Those familiar with previous work by these two instrumentalists will find no surprises on their second duo album, which consists primarily of compositions by pianist Bjornstad, interspersed with fragments of works by composers of the European Renaissance (William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, Guillaume Dufay, and the obscure German composer Gregor Aichinger) and a couple of David Darling compositions, one of them written for multi-tracked cello.
The sixteen pieces on this disc are highly consistent in terms of mood and texture: from Bjornstad's "Epigraph No.
1" that opens the program to the Aichinger compositions "Factus Est Repente" that closes it, the feeling is one of deep calm and contemplation.
To call this music "minimalist" wouldn't be entirely accurate, since there's quite a bit of harmonic movement and not much repetition, but because Bjornstad and Darling's playing is so consistently gentle and the music is so consistently quiet and pleasant, this album has a flavor that will be familiar to fans of Philip Glass and Arvo Part.
Recommended.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Epigraph, No. 1Ketil Bjørnstad | Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling | Play | 03:04 | 7 MB | 9 MB |
| 2 | UplandKetil Bjørnstad | Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling | Play | 04:04 | 9 MB | 15 MB |
| 3 | WakeningKetil Bjørnstad | Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling | Play | 04:10 | 9 MB | 13 MB |
| 4 | Epigraph No. 1, Var. 1Ketil Bjørnstad | Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling | Play | 01:39 | 3 MB | 5 MB |
| 5 | PavaneKetil Bjørnstad, William Byrd, David Darling, Gabriel Fauré | Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling | Play | 03:39 | 8 MB | 12 MB |
| 6 | FantasiaKetil Bjørnstad, David Darling, Orlando Gibbons | Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling | Play | 01:59 | 4 MB | 6 MB |
| 7 | Epigraph No. 1, Var. 2Ketil Bjørnstad | Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling | Play | 02:20 | 5 MB | 6 MB |
| 8 | After CelanKetil Bjørnstad | Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling | Play | 03:46 | 8 MB | 12 MB |
| 9 | Song for TKJDDavid Darling | Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling | Play | 06:24 | 14 MB | 24 MB |
| 10 | Silent DreamDavid Darling | Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling | Play | 04:41 | 10 MB | 16 MB |
| 11 | The LakeKetil Bjørnstad | Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling | Play | 04:11 | 9 MB | 15 MB |
| 12 | GothicKetil Bjørnstad | Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling | Play | 04:07 | 9 MB | 14 MB |
| 13 | Epigraph No. 1, Var. 3Ketil Bjørnstad | Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling | Play | 01:28 | 3 MB | 3 MB |
| 14 | Le Jour S'endortKetil Bjørnstad, David Darling, Guillaume Dufay | Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling | Play | 03:44 | 8 MB | 13 MB |
| 15 | Factus Est RepenteGregor Aichinger, Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling | Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling | Play | 04:54 | 11 MB | 18 MB |
| 54 mins | 124 MB | |||||
| 54 mins | 187 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gregor Aichinger | Composer |
| 2 | Ketil Bjørnstad | Arranger, Composer, Piano, Primary Artist |
| 3 | William Byrd | Composer |
| 4 | David Darling | Arranger, Cello, Composer, Primary Artist |
| 5 | Guillaume Dufay | Composer |
| 6 | Manfred Eicher | Producer |
| 7 | Gabriel Fauré | Composer |
| 8 | Orlando Gibbons | Composer |
| 9 | Sascha Kleis | Cover Design |
| 10 | Jan Erik Kongshaug | Engineer |
| 11 | Roberto Masotti | Photography |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |