The Arching Path
(In A Circle Records, 2021)
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About
In a Circle Records proudly presents composer Christopher Cerrone’s latest album, “The Arching Path.” A follow-up to Cerrone’s 2019 GRAMMY-nominated “The Pieces that Fall to Earth,” The Arching Path is a piano-driven, electro-acoustic album of chamber music featuring pianist Timo Andres, percussionist Ian Rosenbaum, soprano Lindsay Kesselman, and clarinetist Mingzhe Wang. The warm, resonant and rhythmic music on The Arching Path is inspired by Cerrone’s travels to Italy and composed between 2010 and 2016. The album was produced by longtime Cerrone collaborator, Mike Tierney, who also worked on “The Pieces that Fall to Earth.”
The works on Christopher Cerrone’s “The Arching Path” examine how we metabolize place. Drawing largely from the composer’s travels, the pieces on The Arching Path comprise a sort of travelogue—not an attempt to inscribe experiences exactly as they were witnessed, but rather to chronicle their aftershocks long after we have returned home. “The Arching Path” is a virtuosic piano solo inspired by the vertiginous arcs of the Musmeci Bridge in Potenza in Southern Italy. “Double Happiness” is a electro-acoustic duet for piano and percussion featuring field recordings of the Italian countryside. “I Will Learn to Love a Person” is a set of love songs adapted from poetry by Tao Lin. The album closes with Hoyt–Schermerhorn inspired by a subway stop where Cerrone has spent many a night of his commute.
As Cerrone puts it: “This album is a collection of pieces written over the last ten years memorializing essential moments in my life, performed by some of my closest friends and collaborators. Part of the joy of the project has been creating an album that goes far beyond the replication of live performance and instead becomes a project all its own, where recording, editing, and mixing techniques are as essential to the process as composition. I’m particularly thrilled to be collaborating with In a Circle Records, who have a long history of releasing works that cross the boundaries of classical music and other genres.”
Credits
released May 21, 2021
All music composed by Christopher Cerrone
Timo Andres, piano (all tracks)
Christopher Cerrone, electronics ( tracks 4-8, track 14)
Lindsay Kesselman, soprano (tracks 9-13)
Ian Rosenbaum, percussion (tracks 4-13)
Mingzhe Wang, clarinet (9-13)
Produced & mixed by Mike Tierney
Edited by Mike Tierney & Charles Mueller
Recorded by Mike Tierney
Mastered by Alan Silverman for ARF Digital
Designed by Timo Andres
Program notes by Jennifer Gersten
All texts are from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy by Tao Lin, courtesy of Melville House Publishing, LLC, USA. All texts are copyright the author used with the kind permission of their author and publishers. © 2008 All rights reserved.
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Press
"For Cerrone music is a textural and rhythmic playground with few rules and zero limitations, his clarity of intent bringing integrity to every phrase." Jessie Cunniffe, John Shand, Barnaby Smith and Eugene Ulman, Sydney Morning Herald
"New and notable." Alex Ross, The New Yorker
"NPR christened the Brooklyn-based Cerrone, born in 1984, “one of our most versatile composers under 40,” to which I would add one of the most gifted." Textura
"The aesthetic is pure, almost child-like. I need to check my expectations at the door and go on the journey. The rewards are considerable if I am patient enough." Ethan Iverson, Do The Math
"I’m already peering down the tracks, looking for more from Cerrone." Jeremy Shatan, An Earful
"Cerrone’s music is tricky to pin down—in the best possible ways. It’s accessible, but also incredibly rich and thought-provoking. (Not that these things have to be mutually exclusive!) It revels in ear-catching colors and displays an insatiable curiosity for unique sound combinations. (Several of his compositions feature electronic accompaniment, giving them a delicious, digital “sheen.”) It exudes a deep literary sensibility, as well as a fascination with place, memory, sound, and silence. Simply put, it’s amazing stuff." Kevin McBrien, KevinMcBrian.com
"The Arching Path is exceptionally meticulous, and manipulates pitch and timbre in both rich and intimate ways that will appeal to fans of ambient, minimal and modern classical textures." Take Effect reviews
"Cerrone’s music explores concepts of place and memory and these works offer a potent and dynamic listening experience." Michael Beek, Freya Parr, Jeremy Pound, BBC Music Magazine