it is so beautiful 👏👏👏🙂❤️

pure.... minimalist and so full of ..... wonderful emotions....  So amazing feeling...... many thanks to you Oskar Cenkier........ 🙏😘

I suppose that it is inevitable for a writeup about a solo piano album to begin with an acknowledgment of the current state of affairs in the present classical music scene (a term I coined to balance out the "modern classical" and "contemporary classical" genres, which also signifies the act of being present during the act of listening). It's inevitable to admit the oversaturation of this style as composers and pianists all rush to jump on the bandwagon of the trend and get a piece of that much-coveted pie from the digital platform streaming revenues, no matter how small it is in the end. But it's also extremely essential to point out that not every solo piano album recorded in the night with close-mic'ed felted hammers gently caressing the strings conveys the emotion of its creator and connects us to his soul. All of the ones I've loved have been covered on here. But it is the playing of Otto A Totland that I cherish the most. From the delicate melodies to his beautiful playing, from the tastefully somber storytelling to the technical attention put in each recording, and finally from the overall delivery to the completely absorbing transfer of his mind to mine, through the keys and the fingers, that is what makes this Norwegian composer stand out among the rest. For this exclusive premiere, I have selected one of my favorite tracks from his upcoming album on Sonic Pieces, which happens to be the same one he played on my very own piano when he has visited London about two years ago (okay, so I'm a little bit biased towards that piece). Nevertheless, I invite you to close your eyes and listen and see if you can uncover that memory that seems to somehow remain forlorn.

Read more on this release here: https://hcdi.gs/Pago

Companion

Pago

TRACK PREMIERE : Otto A Totland - Pago

Improvised music produced entirely on the iOS platform using an iPad Pro.

On Starlight Lake

Recorded for Nils Frahm's Piano Day on 29th March 2019

Download of "Golden Heart" plus three bonus tracks @ https://polaroidnotes.bandcamp.com/album/golden-heart-ep

Bandcamp

Polaroid Notes - Golden Heart

When I was commissioned to write a piece for orchestra in early 2018, I had my concerns at first. For me an orchestra is some sort of a controversial beast, that origins from another time and is hard to be tamed, yet it is one of the western culture's most admirable achievements, that should be taken along to the 21st century. 
As an artist the freedom to express my thoughts in the most honest and genuine way without being constricted by structures and other people's mindsets is very important to me. As a composer though, I am aware that my art is not able to become alive without the hard work and - in the best case - love of other musicians. The more musicians are needed for a piece, the more minds need to be convinced. And this puts a composer in a complicated position, because you need to write music that is comprehensible for the musicians, but at the same time this should not keep you from exploring and writing down unusual ideas. Especially in the case of composing for an orchestra, which needs quite some abilities in terms of craft, escaping from tradition is even more difficult, also taking into account the very restricted rehearsal time (1 hour in this case). This makes composing for orchestra an insanely humbling and challenging undertaking - which is exactly what I ended up loving about it!

What do flowers do at night?

Track taken from Christoph Berg's 'Paraphrases' album... 

Officially released today!

www.fluidaudio.bigcartel.com/product/christoph-berg-paraphrases

Christoph Berg - Interlude (remixed by aus)

The uplifting and reflective closing track from the documentary 'Chasing the Present'. 

Scored by Icelandic composer @snorrihallgrimsson, this intimate piece for piano and cello gently pulls the listener from the stresses of everyday life, immersing them for a moment in a peaceful, dream-like world. 

Stream the full album OST : https://orcd.co/chasing-the-present

Chasing the Present

Acceptance

Download

Snorri Hallgrímsson - Acceptance

#pianoday2020 special. 

Be safe. 
Much of love, 
Oskar

Hope To See You Soon

Pace

Today I’m premiering a title track from a self-released single by Todd Chappell, recording under his project name, The Ideal Setback. Chappel and I first connected back in 2008, when I came upon his debut, Dream Dialogue. He has later self-released a follow-up, Window Seat, and I have since had my eye [and ear] on the development of his sound. Back then, his beautiful crossover between ambient and shoegaze comfortably settled into the plush cushion of guitar-driven swells and loop-based organic textures that comforted the mind. Nearly a decade later The Ideal Setback surprised me with Farnweh (2017), on which he combined his ambient, pastoral, and guitar-driven soundscapes with string fragments, piano chords, and even a few vocals. On “Anchor,” Chappell dives even further into cinematic orchestration with a beautifully arranged modern-classical composition, showcasing fragile violins, expanding pads, and swelling bass offering up a cozy space for the piano to tell its story. This is a natural progression for his sound, and I am eager to check out a full-length when one day it hopefully appears.

Anchor

TRACK PREMIERE : The Ideal Setback - Anchor

Jay Chakravorty - What Comes After

this melody came to me 2 weeks ago, i whistled it into my phone, started up the una corda virtual piano (thank you nils frahm and klavins piano), and i chose to include that whistle in the recording.  

image: type 55 polaroid taken in milan, italy by me, of a model called marta.

enjoy!

Lament

Oskar Cenkier is Kraków-based pianist and composer specializing in emotional, ambient-driven improvisations and tracks covering the gap between progressive, classical and neoclassical music.

Hope To See You Soon

Oskar Cenkier

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