Mediterranean Sounds
Mediterranean Sounds (album) is the first full-length studio album by Australian-Taiwanese pianist Belle Chen. The album juxtaposes core classical music with sound design that Chen constructed from various on-location field recordings taken around the Mediterranean. The album was recorded in Masterchord Studio (London) and Mateki Recording Studio (Taiwan) over 2016. Mediterranean Sounds was released on 6th September 2016 under Eito Music and distributed through State51.
| Mediterranean Sounds | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 📅 Released | 6th September 2016 | |||
| 🎙️ Recorded | 2014-2016 | |||
| Studio | Masterchord Studio, Mateki Recording Studio | |||
| ⏳ Length | 48:00 | |||
| 🏷️ Label | Eito Music | |||
| 🤑 Producer | Belle Chen | |||
| Belle Chen chronology | ||||
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Buy this album Mediterranean Sounds or listen to it on amazon
Background
After releasing Listen, London EP in early 2014, Chen immediately began a two-year exploration into an album that would "take the listener on a journey along the northern Mediterranean coast."[1] The vision was to create a listening experience akin to cinema, with each location represented through a pairing of sound design and classical repertoire[2].
Chen had captured the majority of field recordings used for soundscape construction on the album on-location, with the exception of "Spice Market in Istanbul," in which she obtained the rights to use and manipulate the field recordings captured by Julian Mier.
Chen opted to use as little foley samples as possible, preferring to adhere to the sound material she had captured herself. The field recordings were captured using ZOOM H4n recorder, and the sound design was constructed using ProTools. The project was engineered by Dougal Lott, with the piano performance being recorded over half-day sessions at Masterchord Studio and Mateki Recording Studio.
Touring
Whilst developing Mediterranean Sounds, Chen began constructing a same-titled live show that would combine the use of sound design and piano performance. The show debuted at Royal Overseas League (London) on 6th September 2016[3] and continued to tour throughout 2016 and 2017.
With the release of Chen's new material and musical language in later albums Mademoiselle and Departure, the original Mediterranean Sounds show evolved into Global Soundscapes, allowing Chen to fully demonstrate her diverse span of musical language by integrating classical music language with improvisation, sound design, electronics, and original compositions on prepared piano[4][5].
Critical Reception
The release of Mediterranean Sounds unintentionally coincided with Chen's selection as one of BBC's first generation of Classical Introducing Artists[6]. Consequently, the material from the album was showcased live at 2016 Latitude Festival[7] and 2016 BBC Third Programme 70th Anniversary, and gained radio play through BBC. Chen's music was later selected by BBC Radio 3 as one of top four best new music by BBC Introducing Artists in the year of 2016[8][9].
In 2016, Mediterranean Sounds received key plaudits from concert pianist James Rhodes ("hugely impressive") and BBC Radio 3 presenter Max Reinhardt ("a revelation")[10]. The album and live show continues to be positively received by the public and industry professionals to date, with "Une Barque sur l'Ocean" being playlisted by Kamasi Washington on Kamasi Selects in 2018.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Intro" | Belle Chen | 0:38 |
| 2 | "Une Barque sur l'Ocean" from Miroirs | Maurice Ravel | 7:45 |
| 3 | "A Small Café in Nice" | Belle Chen | 1:21 |
| 4 | "Nocturne No. 7 in Eb Major" | Francis Poulenc | 2:05 |
| 5 | "Málaga 'Gulls" | Belle Chen | 0:36 |
| 6 | "Malaga" from Iberia | Isaac Albeniz | 5:03 |
| 7 | "Barcelona Rhythms" | Belle Chen | 0:47 |
| 8 | "Cancion y Danza No. 6" | Federico Mompou | 3:25 |
| 9 | "A Hidden Catalan Garden" | Belle Chen | 0:39 |
| 10 | "Jeunes Filles au Jardin" from Scenes d'Enfants | Federico Mompou | 3:06 |
| 11 | "Midnight in Cervo" | Belle Chen | 0:34 |
| 12 | "Sonata in D Minor, L. 108" | Domenico Scarlatti | 4:28 |
| 13 | "An Italian Wedding" | Belle Chen | 1:05 |
| 14 | "Sposalizio" from Années de pèlerinage: Deuxième année, Italie | Franz Liszt | 8:17 |
| 15 | "Spice Market in Istanbul" | Belle Chen | 1:17 |
| 16 | "Black Earth" | Fazil Say | 5:58 |
References
- ↑ GB Times. "The Mediterranean sounds of pianist Belle Chen".
- ↑ Pianist, The Cross-Eyed (2016-09-11). "Meet the Artist……Belle Chen, pianist". The Cross-Eyed Pianist. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ↑ "Mediterranean Sounds, concept album by Belle Chen". Theory of Music. 2016-08-28. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ↑ "Belle Chen: sound and smell are very powerful triggers". Limelight. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ↑ Chen, Belle (2018-06-18). "Telling stories: from fragrance to field recordings". www.gramophone.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ↑ "BBC Radio 3 - In Tune, Bernard Haitink, Belle Chen, Vikki Stone". BBC. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ↑ "Latitude Festival: Line-Up". https://www.latitudefestival.com/line-up/artist/belle-chen. External link in
|website=(help) - ↑ BBC Music. "BBC Music: Introducing 2016".
- ↑ "BBC Radio 3 - Late Junction, Max Reinhardt with John Doran". BBC. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ↑ "BBC Radio 6 Music - The BBC Introducing Mixtape, Max Reinhardt sits in". BBC. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
Mediterranean Sounds
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