Sepia & Amaranth is Ensemble Lumaka’s newest cd!
Listen here on Spotify!
SEPIA: nostalgia, melancholy and memory
…musings over times long past … an old photo album, a hat box with silk ribbons, a string of pearls that belonged to a great-aunt…
An Art Deco house — its wallpaper yellow with age but still splendid, copper door handles that need to be cleaned, a layer of dust on a dresser, dulled pieces of crystal… perfumes of earlier times emerge from the old linen closet as it opens … an old gramophone in a corner with a record still on it. Could it be one of Pierné’s harp quintets? Or Goossens’ trio that is almost salon music? Just think, if you return to those times…
AMARANTH: bright red; passion, joy and energy
Everything has been dusted and polished till it shines, the crystal glasses sparkle, the parquet floor has just been waxed, fresh cut flowers stand on the dresser, a flapper’s dress is draped over a chair and a burst of laughter echoes from the passage… Dancing, music, enjoyment to the full without any fear of the future: life writ large! Let us forget what is past…
Strong contrasting colours, gold and glitter, complicated patterns, richly worked details: seen together, an impresson of rebellion and wantonness.
Everything sparkles and shines.
SEPIA & AMARANTH: the 1920s and 1930s, the years between the two World Wars with Europe in chaos. Fear and uncertainty rule. But it was also a time filled with new developments and change.
This can be heard in the chamber works of the composers who lived through this fascinating time — it is nostalgic, innovative and at times surprisingly modern…