To be given the opportunity to dive, head first, into the musical archive of Nonclassical in order to create a playlist is a great pleasure. I’m Charlie, currently on a university placement here at Nonclassical. Although I’m studying politics at university, music is my passion, and this placement gives me the chance to explore the industry. As I’m on my placement in the height of summer, the playlist has been partly inspired by the pure magic of a British summer’s evening.
Throughout this playlist I have tried to showcase the wide range of contemporary classical music on the Nonclassical record label, and to take the listener on a fun journey. From the use of the human voice in Nichola Scrutton’s “Quartet A”, from her new album Interzone, to the soft piano of “Damsel Fish Waltz (Glass Piano edit)” by GéNia.
The playlist opens with the bells from “Exvot” by Ensemble x.y. I wanted a calming start to the playlist: when the strings start to make an appearance, it takes the listener to a slow path towards contemplation - a perfect opening piece. The plucky sounds of Ligeti Quartet are next with a tune from their album Songbooks, Vol.1 with “Dyngylday”. This track is a great example of how a seemingly conventional musical form, a string quartet, can be used in the most modern and unusual of ways. “Can I Get” by Claudia Molitor is the third in the list, from her album Have you ever. This delightfully simple piece has Claudia talking to the listener with a soft piano accompaniment, it sent me into a deep haze. The more I listen to “Can I Get” and pay real attention to the lyrics, the greater my fascination grows. The same can be said for other tracks in the playlist: they all merit multiple listens.
The wonderful rhythms of “Nagging” from the Berlin-based musician Roman Rofalski’s album Loophole is next up, with its atmospheric drumming and crackly strange noises thrown in there with fantastic results.
Nichola Scrutton’s playful use of the human voice in “Quartet A” makes it into my playlist at number six. This piece takes the listener into a different world with its humming and breathing: just two of the features used in this remarkable track.
The piano returns in the seventh track, “A Showman Takes Control” by Matt Rogers and Kit Downes. Taken from their album Premonitions of the Unbuilt City, this track takes us on a journey up and down the keys in a playful manner. As the playlist moves to the end, the piano takes centre stage, “Damsel Fish Waltz” by GéNia, written for a new play, The Glass Piano. It is very easy to imagine characters dancing poetically to this track on stage, because of the way the music moves up and down the keyboard like a dancer in a similar manner to “A Showman takes Control”.
The final two tracks are String Quartet No.1, “Grave”, by Nonclassical’s very own Gabriel Prokofiev, and “Ferry” by Marcus Vergette. String Quartet No. 1 builds up the tension as we head to my final choice, while “Ferry” acts as the perfect finish to the playlist: imagine yourself being whisked away to somewhere of your dreams on a jazzy chain ferry.
©2023 Charlie Williams
tracklist:
“Exvot” from I hope this finds you well in these strange times, Vol. 2, by Ensemble x.y
“Dyngylday” from Songbooks Vol. 1, composed by Christian Mason and performed by the Ligeti Quartet
“Can I Get” from Have you ever, by Claudia Molitor
“Nagging” from Loophole, by Roman Rofalski
“Minor Breach” from Heavier Sideways, by Tom Richards
“Quartet A” from Interzone, by Nichola Scrutton
“A Showman Takes Control” from Premonitions of the Unbuilt City, by Matt Rogers and Kit Downes
“Damsel Fish Waltz (Glass Piano Edit)”, by GéNia
“Grave” from String Quartet No. 1, composed by Gabriel Prokofiev and performed by the Elysian Quartet
“Ferry” from Tintinnabulation, by Marcus Vergette