Stories Untold: Act I by Tristen Bishop is the opening chapter of a project that invites the listener to become a co-creator. Instead of dictating a specific story, the music opens up a space for imagination—whether one is a writer, a painter, or simply someone who enjoys building narratives in their mind while listening. This EP is not about telling the story directly, but about offering sonic fragments and emotional colors that inspire the listener to tell their own. With piano as its central voice, the four tracks unfold like scenes in a journey where abstraction gradually becomes reality.
An instrumental album in four parts, the piano is the main instrument in this EP and the narrator that takes us on the sonic journey, and here’s my experience from this journey.
In the first part, “Once, there was,” the piano creates a dreamlike atmosphere. The piece begins without strong rhythmic elements and instead creates a flowing sense of timelessness. Occasionally a single note keeps repeating, temporarily forming a pulse, not unlike Chopin’s Raindrop Prelude. These repeating notes reminded me of raindrops, but while Chopin’s raindrops are heavy, grounded, and almost tragic, here they are weightless—dreamy droplets without gravity, drifting in different directions.
“The Jump to the New” continues the atmosphere of the first track but feels like we have opened our eyes—the dream is fading and the real world begins. The remnants of that dream still linger, but now there is grounding: the left-hand arpeggios create a sense of earth beneath our feet. The melody rises and falls with more dynamic energy, its line stronger and more decisive.
“Simply Blissful” feels like a ballad, a gentle waltz of life. If the first track gave us abstract rain in a dream, here it becomes a light morning rain over a countryside landscape, with a rainbow on the horizon. The three-beat rhythm reinforces this sense of dance—it is a waltz not only for joy but for existence itself, celebrating the small, beautiful moments of life.
“Oh, These Violent Delights” is a virtuosic piece with a harmonic language unlike anything before it on the EP. It is as if we have left the countryside house and stepped into the city, into the busy streets, the fast pace, the rush of daily life. The dissonant harmonies mirror the unnatural speed and occasional chaos of this environment. Yet the piece is not dark or nihilistic, it is full of movement, full of life’s strange and restless beauty, it is full of delights. It invites us to reflect not in despair but in recognition of the contrasting rhythms of existence.
Taken as a whole, Stories Untold: Act I begins in the realm of dreams and gradually transitions into the textures of daily life—ending in a bustling industrial, noisy street. This is the narrative I found woven into the dramatic arc of the album. But this is just one interpretation, and therein lies the strength of this work: each listener is free to imagine their own journey. The EP succeeds in its mission to open doors rather than close them, to spark imagination rather than dictate. It is an invitation to storytelling—an unfinished canvas awaiting every listener’s brush.
Tristen Bishop stands out as a composer who constantly pushes the boundaries of how music can function as a vessel for storytelling. With a background spanning composition, theology, and history, and a portfolio of projects that range from experimental forms to deeply narrative works, he continues to explore the dialogue between music and imagination. Stories Untold: Act I is just one chapter in this ongoing exploration, and for those eager to follow his journey and future collaborations, more can be found on Tristen Bishop official website.
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