Launch of neoclassical album Maison Melody
Stephen Emmer released his new album Maison Melody on Friday, May 15, a neoclassical album on which the media composer says he completely bares his soul. “This is vulnerable music, in which I have tried to give voice to what my character is. At the same time, it has become a document of our time.”
Stephen Emmer may have put the profession of media composer on the map in the Netherlands (earlier this year he was honoured for this with the Buma Oeuvre Award Multimedia), but he also has several solo albums to his name.
After his instrumental and cinematic debut album Vogue Estate (1982), followed the spoken word album Recitement (2007), the crooner tribute International Blue (2014), and the socially conscious soul album Home Ground (2017). On his new album Maison Melody, the 62-year-old composer breaks new ground. Maison Melody features ten serene, classical compositions for piano, strings, and a sampler.
Musical autobiography
“I literally started working on the compositions for the album last year, ahead of the silence,” says Emmer. “The title Maison Melody refers to this time, without it being my intention to cleverly hitch a ride on the corona bandwagon. Rather, the title refers to the timelessness of being on your own.” “This is vulnerable music, in which I have tried to give voice to what my character is. You could consider the album a musical autobiography. And at the same time, it has become a document of these times. Everyone is melancholic, uncertain, hopeful, worried right now – I have tried to capture all those feelings in music. What started as something individual is now in sync with the universal, the collective.”
What started as something individual is now in sync with the universal.
Streaming concerts
On Saturday, May 16, Emmer kicks off a series of streaming concerts in which he introduces a track from Maison Melody every day from his home studio. However, it will not be a standard streaming concert. Emmer: “Viewers see more than just someone playing the piano. The music is interspersed with photos, texts, and videos. Furthermore, I talk a bit about the song and its creation, draw historical connections, and people can also ask me questions. An hour after the live cast, a making-of appears online, including footage of the studio recordings and interviews with people who contributed. I try to take the live casting of music to a higher level, to give the viewer some depth.”
Dolby Atmos
Maison Melody was mixed by Francesco Donadello, who previously worked with Thom Yorke, Ludovico Einaudi, and Hildur Goanadottir, among others, and was partly recorded at the Wisseloord studios in Hilversum with the collaboration of Marcel Worms, Dimitrie Leivici, and the West Side Trio. The album is available for free listening on platforms such as SoundCloud, Bandcamp, and YouTube, and via music streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Deezer.
In addition to the regular album version, a Dolby Atmos variant is also being released—a relatively new surround format that truly gives the listener the feeling of actually walking around inside a ‘Maison Melody’.
About Stephen Emmer
Stephen Emmer is the son of news anchor Fred Emmer and actress and ballet dancer Roekie Aronds. After her divorce, his mother took Stephen to India, Suriname, and Aruba, among other places, where he came into contact with diverse musicians and musical styles and learned to play the guitar. At the age of 15, Emmer returned to the Netherlands in 1973 and became a guitarist in the wave group Minny Pops in 1977. He toured with Joy Division and New Order and, in the early 1980s, helped found the monthly music magazine Vinyl.
Over the subsequent decades, he created thousands of theme tunes and theme songs for programs including NOS Journaal, RTL Nieuws, Editie NL, Per Seconde Wijzer, Waku Waku, and RTL Boulevard. Additionally, Emmer was involved in (interactive) productions for clients such as De Efteling, the Dutch Army, the Van Gogh Museum, and Holiday On Ice.
In 2010, the first edition of the Music In Motion conference, initiated by Emmer, took place, which focuses specifically on media composers and their work. During the recent 11th edition, he received the Buma Oeuvre Award Multimedia.
[Entertainment Business - Editorial]
Listen to Maison Melody on your favourite platform here
Or buy the digital version of Maison Melody here