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QUIETUDE

Release date: 15/03/24.

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Meadowbank Music is delighted to release Quietude by Alastair Penman. Find out more and order direct from artist website at https://www.alastairpenman.co.uk/quietude

  1. Rialto - Alastair Penman

  2. Be Still – Alastair Penman

  3. Gymnopédie No. 1 – Erik Satie arr. Penman

  4. Gymnopédie No. 2 – Erik Satie arr. Penman  

  5. Gymnopédie No. 3 – Erik Satie arr. Penman

  6. After the Fire – Alastair Penman

  7. Beau Soir – Claude Debussy arr. Penman

  8. Homeward – Alastair Penman

  9. Quietude – Alastair Penman 

  10. Lament – Alastair Penman 

  11. Song Without Words, Op. 30 No. 1 – Felix Mendelssohn arr. Penman

  12. Song Without Words, Op. 30 No. 6 – Felix Mendelssohn arr. Penman

  13. Evening Prayer from Hansel and Gretel – Engelbert Humperdinck arr. Penman

  14. Locus Iste – Anton Bruckner arr. Penman

  15. A Prayer for Peace – Alastair Penman

Alastair Penman – Soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophone;

Bb, A and bass clarinet; piano, keyboards and MIDI programming

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​Produced by Alastair Penman

Recorded, edited, mixed and mastered by Alastair Penman

at Meadowbank Studios, 2023.

Artwork design by Aleksander Veselić and Dragon Veselić

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Artist biography at alastairpenman.co.uk/biog

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Quietude (screenshot of cover).png

In the frantic world we live in, there are ever fewer opportunities to embrace peace and tranquillity and enjoy the natural world around us. This album invites the listener to take time for themself, to unplug from the digital world that we live in and to find solace in the beauty of music and of nature. Alongside the well-known works in this collection such as Erik Satie’s Gymnopédies and Felix Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words, there are new works with unusual instrumentations, aiming to lead the listener into rich and lush, but always calming sound worlds. Rialto features an ensemble of six alto saxophones, whilst Anton Bruckner’s Locus Iste is arranged for a single reed choir and After the Fire combines A clarinet, bass clarinet and synthesisers.

 

The final track of the album, A Prayer for Peace, was composed in November 2023, at a time when there seemed little hope in the world. On top of the ongoing war in Ukraine and escalating conflict between Israel and Palestine, we witness the failure of governments to act on the worsening climate disaster; it is easy to feel completely hopeless. This is a call to embrace our neighbours, find peace and work together to build a better future for our planet and for all life on earth.

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