Manu Delago is closing in on the release of his new album Snow From Yesterday, due on 2 February. Here is another substantial taster from it, a piece written by Manu in tribute to his late step-father.
As his label’s press release described last year, “the Austrian composer, innovator, Grammy nominee and acclaimed percussionist has teamed up with vocal ensemble Mad About Lemon to craft a profound and distinct new concept piece. Manu has become a leading name in his field, touring with the likes of Björk, most recently on her celebrated Cornucopia tour. His trademark handpan virtuosity is the rhythmic lifeforce of Snow From Yesterday, creating majestic, emotive sounds, often with a tender delicacy, for Mad About Lemon’s folksy harmonies to pour over.
Those words capture the mood of the new single – and bode well for the new album, which Arcana will of course review.
Published post no.2,053 – Thursday 11 January 2024
As this is our first post of the year, let me take the opportunity to wish all readers of Arcana a very Happy New Year! Thanks for taking the time to visit the site, I hope you will find much of interest.
In a musical sense, 2024 promises much – and offers a great opportunity to celebrate the music of some classical composers whose anniversaries fall this year. Keep visiting for more on Gustav Holst (above, his statue in Cheltenham), Gabriel Fauré, Darius Milhaud and Nick Drake – as well as the continuation of our Beethoven 200 series, which will pick up the composer’s work where we left off, with the opera Lenore. There will also be the usual reviews of concerts and new music, playlists and interviews. The aim is to add a post each day, so if you come back to the site on a daily basis you should find something new to read – and something new to listen to.
We aim to do what Manfred Mann’s Earth Band did to Holst – and bring some joy to our readers. Wishing you a wonderful 2024!
Pentatone have announced the release of a new EP from pianist Clare Hammond, presenting piano works by composer Edmund Finnis. The new music has a deeply personal resonance for the pianist.
The EP begins with Youth, a set of brief pieces recalling an image, sensation of place, significant encounter or a moment of vivid perception. Each musical image is conveyed as clearly and directly as possible, written for the piano in a focused, uncluttered, personal way.
The EP closes with Lullaby for Emmeline, commissioned by Hammond and her husband on the occasion of their daughter’s birth. Evocative and enchanting, these works share a kinship with some of the most famous piano cycles inspired by childhood experiences, while their magical and ethereally beautiful nature are also characteristic of Finnis’s iridescent musical approach.
“Ed and I initially discussed working together on a new piece when we were students at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama”, recalls Hammond. “It took us 10 years to find the right opportunity, but was well worth the wait!”
Talking about the music itself, she describes it as “relatively simple but seems immediately to touch the heart. It is beautifully evocative, moving, and stays with you long after hearing it. I gave the premiere at Milton Court in the Barbican, have performed it across the UK (including for a BBC Radio 3 live broadcast), and shall be playing it again at the Harrogate International Music Festival on the 24 March 2024. Youth has become a very important piece for me and I feel honoured to have been involved in its creation.”
For Finnis, meanwhile, the EP is a step in a new direction. “It’s a great joy to be able to share this first release of my music for solo piano. Since I was young, the keys of the piano have always been for me a private space in which to think, invent and dream. Many of the sounds and ideas within this collection of short pieces have been in my mind and under my fingers for a long time. They are like memories. I’m indebted to my friend Clare Hammond for the artistry, grace and lucidity she brings to this personal music.”
Here is a treat for electronic music lovers, in the form of the annual label compilation from A Strangely Isolated Place.
Mixed by todos, it is a generous collection of ten tracks that can be sourced from the Bandcamp page below for a ‘name your price’ fee. Label founder Ryan Griffin posted the following commentary to the mix:
“It has become somewhat of a tradition since our first annual compilation release in 2019, and each year I find it tough to separate tracks from their album releases in this way. We pride ourselves on delivering an album format, and more often than not, specifically a conceptual album format that works best as a whole. So I appreciate the artists who allow us to separate their musical children for this worthy annual exercise. It’s so easy to skip over releases nowadays – at no fault of anyone but the pace of life and technology today – and so this compilation not only helps us reflect on the year gone by, but also ensures anyone new to the label, or dipping in and out over time, can get a taster of what we have proudly spent our time and passion presenting this year. Please take the time to visit each respective artist release to realize its full form.”
todos has provided a continuous mix, “left to his own devices as we have grown to admire time and time again, using snippets and samples from many of the releases, but focusing on delivering a long-form mix that stands on its own, using nothing but the ASIP 2023 library of music.”
You can listen below, and follow the commentary from the Bandcamp page:
Dutch lute player and composer Jozef Van Wissem has today shared a second track from his forthcoming album The Night Dwells in the Day, set for release on 19 January 2024 on Incunabulum Records.
Following the recent first single, The Call of the Deathbird featuring guest vocals from Hilary Woods, today he shares the album’s opening instrumental The Devil is a Fair Angel and the Serpent a Subtle Beast.
“The track grapples with the world as it moves on and all the dualism and dichotomies that follow” explains the artist. “It combines darkness and light, happy and sad at the same time”. You can listen below:
Published post no.2,023 – Tuesday 28 November 2023
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