• Stanze; Elements; Seven Days Walking - Days 1-7; Underwater
  +Filmmusik aus Comes a Bright Day, Insidious, Intouchables, Samba, Sotto Falso Nome, This is England, The Water Diviner

Ludovico Einaudi is one of the best-selling composers of our time and has won a fan base in the millions with his unmistakably quiet, gently unfolding works that spin unbroken songs from the simplest material and draw their listeners into a spell of relaxed enchantment.

Jeroen van Veen is a Dutch pianist who has also won an international following for his numerous albums of minimalist piano music on Brilliant Classics, including an earlier collection of Einaudi's music, "Waves" (jpc 3538874).

"Clouds" is another 7-CD collection that spans 30 years of Einaudi's output, from 1992's Stanze ("Verse") to the 2022 Underwater collection. A relatively early work, Stanze contains intriguing and atypical elements: As the composer himself explained, "I had only one goal: to remove and leave space. The title refers to the poetic stanzas, but also to invisible spaces to inhabit with the mind."

in 2012, Einaudi produced a project called Elements (8137634) as a tribute to his mentor and teacher Luciano Berio. Each instrumental piece of Elements evolves from a small gesture or motif, evoking a journey through fragmented thoughts and feelings. Similarly, but on a much larger scale, Seven Days Walking (2019, jpc 9440602) evolved from a hiking trip through the Alps, where Einaudi had the idea to observe and evoke the times of day and moods over the cycle of an entire week. In this cycle, the composer shows his most beguiling minimalist side, drawing the listener into a space of private reflection.

The collection Underwater thrives on the interplay of pure, sparkling and warm, melancholic sounds, inviting one to forget the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Even in a seascape like "Swordfish" the tempo is restful and the pulse flowing. Finally, Jeroen van Veen has selected an entire album from Einaudi's extensive film oeuvre, in which his songs are often a mirror for troubled souls and an oasis of calm in the midst of violence.

Ludovico Einaudi's (b. 1955) minimalist, deceptively simple piano works reach audiences far beyond the strict confines of traditional classical music. CDs of his music are breaking sales records, as the hypnotic calm of his works is the perfect prescription against the stress and fatigue of the modern world. In this sense, Einaudi may well become the "Satie of the 21st century."

His piano works fit logically with Jeroen van Veen's survey of minimalist piano music, and this 7-CD set is the follow-up to Van Veen's highly successful set "Waves," released in 2013 (jpc 3538874).

This new set presents works from Einaudi's recent compositions: Stanze, Elements, Seven Days Walking, Underwater and Film Music.

Dutch pianist, pioneer and champion of minimalism Jeroen van Veen plays the piano in his inimitable way: focused, serene and mesmerizing
Praise for Jeroen van Veen at Brilliant Classics: "Van Veen is quite brilliant in the quirky Fourth [Philip Glass etude], and his interpretation of the exquisite, concluding 20th is excellent" (Gramophone)
"Jeroen van Veen's recording rivals the best from any source, and this [Arvo Pärt] recording is worthy of high praise in every respect." (MusicWeb International)
"Van Veen is an extraordinarily eloquent interpreter of his own music. His touch is remarkably varied and has none of the hammering urgency that characterizes, for example, Michael Nyman's performances of Nyman." (Fanfare)