Music Review | Works of Carlos Cipa

Profile

Carlos Cipa is a Münich based composer-pianist. His piano technique and expression is equal to classical concert pianists. He trained classical piano, played drums on various bands and studied composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich. In 2012, he debut by “The Monarch and the Viceroy” from Denovali Records. He was major debut by “Retronyms” from Warner Classics in 2019.

Solo Albums

“The Monarch and the Viceroy” (Denovali Records, 2012)

Carlos Cipa’s debut album in 2012, and masterpiece of contemporary piano solo music and today’s Post-classical or Neo Classical music, by completed grandiose compositions and high skills. High tempo technical piano pieces. The melancholic and pathetic mood is common to all songs of this album. At the same time his songs recall various human emotions. For example, “Perfect Circles” suggests the feeling of new beginning and anxiety, “Monarch and the Viceroy” suggests loneliness and mediation, “Human Stain” suggests will and hope, “Lost and Delirious” suggests desire and lost.

That is to say this album is one of greatest today’s piano solo music. I want all Post-classical music, Classical music and piano solo music fans to listen.

All Your Life You Walk ((Self Released?), 2014)

A twelve tracked piano solo (?) album by Carlos Cipa released in 2014.

Almost songs left-hand arpeggio backing based middle-tempo songs. Some songs were arranged by effecters or effected piano dubbing. And his piano play made progress in using changing and dynamism of touch from mezzo piano to fortissimo.

“Needle In A Doll” is an impressive dynamic song. The song develops from weak touches of mezzo piano to a passionate expression of fortissimo.

“Broken Light” is a very good song. A sentimental also passionate song a dynamic and hard piano play from mezzo piano to fortissimo.

“Step Out From Home” is a silent and muted but keen impressive nice song like Ryuichi Sakamoto.

“No Where To Be Found” is a simple but impressive melancholic song, it associates the music of Fabrizio Paterlini.

I think the whole taste and the melodies are similar to them of George Winston. A serious and melancholic music is good for self-reflection.

Sculpture ((Self Released?), 2017)

A seven tracked piano solo album. These songs are relatively orthodox, relaxing and sentimental to the debut album. He didn’t use his virtuoso technique in this album, the piano play is calm and delicate.

The compositions are poetic, lyric and ambiguous compostions. Almost tracks have no clear theme and dynamic structure. A good work of Carlos Cipa. You can feel another aspect of Cipa, as the poetic, calm and silent taste.

Correlations (on 11 pianos) (Warner Classics, 2020)

Correlations (on 11 pianos) is a piano solo album by Carlos Cipa from Warner Classics in 2020. The album is consist of 16 tracks played by various acoustic (grand or upright) and electric pianos. All titles are attached the name of piano he played. All tracks are recorded by various piano and various spaces, and he might be compose a song and play by improvisation inspired by the piano and the atmosphere. And he made use of a sound of piano and an acoustics of atmosphere in each place.

This starts by improvisational floating piano pieces. In the middle part, the track 8, “We tell ourselves stories in oder to listen” is his iconic grandiose pathetic song. The track 9 “Promenade III” is a unique composition, cheerful minimal miniature. “Surges” is also Cipa’s iconic grandiose composition and virtuoso piano play song but the song is bright and refreshing one. In the later part, this album ends by improvisational ennui and melancholic songs own or suggest a slight will to the future.

This album is like a journey according to pianos and places by Cipa. Feel and enjoy.

Resources and Links

Carlos Cipa (Official Site)

Bandcamp

Facebook Page

List of All Music Reviews
Post-classical, New Age, Ambient, Minimal Music, Electronica
(English, Deutsch, Français, Español, Italiano)

Jean-Michel Serres Apfel Café Music QR Codes Center English 2024.

All Music Reviews List / Liste aller Musikrezensionen / Liste des critiques musicales / Lista de todas las reseñas musicales / Elenco di tutte le recensioni di musica

– Post-classical / Neoklassik Artists

Nils Frahm

Nils Frahm is German composer, multi-instrumentalist and music producer, and the greatest and representative musician in the current Post-classical music scene.

He is multi-instrumentalist, and he have many acoustic, electric and electronic instruments, and own a big studio.

His characteristics is composition deeply influenced by Classical Music and using synthesizers and, electronic instruments, electric instruments and multiple instruments. He covers a wide-ranging genres from Classical piano solo and ensemble, to electronic music or experimental music.

His iconic performance is the improvisational performance by Roland JUNO-60 and Fender Rhodes. Also he is also popular in the Electronic music scene and its club and festival scene.

