On paper, the project could appear bombastic, what with the army of resources utilized, yet he somehow makes full use of said resources without the result becoming overblown.
With this collaboration between Nonesuch Records and New Amsterdam, walls of genre are broken down as sounds morph and blend throughout Spiritual America.
Brittelle’s inimitable blend of chamber pop forms a shape-shifting sonic collage: ripped edges, buzzing synthesizers, melodies that echo, morph, and transform in an instant—like a rush of memories overwhelming the senses.
Andy Stack has been even more secret-saucy… the structures he helped build under the visionary pop-classical song cycle Spiritual America.
Composer William Brittelle has shared the full score for and story behind "Forbidden Colors," the fifth track from his new album, Spiritual America, out now on Nonesuch/New Amsterdam Records.
One of the most astonishing records of 2019 has slipped under many radars, likely because it’s hard to describe, categorize, and explain.
For contemporary classical artists, metadata is not just an abstract consideration.
A striking blend of orchestral and goth music, this album is a slow-burner that is equal parts heart wrenching, sexy, and meditative.
“William Brittelle – Spiritual America – Wye Oak, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Metropolis Ensemble/Andrew Cyr (New Amsterdam/Nonesuch; due May 3, 2019)”
These three concerts in this collaborative group’s In Visible Roads festival all look at the piano in one way or another. On Friday there’s a glimpse at composers who are either synesthetic or take an avowedly coloristic approach to composing.
Ignorance and persistence and willful belligerence. Working really hard and I would say treating it like it was my career before I was making any money. Giving it the same amount of time and investing in it as if it was my full time job until it was.
“Wye Oak, The Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and Metropolis Ensemble join together to perform a song-cycle written by composer William Brittelle, and a Wye Oak piece reimagined by Brittelle, on Spiritual America, due out May 3 via Nonesuch. The first single from the project, “Forbidden Colors,” places Jenn Wasner’s vocals over a multilayered chamber orchestra piece.”
For this world is too ___ for you, Emily Wells works in the space between art-pop and neoclassical chamber music using electronic and acoustic instruments and hip-hop production in elegant layers to support her singular and dramatic vocals.
Emily Wells’ This World Is Too ____ For You is a gorgeous orchestration of how “too much” we can feel the world, life, or a person is within our sphere.
Discovering Well’s music feels like finding Narnia on Spotify. I keep returning to the trove of music trying to unpack all the little bits all the while worried that I’m going to miss the larger picture.
“Violinist, singer, composer and producer Emily Wells confirms the release of her forthcoming album.”
Timo Andres’ piece, which features the cellist Inbal Segev performing with the Metropolis Ensemble, is based on John Vanderlyn’s “Panoramic View of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles” (1818-19), a massive painting on nearly 2,000 square feet of canvas that requires its own circular gallery in the Met’s American Wing.
Inbal recommends the panoramic installation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that inspired composer Timo Andres to write a new cello concerto.
The MetLiveArts concert “Time Travelers to Versailles” with Metropolis and TENET is a featured event for The New Yorker.
William Brittelle’s Spiritual America has drawn from classical music, punk rock, and electronica to produce music that is at once free-ranging and a thrill to experience.