Ólafur Arnalds & Alice Sara Ott
Award-winning young Icelandic pop/classical musician Ólafur Arnalds (celebr… Read Full Bio ↴Award-winning young Icelandic pop/classical musician Ólafur Arnalds (celebrated composer of the score for TV series Broadchurch) has always loved the piano music of Frédéric Chopin, but he'd grown weary of the uniform and standardized perfection of recordings. "There has been no re-invention of the way Chopin's music has been presented since recording began, and I was longing for someone to come along and try something different. And one day, on a long flight to London, I thought: why don't I do it myself?" And thus, in partnership with the acclaimed German-Japanese pianist Alice Sara Ott, The Chopin Project was born.
In order to achieve his aim, Arnalds developed an intimate, fragile and often charmingly imperfect sound using old/unusual/altered pianos captured on vintage recording equipment. He also employed various mixing techniques to re-enforce feelings of solitude or loneliness, and to create dreamlike ambient soundscapes. The listener should feel so close to the performer that he or she can hear each breath, or fragile touch of the keys.
Ott was instantly hooked by the project. "I love playing on out-of-tune bar pianos and, in my opinion, Chopin's music fits very well to those circumstances," she says. "He wrote for intimate spaces, for living rooms, and he loved to improvise and improvisation flourishes in these kind of venues, where lots of things are happening, and the performer can respond to them."
At the start of their project, Arnalds and Ott went piano hunting in Reykjavik, and found instruments with lots of personality . Some of them were prepared with felt to create otherworldly effects. Arnalds then recorded the pianist using vintage equipment, creating a very close-up, intimate setting for her performances. Sometimes there are creaks, breaths, jangling piano strings, rustles of paper in other words, the sounds of real life which are usually removed from Chopin recordings. The result after studio mixing - is a textured, multi-layered musical experience unlike any other.
In order to achieve his aim, Arnalds developed an intimate, fragile and often charmingly imperfect sound using old/unusual/altered pianos captured on vintage recording equipment. He also employed various mixing techniques to re-enforce feelings of solitude or loneliness, and to create dreamlike ambient soundscapes. The listener should feel so close to the performer that he or she can hear each breath, or fragile touch of the keys.
Ott was instantly hooked by the project. "I love playing on out-of-tune bar pianos and, in my opinion, Chopin's music fits very well to those circumstances," she says. "He wrote for intimate spaces, for living rooms, and he loved to improvise and improvisation flourishes in these kind of venues, where lots of things are happening, and the performer can respond to them."
At the start of their project, Arnalds and Ott went piano hunting in Reykjavik, and found instruments with lots of personality . Some of them were prepared with felt to create otherworldly effects. Arnalds then recorded the pianist using vintage equipment, creating a very close-up, intimate setting for her performances. Sometimes there are creaks, breaths, jangling piano strings, rustles of paper in other words, the sounds of real life which are usually removed from Chopin recordings. The result after studio mixing - is a textured, multi-layered musical experience unlike any other.
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09Prélude in D Flat Major ("Raindrop")Ólafur Arnalds & Alice Sara OttÓlafur Arnalds & Alice Sara Ott
11Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor (feat. Mari Samuelsen)Ólafur Arnalds & Alice Sara OttÓlafur Arnalds & Alice Sara Ott
14Étude in E Minor (feat. Rubin Kodheli) [Bonus Track]Ólafur Arnalds & Alice Sara OttÓlafur Arnalds & Alice Sara Ott
15Prélude In D-Flat Major ("Raindrop")Ólafur Arnalds & Alice Sara OttÓlafur Arnalds & Alice Sara Ott
17Nocturne In C Sharp Minor (feat. Mari Samuelsen)Ólafur Arnalds & Alice Sara OttÓlafur Arnalds & Alice Sara Ott
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We have lyrics for these tracks by Ólafur Arnalds:
1953 (instrumental)…
3055 With your mercury mouth in the missionary times And your eye…
A Mother’s Prayer I pray you'll be my eyes And watch her where…
A Stutter The sun is old on water Yearling flakes keep whirling by "…
Back to the Sky Over the moon Under the stars Feel them arresting me Unknowa…
Before The Calm (instrumental)…
Born To Die My oh me, my Feet don't fail me now Take me to…
Brim (instrumental)…
For Now I Am Winter For now I am winter Lungs debut...…
Fyrsta (instrumental)…
Himininn er að hrynja en stjörnurnar fara þér vel Do you still remember when we were little? We were playing…
Himininn er að hrynja, en stjörnurnar fara þér vel Do you still remember when we were little and we…
Himinninn er að hrynja en stjörnurnar fara þér vel Do you still remember when we were little? We were…
Kjurrt (instrumental)…
Lokaðu augunum I remember it well I asked you not to go But all…
Lynn's Theme It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to…
Old Skin Where the woods would wear the wafting sounds of sea Roves…
Price Tag Coconut man, moon head, and pea You ready? Seems like ev…
Reclaim Arms were rivers, through sinuous hills, woe Winds wore sh…
So Close Through dark and light I fight to be, so close,…
So Close feat. Arnor Dan Through dark and light I fight to be So close Shadows and…
So Far So far from who I was From who I love From who…
Take My Leave Of You Walk down to the water Stare out across the blue Look to…
To Build A Home There is a house built out of stone Wooden floors, walls…
Tunglið (instrumental)…
Undone As we get bigger and bigger The distance between ourselves a…
Við vorum smá I remember it well I asked you not to go But all…
Við vorum smá... I remember it well. I asked you not to go.…
Við Vorum Smá... (Dyad 1909 Version) I remember it well: I asked you not to go, But all…
Við Vorum Smá… I remember it well I asked you not to go But all…