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Max Richter

Max Richter is the representative musician, the leading figure and the pioneer of today’s Post-classical music and the Contemporary Classical scenes. He is German born, British composer, multi-instrumentalist and music producer. He is active from the middle of 90’s, produced and performed various genres and types of music such as studio recording albums, experimental performances, ballet, and many cinema scores and music for television. And a member of the six pianist group, the repertory of the group is Contemporary Classic and Minimal Music, “Piano Circus”.

His characteristics is mixture of the orthodox Classical Music and its way of composition and instruments, and electronic and computer technologies. Especially the string composition with synthesizer pads and sequences, and electronic noises.

Already his compositions were played as “Classical Music” by some pianists.

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Ólafur Arnalds

Ólafur Arnalds is one of representative musicians in today’s Post-classical music scene, is from Mosfellsbær, Iceland and now lives in Reykjavík.

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Jóhann Jóhannsson

Jóhann Jóhannsson is an Icelandic composer, a pioneer and one of representative musician in today’s Post-classical scene. He produced many solo works and music for cinema, play, dance and television from the beginning of 00’s.

His characteristics is Classical also Icelandic and European taste of composition and harmonie, and the mixture of Classical instruments, sythesizers and electronic technologies.

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Hildur Guðnadóttir

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Akira Kosemura

Akira Kosemura is a Japanese composer and music producer born in Tokyo. He was debut by a piano featured Electronica album “It’s On Everything” from Australian Label “someone good” in 2007.
He runs his own label SCHOLE.
Many soundtrack and BGM works. In June 2023, he major debut the English famous traditional classical label DECCA.

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Carlos Cipa

Carlos Cipa is a Münich based composer-pianist. His piano technique and expression is equal to classical concert pianists. He trained classical piano, played drums on various bands and studied composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich. In 2012, he debut by “The Monarch and the Viceroy” from Denovali Records. He was major debut by “Retronyms” from Warner Classics in 2019.

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Dustin O’Halloran

Dustin O’Halloran is an American composer-pianist born in 1971. He wrote many film scores and TV soundtracks, released five solo albums. O’Halloran major debuted by an EP “Sundoor” from Deutsche Grammophon in 2019, and release the album “Sifur” in 2021.

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A Winged Victory for the Sullen

A Winged Victory for the Sullen is a Post-classical, Ambient and Drone Ambient duo of Dustin O’Halloran and Adam Wiltzie.

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Fabrizio Paterlini

Fabrizio Paterlini is an Italian composer and pianist. He was a bass player of a band, then he became an orthodox composer and pianist.

His characteristics is the composition has a melancholic and sorrowful tone (but there’s slight hope and will), and his simple and stable piano playing has a tender echo. It suggests abandoned streets and cities, and wild fields which dried up in Europe.

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Henning Schmiedt

Henning Schmiedt is Berlin based composer-pianist, born in 1965. His characteristics is the combination of orthodox piano composing and harmony, piano playing deeply influenced by jazz improvisation and sound and recording approaches of new and digital technologies.

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Quentin Sirjacq

Quentin Sirjacq is a French composer, pianist, multi-instrument-player and music producer. He studied He studied piano in earnest and academically at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague (Netherlands). He had been worked with many bands, artists, jazz ensembles, and orchestras, and made many film scores and television BGMs.

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Lubomyr Melnyk

Lubomyr Melnyk born in Ukraine 1948, is mystic Ukrainian composer pianist. His characteristics is the hi-tempo, many touches and perfectly precise virtuoso arpeggio technique. It’s like a weave or a torrent of piano. His music is called “Continuous Piano Music”.

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Hauschka (Volker Bertelmann)

Volker Bertelmann a.k.a. Hauschka is a German pianist-composer. Hauschka is the alias for his original works. Volker Bertelmann is his real name, and the name for making film scores.

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Rachel Grimes

Rachel Grimes is an American pianist and composer. Also she was a member of Post-classical, chamber music and Post-rock ensemble “Rachel’s”.

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Joep Beving

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Sebastian Plano

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Sophie Hutchings

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Federico Albanese

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Anne Müller

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Oskar Schuster

Oskar Schuster is a German composer and artist lives in Berlin. His characteristics is the composing has European fantastic, nostalgic, sweet and melancholic taste, and the mechanical but illusional, pretty and warm arrangement. His music suggests fantasy novels, children’s literature, fantasy tabletop and computer role-playing games and scenery of Europe in medieval times. His musical forms are piano solo, ensemble, Electronica and soundtrack.

