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Order the album 'Corollaries' on 2LP/CD/DL:
https://www.erasedtapes.com/release/eratp048-lubomyr-melnyk-corollaries
ABOUT THE ALBUM:
April 2013 saw Ukrainian pianist Lubomyr Melnyk, the pioneer of Continuous Music, return with his first release on UK’s contemporary music label Erased Tapes. Entitled 'Corollaries', the album was recorded and produced with the help of Peter Broderick, Nils Frahm, Martyn Heyne and label founder Robert Raths, who decided it’s time to share the great musical legacy of their new found friend. Or as Melnyk put it: ‘Where were you guys when I was thirty?’
IN HIS OWN WORDS:
‘My first encounter with Peter was at the Ambientfestival in Cologne, when I came into the cathedral where he was playing along with Nils. I was amazed and enthralled by the beauty and power of their music. The colours and majesty of the cathedral coupled with their music made it a great experience I will never forget. The music seemed to come out of the great stone pillars of the cathedral and from the very walls. It was an ecstatic moment. And I was so pleased that after his show, Peter came and spoke with me about my music and things, which was so nice since he is a gentle soul. Some time later, Peter contacted me with an invitation to come visit him in Berlin and try creating some music together.
I arrived in Berlin with some apprehension over what our collaborations would be like. I had not played improvisation with other ambient musicians before, having worked solo for all these past years. So it was such a relief to start playing at his studio and hear his wonderful input. He was adding a beautiful and delicate dust cover of sounds and pearly effects that cast a lovely sparkle over the piano music --- I loved it.
My piano music was happy with this new dimension of sounds. Peter just felt, in his natural way, the right things to do. It was a thrill to hear Continuous Music in some new clothes! And with the addition of Nils and Martyn, we all felt the beautiful spell of the communal flow as the music carried us into wonderful spaces.’ – LUBOMYR MELNYK
The album artwork was created by American contemporary artist Gregory Euclide, best known for his sculptural relief work and cover art for Bon Iver. Euclide was listening to early mixes of the recordings on repeat whilst creating the two paintings contained in the record, describing his visual counterpart to Melnyk's work as 'a continuous cycle of growth and decay'.
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Lubomyr Melnyk is a Ukrainian composer and pianist who has pioneered Continuous Music.
Classically trained and greatly affected by the minimalist movement in the early 1970s, he has developed his own unique language for the piano, named after the principle of maintaining a continuous, unbroken stream of sound.
Lubomyr Melnyk is a true innovator, exploring new directions for contemporary music. Not only is he regarded as one of the world’s fastest concert pianists, his compositions also truly carry the listener to new realms. To witness one of his rare live performances is nothing short of a mind-opening experience.
Melnyk has shown a remarkable devotion to the instrument, always striving to discover new ways of composing music in the continuous mode. His focus is on the actual sound of the piano as much as the harmonies and melodies of the music.
Using rapid and complex note patterns, Lubomyr's virtuoso piano technique forms overtones that blend, collide or even create new melodies in rare moments, and thereby shape the composition beyond its original form. To accomplish this requires a special technique, one that has taken him many years to master.
‘Its greatest triumph is to expose the intense concentration minimalist art requires…it's minimalism at its most lush, ornate, and taxing.’ – Pitchfork
lubomyr.com
erasedtapes.com
peterbroderick.net
gregoryeuclide.com
- Genre
- Classical