Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
Andrei Ioniță, cello
Fritz Reiner, conductor

Respighi: Fountains of Rome

Once I heard that my maternal grandfather was of Japanese ancestry, information that baffled me and that I'm not sure I can corroborate. Maybe I should travel to Japan to find out. I've always wanted to go there, see the cities, travel by train, eat like a salaryman; so much to do.

†ॐ

"Matsuri 2"
for a small percussion ensemble.
Composed by Thomas O'Higgins Horna
Produced at Kolima Forest Studios
Cover art taken from "Nuevas ideas de Origami" by Zülal Aytüre-Scheele.
Edited by me.

Matsuri 2

La mélodie délicate de "ROMANCE" évoque les sentiments les plus profonds de l'âme. Parfait pour vous perdre dans une atmosphère envoûtante, et vous transporter dans un monde où chaque note raconte une histoire !

"Romance"

My grandfather once worked on a pilot boat. Although I never met him, every time I see a pilot boat at the ocean, it gives me many different emotions - wanderlust, longing and some kind of a special connection. For this release I recorded my accordion for the first time which recently joined my instrument family.

Lotsenboot

Marco Lucchi, based in Modena, Italy, and Henrik Meierkord, based in Stockholm, Sweden, have a lengthy collaboration to their reciprocal credit, and they accomplish it far and near alike. A testament to the interplay of their work together is that a listener might be hard-pressed to discern which of their recordings are the result of long-distance file-trading, and which occurred when the two managed to be in the same place at the same time.

Several aspects of their respective music-making serve them well as creative partners. First of all, both tend toward the ambient, given as they are generally to a slow pace and to a sensibility that manages to be at once radiant and intimate. Secondly, while both are multi-instrumentalists, there is a complementary nature to their specialties, Lucchi being more of a keyboardist, Meierkord more of a string player. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, they are both immersed in techniques drawn from electronic music.

In particular, both men are experienced with live multitrack recording, in which they process and layer their own performances in real time. Meierkord is fond of layering sinuous tones to create scenarios of unique dimensions. It becomes uncertain — even unimportant — to the listener what preceded what, so intricate is his deployment of interplay. Lucchi likewise finds parallels between classical orchestration and the opportunity for drones lent by modern synthesizers; in a small room he can create a vast space. There is often an oceanic depth to such efforts, part composed and part improvisatory, in which playing is a tool toward composition, rather than the other way around.

Throughout their new record, there is an underlying melancholy, a nostalgic beauty, and a reflective consideration — a virtue that is foundational to their ongoing collaboration. The result is particularly rich in plaintive scene setting, as on the glacially paced “La bestia umana,” which emerges from a neighborly field recording of a dog barking, and “Kosmisk Strålning II,” which maintains a dream-like quietude, more shadow than light. One “Like tears in rain”, what sounds like a synthesizer is, in fact, a piano, a recording of which has been stretched beyond the point of it being readily identifiable.

On first listen, their leaning toward unimpeachable steadiness can seem uniform, but listen more closely and you’ll recognize how explicitly they emote on a track like “The Third Stage,” due not just to the reaching melodic surges (which, in turn, match the sampled recordings of bird calls) but to the slight discordances that suggest trouble and tension. In a different manner, there is “A warm and golden October,” which balances breaking-dawn hush with piercing overtones. That track features a motif at the end, played on a celesta; those bell-like tones edge the piece out of dreaminess without entirely breaking the spell.

The greatest outlier — dog barking notwithstanding — may be on “Oändlig,” not just for its fierce pulse, but because of its more immediately electronic vibe. “Oändlig” is an exceptional piece, bringing to mind the minimalism of Terry Riley and the rave classics of Underworld.

Marc Weidenbaum 


Produced and mixed by Marco Lucchi and Henrik Meierkord
Marco Lucchi: mellotron, piano, celesta and synthesizers
Henrik Meierkord: cello, viola, zither, piano, organ and FX
Mastered by Dionis Afonichev (Dionisaf)
Cover picture by Dionis Afonichev (Dionisaf) with AI
Artwork and cover design by Dionis Afonichev (Dionisaf)

https://www.chitrarecords.com

Lieder Ohne Worte

Like Tears In Rain

This is the 4th track and a little sad but gentle piano solo song included in '24 Piano Sketches' that is a new solo album from Yuki Murata, the Tokyo-based pianist/composer and member of the cinematic instrumental music band, Anoice, and its side projects, RiLF and Films, who fascinates music fans in the world by her lovely melodies and piano sounds.

As the name suggests, '24 Piano Sketches' includes 24 piano songs which Yuki Murata plays improvisations on her own grand and upright pianos. This long project is going to add 2 songs every month and ultimately 24 songs in one year, allowing the listeners to feel the changing of the season in real-time via the beautiful, warm, and sometimes melancholic piano sounds.

This time, she purposely selected a cassette tape recorder, a MiniDisc player, and an early generation of iPhone as the recording equipments for each song, unlike studio albums from her own bands such as Anoice. These retro and simplistic recording devices were able to capture not only a creaking noise coming from the piano and the environmental sounds outside the window, but also a noise occurred by cheap microphones, which make this album so impressive. Its nostalgic soundscape may remind her listeners of her first solo album 'Films' and second solo album 'Home'.

You should feel the changing of the seasons with the beautiful piano melodies.

24 Piano Sketches

BandCamp

water-shaped hammock (Anoice / Yuki Murata '24 Piano Sketches')

A piece made with my friends Mr Knee and Tadeusz Kulas. :)

Leaving Deep Traces

A part of my original first wave at an attemptof orchestral covers that never released

It no secret im not a fan of those covers 

REVOLUTION (Scrapped)

For Piano Day 2017. A piece from the new album "Exile". #PianoDay
Listen to the whole album and follow me on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/album/6lRzdTd7lTOxX1rMgBLj7g
If you like my music, please "like" my Facebook page - www.facebook.com/Michael-Ford-Pia…221557034537760/

Exile

Nocturne

The old leather bound book smells of crusted honey. Flecks of dust and dried parchment rain from it's interior as you open it. Ancient hieroglyphs and diagrams point the way to the obsidian gate. 

A year later you walk through long forgotten caverns with lantern lit. You've finally found the underground lake. A tired face stares back at you from it's reflection. The air taste sweet down here and in the distance flutes echo of a buried civilization. The feeling of dread washes over you. This is your last chance to get her back from the underworld. 

Dark bass drone rumbles in the caverns under long forgotten cities. Ager Sonus has succeeded in creating an Egyptian backdrop that is accentuated with flutes and atmospheric layering. Occult and ethereal, this album is for lovers of Necromancy and the unexplored ruins beneath the sands of Egypt.

Book of the Black Earth

Bandcamp

Ager Sonus - The Dead City

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake Suite & The Sleeping Beauty – Favourite Classical Music for Ballet, Dance and Lessons

Swan Lake Ballet, Op. 20, Act 3: XX. Danse hongroise czardas (Harp Version)

Founded in 1891, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is consistently hailed as one of the greatest orchestras in the world. In collaboration with the best conductors and guest artists on the international music scene, the CSO performs well over one hundred concerts each year at its downtown home, Symphony Center, and at the Ravinia Festival on Chicago’s North Shore, where it is in residency each summer. Music lovers outside Chicago enjoy the sounds of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra through best-selling recordings and frequent sold-out tour performances in the United States and around the globe.

Visit cso.org for tickets and information.

Respighi: Fountains of Rome

ChicagoSymphony

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