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Hideyuki Hashimoto

Hideyuki Hashimoto is Japanese pianist composer who lives in a local city, Kagawa. He released his original piano solo pieces played by himself only. His characteristics in his compositions and recordings, is Japanese oriental and calm taste coexist with a stateless apathetic mood. And it in his piano playings, is simple and minimal number of tones and delicate and gentle touches.

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Piano Praises

Piano Praises is an anonymous piano solo composer-pianist who write songs for praise and worship God and to tell the benefit by Christianity.

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Shida Shahabi

Shida Shahabi is female Iranian root Swedish pianist-composer.

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William Haviland

William Haviland is a British pianist and composer. His characteristic is bright and gentle, Classical and orthodox also modern composition, and clear and bright tone piano play.

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Nunu

Nunu (Nunu Kiefer) is (must be) an enigmatic female composer-pianist lives in Berlin. She released only two piano solo albums only from Schole, the label run by Japanese composer and music producer Akira Kosemura. Her songs are very simple and minimal, melancholic but pure and very precious. I think her compositions and performances are perpetual treasures in the world. But her information doesn’t exist in the internet or books at all…

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Gonzales a.k.a. Chilly Gonzales

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Other Post-classical Artists

Rolo Rossi, J. G. Robinson / Dead the Long Year, Ryan Teague, Starling, jazzD, Eluvium, Bruno Bavota

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Other

Post-classical Piano Solo Masterpieces (EN)

– New Age & Contemporary

George Winston

George Winston was an American pianist and composer born in 1949. He was a pioneer of the contemporary instrumental music and New Age music.

His musical roots are various. The melodic approach he developed, that is called “rural folk piano”. And he is influenced by stride piano and New Orleans Rhythm and Blues. Besides his music and spirit was inspired by the Doors.

He found and established his unique contemporary piano style (neither Classical nor Jazz, as well as Classical and Jazz) by “Autumn”, “Winter into Spring” and “December” were released by Windham Hill.

His chord progressions, harmonies and backings are basic and usual. But his melodies and emotional piano play style are very unique and only one. Sentimental and walling but gentle and relaxing also serious.

His music, especially the albums “Winter into Spring” and “December”, is the most precious, pure, respectable and sweet music in the world, I think.

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Ryuichi Sakamoto

Ryuichi Sakamoto was composer, pianist and music producer from Nakano, Tokyo, Japan. He graduated the master grade of National Tokyo Art University, then he became a session musician. In the activity of the years, he knew Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, then the suggestion by Hosono, they organized the Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). YMO made a big success in Japan and became known to the all around the world. YMO was the pioneer of Synth Pop or Techno Pop equal to Kraftwerk, Devo and Telex. And Sakamoto’s career as the composer begun simultaneously, and his name is known worldwide by sound tracks of “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” and “The Last Emperor”. And he appeared as an actor on both movies.

In 1987 he moved to New York. He composed vast amount of motion picture soundtracks, and produced many solo and collaboration works. His works had many genres, tastes and styles from Classical Music especially Impressionist Music as Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, Crossover, Avantgarde Music, Techno Pop, Dub, Minimal Music, New Wave, Jazz, Ethnic Music (Gamelan, Okinawa Minyo, and Japanese, Chinese, Korean and African Traditional Music), House Music, Hip Hop, Pop Music (J-Pop), Ambient, Bossa Nova, Electronica, Drone to Post-Classical Music. His characteristics was the mixture of them and was put in shape by his sophisticated Classical method and impressive sense of making melodies. He always had been pursued new and eternal music by his passed away. He worked on many art projects, publishing books, political messages and vast amount of activities in media such as television, radio, magazine, art book, art box and the internet.

Piano Solo & Piano Trio Works

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Electronic, New Age & Electronica Works

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Motion Picture Soundtrack Works

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Ludovico Einaudi

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Brian Eno Ambient Works

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Roger Eno

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Harold Budd

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Micheal Nyman

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Wim Mertens

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Joe Hisaishi

Piano Works

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Solo Albums

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Mike Oldfield

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– Minimal Music

Steve Reich

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Philip Glass

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– Jazz / Fusion

Pat Metheny Solo & Collaboration Works

Pat Metheny (1954 – ) is American Jazz Fusion guitarist. The characteristics of his guitar play is orthodox also has no blue and smoky tone of Jazz, and the tone is soft and beautiful because he uses almost only front pickup of hollow body Jazz electric guitar. Also his composition has no blue and smoky taste of Jazz, and is wonderful and mystic, which associates the forests, streets, towns and scenes in Southern and Central US.

