement in addition to still images. He said that he had to learn to use a digital video camera, which delayed the release of “Serenity.”

Lawrence and Smith both said they’ve received positive feedback on the calming and comforting affect the video has had on people who are ill or under great stress. The photographer said that even the crying babies and sick toddlers in the local pediatrician’s office were consoled by it.

The Rev. Patricia Moore, pastor of the Veazie Congregational Church, has seen the soothing effect of Smith’s music firsthand. It calmed a former parishioner during his last days in a way that medication did not. The first time the minister saw “Serenity,” she wept.

“The combination of the beautiful music and beautiful photographs is so well matched,” said Moore, “and the two forms of art together are very powerful. I think people who are ill or homebound or don’t have enough time to spend outside would enjoy it. Just seeing the beauty of nature puts life in perspective for us.”

Smith, who published “A Sense of Acadia Vol. 2” in 2000, has not returned to Mount Desert Island for musical inspiration. Instead, she’s been spending a lot of time on the former 165-acre dairy farm where she grew up in Dayton, seven miles west of Biddeford. Her sister and brother as well as nieces and nephews now live on the property, even though it is no longer a working farm.

Tentatively titled “A Sense of Roots,” she’s already written 10 pieces organized around farm activities during the four seasons. The spring pieces include one about maple syrup making and how the cows literally kicked up their heels the first time they were let out into the field after a long winter cooped up inside the barn. Memories of going to the beach and having a cookout behind the barn inspired the summertime pieces.

“I didn’t know if I could write a song about something as simple as bringing the cows back to the barn at the end of the day,” she said. “But, the music came quite easily and it’s been a lot of fun. I think people are kind of nostalgic for that small town, rural way of life that’s almost lost.”

“Serenity: A Balm for the Soul” is available on video and DVD at area bookstores and gift shops or from the Web site: www.acadiaimages.com.