Robert McClung is righting historical wrongs one album at a time. He’s doing it under the guise of Telergy, a progressive rock band featuring musicians from all over the world. Telergy’s 2013 album, “The Legend of Goody Cole,” chronicled the story of Eunice Cole, the only woman convicted of witchcraft in New Hampshire. McClung used proceeds from the album to buy a headstone for Cole, who was buried in an unmarked grave in 1680.
“I’m very into the idea of albums that tell a story,” McClung said, particularly “history that inspires me.”
His latest inspiration is Hypatia, a mathematician, scientist, and philosopher who taught in Alexandria around the year 400. According to historians, Hypatia was murdered by an angry mob because of her role in a political feud. Her accomplishments were forgotten, McClung said, and he felt like it was his duty to keep her memory alive.
He’s doing so with “Hypatia,” a 17-track concept album released in July and featuring artists from far and wide, from local musicians John Cardin and Blake Carpenter to Parker Lundgren of Queensrÿche, Durga McBroom-Hudson of Pink Floyd and Blue Pearl, and three members of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, among others.
How did McClung fall into the story of a philosopher-scientist who died some 15 centuries ago? A friend tipped him off. “I did some reading,” McClung said. He went on to dive into a variety of sources, including a 2007 Spanish film about Hypatia and a “definitive biography” by historian Michael Deakin that focused on Hypatia’s mathematics research. He spoke with Deakin on several occasions, and the writer agreed to help McClung develop the album’s story. Deakin died before the album was completed.
“It’s truly sad. He helped me put it together in the right way,” McClung said.
“I would compose a part and think, ‘that would be perfect for (someone),’ and then I would find their email and reach out.”
— Robert McClung
So did a cast of musicians from around the world. Contributors include Oliver Wakeman from Yes, Corey Glover from Living Color, and David Ragsdale of Kansas. The list of collaborators is long. Some are McClung’s friends — he’s gotten to know Anna Phoebe, Angus Clark, Chris Caffery, and Bryan Hicks, all of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, over the last decade. Others are professional contacts, developed through McClung’s years as a musician and producer. And some were simply willing to be part of the project when McClung reached out to them by email.
“I would compose a part and think, ‘that would be perfect for (someone),’ and then I would find their email and reach out,” McClung said.
“Hypatia” took two years to produce. McClung sent the musicians their parts, they went to a recording studio, and sent the tracks back to McClung. Some, like jazz flutist Mattan Klein, traveled (in Klein’s case, all the way from Israel) to record in New Hampshire.
“That was quite an honor,” he said.
McClung’s collaborators are impressed with his ability to make the history and the music on each album equally important. Seacoast horn player John Cardin played on both “The Legend of Goody Cole” and “Hypatia.” McClung “really expanded the significance of all the instruments,” Cardin said. “While ‘Goody Cole’ was a fascinating story that helped us make sense of the music, with ‘Hypatia,’ the music achieves this on its own, though the story is also there.”
For all of his inspirations, creative partners, and critical successes, McClung is matter of fact about his talents and connections. While making the album, he was out with friends and got a call from former Pink Floyd backing vocalist Durga McBroom-Hudson.
“She wanted to know how I wanted her to pronounce certain words” that were in Latin, McClung said. “All of my friends were like, ‘What?!’”
McClung is donating all the proceeds from “Hypatia” to Cross Roads House in Portsmouth. He’s been a volunteer there for more than 10 years, doing everything from dressing as Santa at Christmas to buying gifts for children staying there.
“I’ve been homeless a couple of times in my life,” McClung said. And while he never sought Cross Roads’ services, “I know the fear, the embarrassment and stigma” that comes with being in such situations. “I feel for these people a lot and … anything I can do to help is definitely a good thing.”
This is McClung’s third concept album in the last six years. His first, “The Exodus,” is about the Israelites’ escape from Egypt. The albums are so big in scope that McClung said a tour is unlikely — unless, he joked, someone wants to finance it. A music teacher at Exeter Music and the Lincoln Akerman School in Hampton Falls, McClung said “it’s just not financially feasible” to mount a tour in the style of “The Wall.”
For now, McClung is content to keep writing and recording albums that preserve the past and do something good in the present. He’s going to take things a little more slowly, though.
“I just need some time to formulate and work on some other projects as well,” McClung said. He’s looking forward to composing in a variety of classical styles while dreaming up another concept album. Then again, he might not take it slow after all. Another idea might arrive, “probably in six or eight months,” he said.