An old hermit, in harmony with himself and the world, shrouded in moonshine, enters the forest and is carried away by death – that is more or less a short summary of one of Franz Schubert’s most famous songs “Nachtstück”, the song-title that this album is named after.
It exudes peace and contentedness, one of the many colours within this programme inspired by the night. We encounter reflectiveness and fragility, darkness and sudden bursts of light, such as in the mélodies by the French impressionist Claude Debussy. We also are able to take part in nocturnal rendezvous’ under windows, full of mischief and charm, in the Tonadillas en estile antiguo by Enrique Granados. In Manuel De Falla’s Siete Canciones populares Españolas we hear jealousy, lullabies and the silent weeping of nature.
But yet, as varied as each individual song’s colour and character may be, the programme as a whole still achieves a thematic unity. A core principle that guided the conception of this album was that of achieving an organic sounding guitar accompaniment. For all arrangements we asked questions like: Which key will suit the guitar, and also the range of the singer?
Are the accompaniment figures and motifs easily transferrable onto the guitar? How would the composer himself have written the piece with guitar accompaniment in mind? The intimate cosmos of guitar and voice invites us to delve into detail and highly sensitive nuance, and the unique timbres, playing techniques and articulations available to the guitar often allow new sound worlds to be revealed. Our choice of songs for this album reflect our desire to address practical issues such as playability as well as an exploration of musical and timbral possibilities, all whilst remaining within the broad theme of the night. The debut album of Duo Amaris was recorded in the concert haal of Marienmünster abbey and release in April 2020 by the young label PASCHENrecords.
