Prolific and critically acclaimed composer Johann Johannsson releases his DG debut album. ORPHEE is his highly anticipated new studio album – the first in 6 years! Johannsson’s genre-blending score represents all facets of his previous works – from intimate string quartet pieces, to large string orchestra works, featuring electronics, drones, organ, piano, choir, as well as enigmatic shortwave broadcasts to create an evocative & immersive sound. ORPHEE is a melancholic, yet optimistic musical journey inspired by the Orpheus myth – Orpheus rising from the underworld, trying to escape darkness into the light. He holds numerous awards and nominations (Winner: Golden Globe and ASCAP Awards; Nominations: 2 Oscars + 2 BAFTAs, Grammy, 2 Critics’ Choice Awards, 2 World Soundtrack Awards). His music offers great potential for Synch deals!

“I started writing this album in 2009, using a number of simple contrapuntal themes. I began to reshape and transfigure these ideas, writing many different variations. These renderings slowly mutated over time in a process of deconstruction and re-assembly, to the extent that the original versions began to fade into the darker corners of my hard disk. Unlike many of my previous albums, this one didn’t start out with a conceptual or narrative theme binding the music together. Rather, the music seemed to be waiting for its form, for its momentum.” Johann Johannsson

Artists

Johann Johannsson (piano, programming, organ), Ben Russell (viola), Clarice Jensen (cello), Tarn Travers (violin), Yuki Numata Resnick (violin), Hildur Gu?nadottir (cello), The Dirac Quartet (string quartet), Paul Bentley-Angell (tenor), Chris Watson (tenor), Jakob Bloch Jespersen (bass-baritone), Jakob Soelberg Hammershoj (bass-baritone), Paul Hillier (chorus conductor), Kristin Mulders (mezzo-soprano), Ellen Marie Brink Christensen (mezzo-soprano), Else Torp (soprano), Signe Asmussen (mezzo-soprano), Elenor Wiman (mezzo-soprano)

Air Lyndhurst String Orchestra, Theatre of Voices, Anthony Weeden