04/08/22: Manipulations
Featuring Gunter Herbig, Arvo Pärt, Jean-Luc Fafchamps, Quatuor MP4, and Monty Adkins
Welcome to Keeping Score! I hope you had a good week. Today I have three new releases.
The Music
Something Peaceful
Brazilian and New-Zealand based guitarist Gunter Herbig released Wherever I Go, with arrangements for electric guitar of pieces by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. Pärt is known for his minimalist harmonies and steady tonality, which Herbig retains in his arrangements. A beautiful and unique album. this is a perfect ode to the original pieces that also creates a sound all its own.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, etc.
Something Experimental
Belgian composer Jean-Luc Fafchamps released Carnets de voyage (Travel diaries), with performances by Belgian ensemble Quatuor MP4. Unabashedly contemporay without rejecting tonality together, the release includes a transcription of Nuages gris - Trübe Wolken by Franz Liszt, Nuages vus du ciel, and a world premiere, Autoportrait en expirs.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, etc.
Something Interactive
British composer Monty Adkins released Remote Communion. Composed during the covid-19 pandemic, Adkins asked friends to record themselves singing two long notes in their bathroom. Manipulating and extending them, Adkins created a surprisingly complex piece for a fairly simple-sounding concept. Adkins writes:
Singing is good for you! Singing has been demonstrated to improve mental health and wellbeing. Not only it lowers cortisol and relieves stress and tension, but studies have also shown that when people sing, endorphins and oxytocin are released by the brain which reduces anxiety levels…I encourage you to sing along with this piece in your bath and relax.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, etc.
This is a good set of music! The first album was good while I studied. The second album made me restless. The last song is very Gregorian / Alarm-clocky.