Credits:

Brad Mehldau,Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

Description:

Brad Meldreau, a jazz pianist of the new century, has been acclaimed by many artists and musicians across genres and has found a new fusion point between jazz and classical music. In collaboration with the Grammy Award-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, he has released "VARIATIONS ON A MELANCHOLY THEME," an ambitious work that blends classical composition with jazz harmony on the theme of "melancholy. Brad Meldreau has been hailed by many artists and musicians across genres as "one of the leading jazz pianists of the new century. Last year, he released "SUITE: APRIL 2020," which was produced during a lockdown, and since then he has released his first album. VARIATIONS ON A MELANCHOLY THEME" is a collaboration with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, which was formed in 1972 and is active worldwide.This piece was composed by Brad Meldreau for Russian pianist Kirill Gerstein, and for this album, Meldreau recorded a new orchestral version with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. The album contains the theme, 11 variations, cadenza and postlude, and two encores, "Variations X" and "Variation Y". Variations X" and "Variation Y" were added as "encores". Meldreau and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra have toured the United States, Europe, and Russia with this work, including a performance at Carnegie Hall in 2013. The piece combines jazz harmonies with classical compositions," he says, "and I thought of Brahms if he had woken up feeling depressed. He continues, "I thought about if Brahms had woken up in a melancholy mood. The theme of this piece has an air of pensive resignation. From the first time I heard it, there was a sense of finality, of closure.As the composition progressed, a new challenge arose for the piece: how to construct a story that begins with a conclusion. While the theme evokes melancholy, I took it as a starting point and developed fun, wild, intense, and daredevil feelings in the variations. Brad Meldreau has been widely acclaimed as the No. 1 pianist in both popularity and ability in the contemporary jazz scene. His latest work, "VARIATIONS ON A MELANCHOLY THEME," is his latest discovery of a new fusion point between jazz and classical music. (2/2)

Tracklisting:

1.Theme
2.Variation 1
3.Variation 2
4.Variation 3
5.Variation 4
6.Variation 5
7.Variation 6
8.Variation 7
9.Variation 8
10.Variation 9
11.Variation 10
12.Variation 11
13.Cadenza
14.Postlude
15.Encore: Variations "X" & "Y"