The pianist known only as Alchymie has
released her instrumental LP of seasonal music, “Midnight Clear.”
The full-length album consists of no fewer than 15 tracks for a grand
total of over an hour's listening time. It has been proudly released
independent from involvement with the corporate music industry.
Gentle as a winter breeze yet evocative, moving and even inspiring at
times, “Midnight Clear” is the latest reason for fans of
instrumental music to pay close attention to the elegant and
intuitive playing of Alchymie.
Asked to name some key musical
influences for her “Midnight Clear” LP, Alchymie cites imagery
rather than people: “A clear northern winter sky full of stars, the
clean newly fallen snow, the stillness as everything waits, the
absolute perfection and beauty of a moment in time … midnight
clear.”
As unbelievable as it may seem, these
ideas go a long way toward suggesting the overall sound of “Midnight
Clear,” which album takes its name from the 1849 classic, “It
Came Upon the Midnight Clear” (Track 9 on the record). This makes
perfect sense, as Alchymie's selections for her new LP are the same
songs and carols which have signified the holiday season for nearly
two centuries.
The songs on “Midnight Clear”
include such time-honored compositions as “Silent Night,” “Good
King Wenceslas,” “We Three Kings of Orient Are,” and “What
Child Is This.” Also of note, Alchymie closes out her album with
the New Year's Day tradition of “Auld Lang Syne,” followed
finally by what may be the oldest surviving holiday song, “Lo, How
a Rose E'er Blooming,” which first appeared in its modern form in
1599.
These songs have qualities and
characters all their own, but the collection, presentation, and
overall performance of the album belong solely to Alchymie, a pianist
with as much character and soul in her playing as the songs have in
their grand histories. She lends to each track an inventiveness and
imaginative interpretation which manages to be both innovative and
unique as well as strikingly respectful to the original pieces.
Returning fans of Alchymie will remark that nobody could balance
these aims the way Alchymie can.
The artist describes the message of her
new instrumental LP in the following paragraph:
“The magic imparted by a particular
time of night during the holiday season, just before midnight when
things go clear, it's quiet. The snow has given a hushed blanket of
solitude in which we can relax, reflect and enjoy the holiday season
through ambient stillness with soundscapes that remind us of familiar
holiday melodies but allow our thoughts and hearts to drift even
further.”
“Midnight Clear” by Alchymie is
available online worldwide beginning Sept. 1, 2015. Get in early,
fans of piano and holiday music.
-S. McCauley
Lead Press Release Writer
www.MondoTunes.com
“Midnight Clear” by
Alchymie –
Website –
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