"The Land Of Silence" was commissioned by and is dedicated to Kimberley Lynch & Adrian Foster, who gave the work its first performance on 30 May 2021 in a concert broadcast from the majestic church of Saints-Anges Gardiens de Lachine in Montréal, Canada. 

The work is a setting for amplified soprano, live electronics & organ of the 1896 poem 'Beata Solitudo' by Ernest Dowson (1867 - 1900).

Beata Solitudo

What land of Silence,
   Where pale stars shine
On apple-blossom
   And dew-drenched vine,
   Is yours and mine?

The silent valley
   That we will find,
Where all the voices
   Of humankind
   Are left behind.

There all forgetting,
   Forgotten quite,
We will repose us,
   With our delight
   Hid out of sight.

The world forsaken,
   And out of mind
Honour and labour,
   We shall not find
   The stars unkind.

And men shall travail,
   And laugh and weep;
But we have vistas
   Of gods asleep,
   With dreams as deep.

A land of Silence,
   Where pale stars shine
On apple-blossoms
   And dew-drenched vine,
   Be yours and mine!

THE LAND OF SILENCE(2021)

「紫」をイメージして作りました！！
（made with the image of purple）

thank you for listening！！

DAW: Cubase pro 12

the violet

a track by Marco Lucchi reworked by Ivan Black

maggio 2023

Ivan Black & Marco Lucchi - ὁ γὰρ καιρὸς ἐγγύς

Z-Blue Scorpion

jens aus der wäsche - cybermittelalter - dimension n rmx

Wyżyny Absurdu

Written by Ambient Annie. Produced by BotNikStudio2.
Follow us on:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0NkqmjUucou8M961K898C5?si=z4yiq3ZARhycyW19a3tUVw

COLD IRON WORKS

Big Bang

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

Marco Lucchi & Henrik Meierkord - Furore Che Sogna

The cormorant in the forest;
The cherry blossoms
Along the evening path.

haiku by Tan Taigi

picture by Redd F

strofe ardesia - naviarhaiku539

2024-05-06

Another Find In The Barn

Musician based in Edinburgh & Amsterdam. 
https://eighthtowerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/in-tenebris-ratione-organi
https://cantimagnetici.bandcamp.com/album/darenth
www.FireheadEditions.com
https://britishmusiccollection.org.uk/composer/michael-bonaventure 
www.scottishmusiccentre.com/michael-bonaventure

THE LAND OF SILENCE(2021)

Michael Bonaventure

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