Ludovico Einaudi is a world famous pianist and composer, born in Italy, in 1955. He is known for his minimalist style, and many of his pieces have been featured on television advertisements. Not only has he released many contemporary classical piano albums, but he has also composed for many famous films too. Recently, he composed music for the popular television series, 'This is England '90.'
Einaudi's career had humble beginnings; music ran in the family, with Einaudi having a Grandfather who was an orchestra conductor, composer and pianist, and having a Mother who regularly played the piano to him when he was a young child. He started to write his own music in his teenage years, using a folk guitar as his instrument of choice. He went on to study music in Milan, at the Conservatorio Verdi, achieving his diploma in composition in the year of 1982. From this basis, he continued by enrolling in a class that taught orchestration, lead by Luciano Berio, a pioneering Italian composer.
While he began to develop his career, Einaudi devoted a number of years to composing in several standard classical forms, such as orchestral and chamber ensembles. This work paid off as it lead to Einaudi being noticed from all corners of the globe. Subsequently, this resulted in him having his works performed at such high profile venues and events as the Lincoln centre, the Tanglewood festival and Teatro Alla Scala to name a few. It was only in the mid 80's when Einaudi began to focus more prominently upon self-expression rather than just technique. This was what lead to him devising pieces for various forms of media, dance, and finally the piano that we associate with him today.
In the 90's, Einaudi branched out into film music, using his unique minimalistic piano style in 'Da qualche parte in città' first, and following, in 1996, 'Acquario,' the latter of which he won an award for best score.
Later in his career he has continued to experiment, using unusual instruments such as the electric harp. In a recent album, 'Nightbook,' Einaudi changed direction again by deciding to feature synthesizers quite heavily, alongside his piano. This album is also unique in that it was devised as a form of response to artworks by a sculptor and painter, Anselm Kiefer, from Germany. This approach clearly worked for Einaudi as the album was a massive success, selling more than 35,000 copies.
'Elements' is Einaudi's most recent work to date, released in October of 2015. The album centres around nature itself, and uses little motifs and ideas with which to branch out from, creating lush, flowing, and extremely evocative music. Einaudi himself had stated that he had desired to explore things such as geometry, creation myths and even the periodic table,along with the forms of the landscape to name just a few things.
Einaudi will continue to be one of the most important contemporary composers we have today due to his willingness to create music from inspirations from not only other mediums such as art, but also from natural stimuli too. Equally, due to this, and the beautiful technique with which he plays, Einaudi manages to make a form of classical music that is accessible to everyone.
Image: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1DRDcGlSsE
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