Neoclassical Suite is a column that will present 7 recent, distinctive tracks of the neoclassical-modern classical-contemporary -and beyond!- music field.
The Players
Stephen Caulfield
(neoclassical, electronic)
I am a musician and composer that has been making music for a long as I can remember.
My new album, ‘To the Lighthouse’ is a very personal collection of music that was inspired by the stunning Icelandic scenery combined with a number of emotional narratives and journeys that I wanted to tell through music without using any words or lyrics. The music is evocative of places, emotions and moments in time, both fictional and real-life and the album journeys from the darkest part of the night through to daylight, with golden sunlight bursting through the clouds to light and warm the landscape once again.
The album was written and recorded over a 5 year period and is rich with analogue synths, strings, piano, brass and field recordings of the Icelandic landscapes. These sounds are woven together into a cohesive sonic palate used throughout the album, although in reference to the natural environment in Iceland, the intention was often to strip back the instrumentation to reflect the stark natural beauty of the Icelandic landscapes.
As well as the music on To the Lighthouse, I have made videos for each track on the album using footage I have recorded on my phone over the years during numerous visits to Iceland. The videos reflect the inspiration the landscapes have given me and help to tell and expand on the stories and narratives being expressed by each piece of music.
Kepa Lehtinen
(neoclassical, theremin)
Finland-based film and TV composer Kepa Lehtinen will release his new single “16mm” on January 7th, 2019. Taken from the upcoming album It Is OK To Be Sad And Dark, “16mm” is a somber and hypnotic ballad performed on theremin, piano, and double bass captured with a gritty noir-inspired sound that represents the attainment of a major artistic goal for Lehtinen. “I have chased this sound for a long time,”he says, “retro but ultra hi-fi, the dark sound of the past modernized. The sonic equivalent of the way 16mm movies look.”
The theremin is a unique electronic instrument which produces sound when your hands interact with the electro-magnetic field it emits without actually touching the device itself. It was invented in the labs of KGB by Russian engineer Leon Theremin in the early 1920s. Letinen’s previous theremin piece “Kontula” has been streamed almost 500,000 times on Spotify and “16mm” will again bring the unusual, violin-like instrument to a large, modern audience.
Kepa Lehtinen was born in Helsinki, Finland in 1971 and began studying music in childhood, eventually learning to play piano, synthesizers, theremin, and drums. He went on to study Sound Design at Finland’s Aalto University and has since written music for many films, commercials, and TV productions. He routinely works as a composer, sound editor, and sound designer. His work has appeared in award-winning Finnish titles such as Kimmo (TV series), Almost 18 (feature film), and A Stone LeftUnturned (short film). He released his first solo album, Playing Theremin, in 2018. In 2019 he released Helsinki in November.
Lucas Lechowski
(neoclassical, experimental)
Lucas Lechowski, a Polish born composer, violinist and guitarist. Based in Los Angeles CA. Busy exploring waves- a vibrations that typically propagates as an audible wave of pressure, and in the ocean- usually on the surfboard.
Allen Constantine
(neoclassical, cinematic)
Romanian composer and multi-instrumentalist Allen Constantine was born on the International Music Day 1st October 1985. His compositions are piano-based, cinematic, subtle but building and dynamic, and is based on a strong focus on harmonies and arrangements.
He started composing at the age of 9 and in his early childhood, he practiced the piano and accordion, taught by his grandfather. His natural gift and passion for music evolved and has followed him ever since and at the present time he also masters various instruments such as violin, guitar and drums.
His growing passion for the cinema and films naturally brought him into a career in the film industry and in the last couple of years, he has composed scores for directors such as Nick Wall (Retrubution), Michael Billington (The Only Way) and Vlad Paneschu (Live).
Thomas Hewitt Jones
(neoclassical)
Thomas Hewitt Jones is an award-winning composer of contemporary classical and commercial music. Winner of the 2003 BBC Young Composer Competition, his music has been published by Boosey & Hawkes, Oxford University Press, Banks Music, the RSCM, Encore Publications, Universal Music, and is frequently heard on radio, TV and the cinema in the UK and abroad.
Thomas has written three ballets which toured the UK in 2008–2011 with Ballet Cymru, most notably a dance setting of Dylan Thomas’ masterpiece Under Milk Wood. His choral and instrumental music is frequently performed worldwide. He has also written numerous Christmas carols, including What Child is This? (OUP, 2012). Recent large-scale works include Wildflower Meadows, a song cycle commemorating the First World War, and the Christmas cantata Incarnation, released on Regent Records, both with words by regular collaborator Paul Williamson.
Commercial commissions have included work in America and scores for films in the UK, as well as music for the London 2012 Olympics Mascots animated films, with stories by Michael Morpurgo and narration by Stephen Fry. Thomas has also composed the music for a new musical version of Rumpelstiltskin which premiered at The Egg, Bath in December 2014. Recent performances include the premiere of a new set of songs charting the history of Bath with words by Paul Williamson (Bath Abbey, 2015), and the UK premiere of choral and orchestral work Panathenaia at the British Museum, commissioned by Hugo Ticciati.
William Ogmundson
(neoclassical, celtic)
William Ogmundson is a pianist, lyricist and EMMY-nominated composer. He has performed all over North America and Europe (including the Vatican) and released nine solo CDs to date. For more information, go to WilliamOgmundson.com
Natalia Johansson
(neoclassical, piano)
My name is Natalia Johansson and I was born in Argentina 34 years ago. I am now living in Sweden.
When I was three years old we had a piano at our house because my mother was taking piano lessons at the time.
I must have been very inspired, because I started out myself by taking out melodies by ear, that I’ve heard and remembered from movies or from the radio. When I was four I played a part from Beethoven’s Für Elise and was very happy about it!
However, at the age of nine I lost interest and it would take 14 years until my desire to play the piano came back.
I began composing my own music about 11 years ago. The process of composing is best described as some sort of meditation. I really don’t think much while composing music, it’s like an instinctive feeling where the song almost writes itself.
The Music
Christos Doukakis