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Ludovico Einaudi
1955 - present
Einaudi's eclectic method of composition has ruffled a few critical feathers - but the CD-buying public has responded enthusiastically to his no-labels approach.
Life and Music
- In 1988 Einaudi completed the first of a series of dance works cast in an eclectic yet intensely personal musical language.
- Time Out was followed by The Wild Man and The Emperor, the latter commissioned by ISO Dance Theater and premiered at New York's Lincoln Center in 1991.
- Einaudi makes no apology for creating compositions that draw on elements of rock, jazz, pop, classical and world music, raising his eyebrows heavenwards when asked to define his 'type' of music. "I think this fascination with categories is a problem that distinguishes the academic world from those involved professionally with making music."
- As Berio's protege, Einaudi gained invaluable practical experience writing works for professional orchestra and was able to find his voice as a composer. "At the end of my study at the Conservatory, I looked for a guide, a maestro who possibly had something in common with my interests," he recalls. "The only figure in Italy at the end of the 1970s who had some interest in popular music, jazz and folk culture was Berio."
- During the composition of Stanze, Einaudi could spend three days exploring just three chords before being satisfied with the results.
- He devoted weeks to each of the 13 deceptively simple piano pieces of Le Onde. Despite Le Onde's superficial resemblance to Michael Nyman's score for The Piano, the work harbours a deeper spirit of individuality and inner complexity.
Did you know?
Le Onde itself was inspired when Einaudi read a newspaper review of a new Italian translation of Virginia Woolf's The Waves. He was intrigued by the novel's formal ingenuity, its narrative chapters punctuated by brief descriptions of the seashore from early morning to nightfall.
Einaudi readies new album
Having toured the world with the successful Nightbook record, the composer switches focus to some new (and old) recordings.
