andy

richards

Orlando

(2’33”)


Orlando is a short episodic piece comprising 3 distinct movements - realisation, hope & acceptance.















It began as a doodle on guitar in the early hours of June 12th 2016 in London as I watched the horrors of the Orlando Nightclub Shooting unfold on television. It was both the deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman and the worst incident of violence against LGBT people in the history of the United States.


Orlando is dedicated to those souls, both departed and still with us, who have been touched by this utterly senseless tragedy.


Players


matty - voices

andy richards


Composer


andy richards

Introduction


‘This Time... an imaginary soundtrack’ is a movie soundtrack project - but with a difference. Namely that there is... no movie!


In our case, the movie IS the music, it's in our heads and imagination, and so is not determined by the requirements of a particular film genre, director, producer or music supervisor. And so in this sense it's imaginary, and we all get to play as we listen.


I co-wrote ‘This Time’ with Joanna de Seyne some 25 years ago. Now, in 2017, it becomes the title piece for the project, the tracks of which will be delivered incrementally over the coming months and year.


‘This Time... an imaginary soundtrack’ will be offered as both a digital download and music stream from most online music services starting 2019.

more artist, lyric & track information coming soon

Postscript

(3'42")


Postscript, the last track on the album, is in two parts: Prayer and Mantra.


Prayer is dedicated to our friend Larry who passed away in the Fall of 2015. Larry heard this piece before leaving us and asked that it be played at his funeral. The song evokes fortitude, in the  form of a simple trumpet note and more elaborate piano part, and of moving from our world into the next with the invocation of forests, birdsong, textures, angels and backwards motifs.


Prayer merges into…


the more rhythmic Mantra - the final notes on the album. This suggests a sense of nostalgia, reflection, joy and finality. The last words ‘au revoir’ suggest our meeting again.


Players


matty - voices

lucy crisfield - sul g violin & gãyatrī mantra

andy richards


Composer


andy richards


Words


Click here for Postscript's lyrics

This Time (feat. Matty)


This Time is a song about discovery. It's about connecting on a deep and intimate level - both physical and spiritual. It's about self awakening. It's that magical and exquisite moment of connection when sparks fly and shoot through the sky. And then one's life is changed forever.


Originally written and recorded by Andy and Joanna almost 25 years ago, the initial demo music remains in place but has been built up and added to over the years. Its journey reached completion in early 2017. The song had never felt complete until Matty came along and sang it for us. Phew, thanks Matty!


Players


matty - voices

joanna de seyne - ambient backing vocals

chris cameron - string arrangement / conductor

elliott randall - guitars

john themis - guitars

andy richards


Composers


joanna de seyne & andy richards


Words


Click here for This Time's lyrics

Armour

(3'25")


Written by Matty, Armour is both a battle cry and a love song. It’s structured as a hymn, to be sung to uplift our spirits - one of the clues to the tune being in the words... ‘filled with adoration’.


Armour is about God and the universality of faith. It’s about how, as his children, we are warriors on this earth, and being confronted every day by conflict and sadness we need to be spiritually nourished and uplifted.


Some months ago, Matty played Andy the first verse of her song. He loved it so much that he asked that we record it and it be included on the album.


Players


matty - voices

lucy crisfield - violin

andy richards


Composer


matty


Words


Click here for Armour's lyrics

Peace Piece in C


Peace Piece in C is a simple piano study that is, in part, an homage to some of the composers who I consider to have inspired me while growing up as a musician. Hey!... and I'm still growing up.


The pensive piano chords are juxtaposed with brief florid classical runs, adding contrast to the two main elements of the piece.


I placed my piano within a ‘virtual York Minster Cathedral’. The ambience of the cathedral encouraged me to create, in a minimalist style, the notes that merge into the fog of history and belief.


Piano & Composition


andy richards

Orlando Redux: 55 weeks later

(5’30”)


Orlando Redux: 55 weeks later takes a sideways glance at its sibling, Orlando, some 55 weeks after the inception of the original composition which began its life as the horrors of the Pulse Nightclub Shooting were unfolding on June 12, 2016.


Presenting itself primarily as movie montage underscore, OR:55wl is a collage of chaos, motifs and images loosely based around Orlando’s simple ostinato synthesiser bass line.


There are a number of additional overdubs: the track is ‘book ended’ by a short Prelude and Coda featuring fender rhodes piano, solo ‘cello and solo violin. The clocks, as one would expect, keep time as the song moves forwards through its journey, trying to make sense of what’s happening along the way. The Hammond Organ suggests defiance and as we move towards the end, a simple flugelhorn solo blows away the groove: peace, strength and optimism rising from beneath the chaos that has preceded it.


Like the original, Orlando Redux: 55 weeks later is dedicated to those souls, both departed and still with us, who have been touched by this and other utterly senseless and heartbreaking human tragedies.


Players


matty - mellifluous voices

cosmo bellamy - tenor voice

andy richards


Redux Wranglers


mike higham & andy richards


Composer


andy richards

Armour in Ambience

(26'10")


Armour in Ambience is an extended treatment of Matty’s song, Armour.


The main vocals were suspended and the song has been stretched to over 26 minutes to provide the listener, while listening quietly, with ambient textures: ideal for mediation, prayer and quiet , peaceful thoughts.


Players


matty - voices

andy richards


Composers


matty and andy

Prayer: (Postcript's 1st movement)

(2'14"")


Prayer, the first movement of Postscript is dedicated to dear friends who recently passed away. The song evokes fortitude, in the form of a simple trumpet note and more elaborate piano part, and of moving from our world into the next with the invocation of forests, birdsong, textures, angels and backwards motifs.


Player


andy richards


Composer


andy richards