Crépuscule Sans Laisse

Some beautiful music for your day of endless twilight from Esmerine. Enjoy!

Image links to its source on Wiki Commons:

"Midsommar" ("Midsummer"): EvaBonnier; 1900 – oil on canvas.

Public domain

"Spiegel im Spiegel" – the Esmerine version

My apologies to fans of the Sunday Music feature for today’s post being so late.

We wrap up our series on Esmerine with something a bit different—their version of Arvo Pärt’s “Spiegel Im Spiegel”. It’s actually how I discovered Esmerine, & also serves as a lead-in to announce that next month we will be featuring Pärt’s music—& there are five Sundays this April. Of course five posts will scarcely even begin to introduce Pärt’s work.

Esmerine dedicated their performance of “Spiegel Im Spiegel” (which means “Mirror in Mirror”—a symbol of infinity) to their deceased friend, Lhasa de Sela. They also recorded a song titled “Snow Day for Lhasa” in his memory; this was included on their 2011 Constellation release, La Lechuza.  You can listen to a live version of that song here.

If you’ve enjoyed this series on Esmerine, please consider supporting them by purchasing their music.

Image links to its source on Wiki Commons:

130 - Grove Of Mirrors, Hilary Arnold Baker

Date    22 May 2010, 11:17

Photo by Rob Young from United Kingdom, who makes it available under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

“Barn Board Fire”

It’s time for another edition of Sunday Music here at Robert Frost’s Banjo.

We continue our feature on the band Esmerine with a live performance of their piece “Barn Board Fire”, shot at Château de Monthelon.

“Barn Board Fire” is a more recent composition than the music we featured the previous two weeks; it appears on their 2014 Constellation Records release, Dalmak.  Esmerine composed the music for the album & began recording it during a year-long residency in Istanbul; in fact, “dalmak” means “immerse” in Turkish. The recording was completed back in Montreal in 2013. For more information on the recording process, you can follow this link to the Wikipedia entry on the band.

If you enjoy what you’re hearing, please consider supporting Esmerine by purchasing their music.

Image links to its source on Wiki Commons

Château de Monthelon by Wiki Commons user Serein, who makes it available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0Unported license.

“Sprouts” & “Nohna's Lullaby”

We return to Sunday Music with more on this month’s featured ensemble, the Montreal-based chamber rock group, Esmerine.

Today’s selections are from a 2012 “take away show” (concert à emporter) or informal gig at la GaîtéLyrique in Paris. If you have some French, you can read about this show at the Blogotheque site here & find out why Esmerine’s music is like opening a set of Legos on Christmas morning. But even if you don’t know French, you can certainly enjoy this wonderful performance.

The selections are “Sprouts” from their 2011 Constellation release, La Lechuza; & “Nohna's Lullaby” from If Only a Sweet Surrender to the Nights to Come Be True, released in 2003 on the Madrona label.

If you’re enjoying Esmerine, please consider supporting them by purchasing their music.

Image links to its source on Wiki Commons

Théâtre de la Gaîté, 3 bis rue Papin, Paris 3e. Vu depuis le boulevard de Sébastopol.

22 February 2011

Photo by Wiki Commons user Mu, who makes it available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

“Histories Repeating as 1000 Hearts Mend”

Welcome to another edition of Sunday Music on Robert Frost’s Banjo.

The featured artist for Sundays in March is the Montreal-based ensemble Esmerine. Esmerine has been described as a “chamber rock” group, but whatever term or terms we choose to describe their sound, to my ear it’s unique & exquisitely beautiful. The combination of cello & marimba (& bowed marimba at that!) is just wonderful, & Esmerine brings other instruments to their mix as well, while eschewing the guitar sound—which even (or especially?) as a guitarist myself, I find refreshing.

Esmerine formed in 2000 as the duo of percussionist Bruce Cawdron and cellist Rebecca Foon. The ensemble’s current line-up is Bruce Cawdron, Rebecca Foon, Jamie Thompson, & Brian Sanderson, while past members include Sarah Pagé & Andrew Barr. The groups members are associated with other Montreal-based acts such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, Saltland, Fifths of Seven and Mile-End Ladies' String Auxiliary. They’ve released five albums, & I’d encourage you to support these fine musicians by purchasing their music.

Histories Repeating as 1000 Hearts Mend is included on their 2005 Madrona release, Aurora.

Image links to its source on Wiki Commons:

Esmerine, 19 June 2014

Photo by Rfphotos who make the image available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unportedlicense.