     R i c h a r d    C o l l i n s

This is naive music, and to some it may sound like an inspired non-musician dreaming up an improvisation, but listen harder. Dr. Collins, a student of Julliard in its heyday, a Ph.D. and professor at many reputable schools has come a long way to get here. And "here" he is, with music that places you in the front row of the now.
Although he leans more toward sentimentality than the composers mentioned here, I sense that he has earned the right to be so, looking back over a lifetime of remarkable success and sobering adversity.
Collins' music does not strive to be original or witty. It is honest, and true to its own laws. Few pieces one hears have this kind of timeless quality, and the ones that do are usually simple. Some examples that come to mind are love songs, like the ones from "West Side Story."
Other song writers that come to mind are Frank Loesser and Jerome Kern (or Cris Williamson!). But Collins' music can equally be compared to "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun" by Debussy, "The Lark Ascending" by Vaughn-Williams, or "Gymnopieds" by Satie, because of its many permutations and developments. His "Looking at the World" could have been written by Albeniz.


Available As Needed
by
Richard Collins
It was just a glimpse.
The door opened briefly--to show me
         a room, not very large,
With ordinary furniture.
Wooden chairs and tables of no remark,
But remarkably lit. Blazingly lit.
But then the door quickly closed.
And all was instantly transferred
         to my memory,
Where it lies still.
The light was love itself,
Taking the form necessary to be
         seen and remembered.
And marveled at.
And used as a goal.
I would examine and experience
         that room again,
Briefly, or with more leisure.
Meanwhile, its essence lies in my mind.
It is love, present then, present now,
And present in all time,
Available as needed.

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