This morning, while contemplating what piece of music to share on what I like to refer to as Classical Sunday, I sampled a few violin pieces on Apple Music. Then I shuffled over to YouTube where, serendipitously, its suggestions served up a new work by British ambient music composer and musician Roger Eno.
Debuted on January 14, “The Turning Year” is the title track from a classical crossover album set for release on April 22, 2022.
I came to know of Roger Eno’s music through his recent collaboration with brother Brian, Mixing Colours (2020), from which I’ve featured eight tracks on this blog, the latest being “Iris.” (Please see my post on that piece; it contains direct and indirect links to the other seven.) The album was an ambitious project that included an international competition inviting videos to portray the tracks.
Eleven years younger than Brian, Roger started his commercial music career around the same time in life as his older brother. Brian began recording in 1972 with the English glam rock/rock band Roxy Music. Roger’s first recording project was in 1983, Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks, which the two brothers created along with Canadian musician and producer Daniel Lanois. As an interesting side note, it wasn’t until August 2021 at the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, that the two brothers performed together in a public concert.
“The Turning Year” is the sole pre-release track available from the upcoming album. The official video for the piece shows Roger Eno playing a grand piano, accompanied by the German string ensemble Scoring Berlin in the Teldex Studio Berlin. At 1:21 in the video, Eno’s face lights up with pure delight as he looks over at the ensemble… it’s a beautiful and joyful expression he displays twice more in the short film and it adds much to my enjoyment of the hopeful piece.
About the album, Eno says, “The Turning Year is like a collection of short stories or photographs, each with its own character but closely related one to the other. These pieces allow us, perhaps, to think on how we live our lives in facets; how we catch fleeting glimpses, how we walk through our lives, how we notice the turning year.” While the track and album title meaning isn’t explained further, I think it relates to the turning of years as we age, since the album’s release will come one week to the day before Eno’s 63rd birthday.
Now you know a little about why this is My Song of the Day for Today. Thanks for joining me here, and please enjoy.
Here’s the official video from the Deutsche Grammophon YouTube channel:
Song of the Day for Today 