Label: Siren Records - SIREN024

2009から2011年に掛けてピアノソロ三部作を発表したSiren Records。本作は三部作の延長でありながらCD作品[A Waltz in Plain C]の再解釈、SEMA寄りの静謐な怖さの楽曲も収録した全18トラック。Robert Haigh自身が「これまでで最高の仕上がり」と自負する最新アルバム。ジャケットのアートワークはAndrew Chalkによるもの。







All tracks written and performed by Robert Haigh
Mastered at Skye Mastering by Denis Blackham
Artwork by Andrew Chalk
Sleeve by Saul Haigh

Veteran UK musician/composer Robert Haigh returns to Siren for the first time in three years. Although not a major departure from Haigh's previous work for the label (three albums of piano music released between 2009 and 2011 subsequently known as the Siren Trilogy) this 18 track collection benefits from a wider pallet of subtle sonic textures. With The Silence Of Ghosts Haigh has visioned a journey through strange and beautiful terrain - a topography of fragile melodies and muted discords.
The opening track, Song Of Selene, is a spacious, hymn-like nocturne; hauntingly stark and reflective. In Another Light is an off-beat waltz (3/4, 2/4 time) in which a cyclic theme explores major and minor keys with subtle electronic shimmers. Crooked Mile is a Satie-esque outing featuring an angular melody that climbs through strange modal keys to a discordant destination. The title track The Silence Of Ghosts is achingly melodic, yearning and touching - a eulogy to things that have passed. Where later tracks such as Happening no. 1 and 2 explore Haigh's gift for improvisation, the ghostly Demian Air presents a deep sonic excursion through electronic textures where submerged piano notes echo across alien terrain. The closing track, New Cross Counterpoint, was originally based on a refrain from Haigh's own earlier composition of the same name (from A Waltz In Plain C). The track with its Glass-like arpeggiated piano counterpoint subsequently took on a life of its own but Haigh decided to keep the title anyway since it 'felt right' for the piece.
The Silence Of Ghosts is a mature and deeply reflective work employing Robert Haigh's distinctive subverted melodies and spacious counterpoint. This collection should appeal to fans of Satie, Debussy, Harold Budd, Philip Glass and Max Richter.
Catalogue number: Siren 24 Release date: 26 January 2015
Track listing:
Song Of Selene
In Another Light
Crooked Mile
Happening no. 1
The Silence Of Ghosts Twelve Tone Poem
Fragile Again
Lost Rites
Pentatonic Dream Crossing The Water
Bells Of Lyonesse
Second Nature
A Cycle Of Flattened Fifths Happening No. 2
Thieves Of Symmetry Demian Air
Years
New Cross Counterpoint