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Pat Metheny Group

The Pat Metheny Group was a Jazz Fusion band founded in 1977 by guitarist Pat Metheny and keyboardist Lyle Mays. Other principal members were bassist Steve Rodny, drummer Paul Wertico and Argentine vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Pedro Aznar. The characteristic of Pat Metheny Group, contrast to Pat Metheny solo works, was the taste of a typical American and 80’s or 90’s Fusion with Latin music elements. But the compositions, the plays, the arrangements and the moods of the works were more sophisticated, elegant and pure than other usual Fusion musicians.

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Lyle Mays

Lyle Mays (1953 – 2020) was a Jazz Fusion musician, keyboardist and a core member of the Pat Metheny Group. Equal to Metheny, the musical taste of Mays had no smoky and blue taste of Jazz. It’s wonderful and mystic and was more graceful and calm than Metheny. His characteristics were the elegant and smooth piano play, the iconic lyrical lead tone like flute or pan flute by Roland JX-10 synthesizer and his composition had wonderful and refreshing mood.

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Paul Winter & Paul Winter Consort

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Ralph Towner

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Solo Jazz Piano Albums

Thelonious Monk, Lennie Tristano, Bill Evans, John Coates Jr.

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– Electronic Music / Synth Pop / Krautrock

Jean-Michel Jarre

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– Electronica

Manual

Manual is an alias or a project of a music producer Jonas Munk Jensen from Odense, Denmark.

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Green-House

Green-House is the project of Los Angeles based Environmental and Ambient artist Olive Ardizoni. Her characteristic is natural, peaceful and wonderful mood, but using electric and electronic instruments and technologies.

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Best Classical Recordings
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Best Classical Recordings
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on Spotify

Music Review | Works of Nunu

Profile

Nunu (Nunu Kiefer) is (must be) an enigmatic female composer-pianist lives in Berlin. She released only two piano solo albums only from Schole, the label run by Japanese composer and music producer Akira Kosemura. Her songs are very simple and minimal, melancholic but pure and very precious. I think her compositions and performances are perpetual treasures in the world. But her information doesn’t exist in the internet or books at all…

Solo Album

Nunu (Schole, 2011)

Nunu’s debut album released in 2011. It consist of 7 short piano solo pieces were played by an acoustic piano or an electronic piano (or Casiotone??).

The first track “Wa1c Oo” is . The second, “Hokku” and “Kimidoll” are arpeggio based improvisational and swinging minimal pieces. “Cheburashka” is a simple, melancholic but elegant piano piece. “Chocolat” is simple piano piece has neutral and ordinary mood. “Serce Polska” and “Alb” are plain and easy but wonderfully emotional but pathetic piano pieces. And, all tracks might be recorded by herself, the sound is rough but I feel a handmade touch and a real familiar feeling.

Her compositions and playing are tiny and pity, however strangely beautiful and elegant, own an unbelongingness and a multicultural mood. This album is today’s musical treasure or precious stone. I wish as many people as possible to listen to this.

1 Wa1c Oo
2 Hokku
3 Kimidoll
4 Cheburashka
5 Chocolat
6 Serce Polska
7 Alb

Things I wasn​’​t able to tell you (2021)

“Things I wasn​’​t able to tell you” is the second album of Nunu. It released for the first time in ten years she had released her debut album “Nunu”.

This album 10 tracks, the first track and eighth track are piano based ambient or electronica collaborate with Kopfkino. Following 9 tracks are all piano solo pieces were played by an acoustic piano or an electric piano.

This album keeps minimalism, and melancholic and pitiful feeling of the first album. Also the compositions, the piano play and the atmosphere of this album became more sophisticated, elegant and delicate. So this album suggests and reminds her mind in the ordinary days. I think this pure and precious album matches the music for your peaceful ordinary everyday life.

1 Yesterdays (with Kopfkino)
2 The 27th of February
3 After Seven Years
4 Love You So
5 Nineteen Eighty Four
6 Daydream
7 Only You Can Make Me Cry So Bad
8 In Between (with Kopfkino)
9 Daysinady
10 The Fairy

List of All Music Reviews
Post-classical, New Age, Ambient, Minimal Music, Electronica
(English, Deutsch, Français, Español, Italiano)

Jean-Michel Serres Apfel Café Music QR Codes Center English 2024.