Maison Melody

For centuries now a music-composer prefers to work in solitude on his creations and often the only 'companion' in this process is the direct environment, his/her house. The composer develops a special relationship with the house through his creations and this way finds his desire for quietude, the peace of mind so essential to the mental work of composition. Historically music-composers always have distanced themselves from busy communal places in order to be able to better hear their own inner voice that can lead to a more thorough artistic self-expression. In this hyper-focus mode the relationship of yourself with your direct environment, your house, becomes your partner in crime. This way you create at home by travelling in your own mind and tapping in to your own imagination without external distractions.

And this is exactly how I, about a year ago, composed my most personal and introspective melodies so far in the confinements of my own house and therefore this album project is called Maison Melody.

After finishing composing and arranging in my own house, later in 2019 I re-recorded the piano and string-quartet outside of the house with some other musicians next to myself such as Marcel Worms, Dimitri Leivici and the West Side Trio in a professional studio and the album got mixed by Francesco Donadello who has previously worked a.o. with Hildur Guonadottir, Johann Johannson & Einaudi. Mastering took place in Berlin early 2020. It contains 10 compositions and they are lyrical and meditative piano - miniatures characterised by impressionist elegance with simple and direct melody with me trying to compose calm and soothing music for people who have an unspoken voice deep inside of them.

Stephen Emmer - Amsterdam, 2020