OHNomad’s latest composition, The Awakening: River Lethe, continues the ambitious ten-movement suite The Awakening, guiding listeners on a hypnotic journey through the landscapes of consciousness and unconsciousness. Loosely inspired by Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, the suite presents a series of vivid soundscapes, each a reflection of the mind’s infinite worlds.
Drawing on Greek mythology, the River Lethe symbolizes forgetfulness; souls who drink from it lose all memory of their earthly lives before reincarnation. OHNomad translates this myth into a meditative solo piano piece, balancing moments of remembrance and oblivion. Whole-tone harmonies evoke timeless dissolution, while pentatonic melodies convey nostalgia and human tenderness, mirroring the soul’s oscillation between forgetting and remembering.
Performed by pianist Chi-Jo Lee, a longtime collaborator on works including Places of Origin and Danielle, the piece was recorded on July 1, 2025, at Allegro Recordings, engineered by Grammy Award-winner Matthew Snyder. River Lethe invites listeners into a liminal space — a place where memory may fade, yet emotion endures — offering a deeply contemplative experience that lingers long after the final note.
