Prolific and critically acclaimed composer Jóhann Jóhannsson releases his DG debut album. ORPHÉE is his highly anticipated new studio album – the first in 6 years! Jóhannsson’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. ORPHÉE 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.” Jóhann Jóhannsson

Artists

Jóhann Jóhannsson (piano, organ), Yuki Numata Resnick (violin), Tarn Travers (violin), Ben Russell (viola), Clarice Jensen (cello), Hildur Guðnadóttir (cello), The Dirac Quartet (string quartet), Else Torp (soprano), Signe Asmussen (mezzo-soprano), Elenor Wiman (mezzo-soprano), Ellen Marie Brink Christensen (mezzo-soprano), Kristin Mulders (mezzo-soprano), Chris Watson (tenor), Paul Bentley-Angell (tenor), Jakob Bloch Jespersen (bass-baritone), Jakob Soelberg Hammershøj (bass-baritone), Paul Hillier (chorus conductor), Air Lyndhurst String Orchestra, Theatre of Voices, Anthony Weeden