minimalist piano

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Islands: Essential Einaudi is the first time that all of Einaudi's best known music appears in a single collection. It’s available as both a single disc and special double disc version. Islands also includes new tracks The Earth Prelude and High Heels as well as two new remixes of Lady Labyrinth and Eros.

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Divenire

Monday

Colours Of Piano

Vladimir's Blues

Una Mattina

Nuvole Bianche

Originally conceived as a Royal Ballet-commissioned collaboration between composer Max Richter, choreographer Wayne McGregor and artist Julian Opie, Max Richter’s gorgeous score to ‘infra’ is deservedly given life of its own in this album-length release from FatCat’s instrumental/orchestral imprint 130701 Records.

The initial setting for ‘infra’ was as a ballet - written in autumn 2008 and premiered in November of the same year at The Royal Opera House in London – although here Richter’s score is given the full scope of a standalone new album. Expanded and extended from the original piece, ‘infra’ comprises music written for piano, electronics and string quintet, including the full performance score as well as material that has subsequently developed from the construction of the album – more a continued reference to the ballet than as a “studio album” in the strictest sense. The composition resonates with Max’s characteristic musical voice – majestic, involved textures; fluent and sweeping melodies; an enigmatic and inherently intellectual understanding of harmonic complexities that compels and mesmerizes.

Richter’s work on the ballet came initially from McGregor’s invitiation, a request for 25 minutes of music for his piece, inspired by T.S. Elliot’s ‘The Wasteland’ and named after the Latin term for ‘below’. This eventually became more collaborative as the project developed – Wayne would ask for Max to extend or alter certain passages of music in accordance with his own amendments to his choreography and concept, whilst logging the whole process for a BBC documentary (broadcast, along with the ballet in full, on BBC2 in November 2008). The dance performance was backed with digital images created by Julian Opie – observational scenes of street life, haunting and curiously balletic despite being of the everyday – and Max’s score is an appropriately close reference to the traveling theme:

“I started thinking about making a piece on the theme of journeys. Like a road movie. Or a traveler’s notebook. Or like the second unit in a film - when the scene has been played, and the image cuts away to the landscape going by. This started me thinking about Schubert's devastating and haunting "Winterreise" (Winter Journey), so I used some melodic material from Schubert as a found object in parts of my new piece.“

The recording of ‘infra’ took place in one day at London’s AIR Studios – recorded onto 2” tape, engineered by Nick Wollage and overseen by Max - before a return to the mixing studio (Max’s StudioKino and Trixx in Berlin) for Max’s typically intricate and lengthy process of crafting completed pieces from the recordings.

Infra 6

Promise Me

http://heinali.bandcamp.com/album/sway-sway

Sway, Sway

http://www.flutteryrecords.com/flttry039.html

October

A short subdued original minimalist solo piano piece with influences of Philip Glass. Ostinato left hand with sections of 3 against 2.

Minimalist Piano

Travel Dreams - HRS Short

Dirk Maassen composes wonderful short piano pieces inspired by contemporary composers such as Yann Tiersen and Ludovico Einaudi. 

I took on his invitation to record any of his piano pieces, and told him I would record 'Addio'... just to find out that there was no score! ... So after working directly with him the score was created and here is my take on it.

Reflections

Dirk Maassen: Addio

I'm not asleep... but that doesn't mean I'm awake.  ~Author Unknown

piano: Carlos Márquez

Dirk Maassen: Lullaby for the Sleepless

"It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end." ~ Ursula K. Le Guin

piano: Carlos Marquez

minimalist piano

Erwan Berjonneau