Zodiac Suite, by Umlaut Chamber Orchestra

Zodiac Suite

by Umlaut Chamber Orchestra

supported by

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

€8 EUR or more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Includes unlimited streaming of Zodiac Suite via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 5 days

€15 EUR or more

1.	Introduction 00:28	buy track
2.	I. Aries 02:26	buy track
3.	II. Taurus 02:48	buy track
4.	III. Gemini 03:29	buy track
5.	IV. Cancer 04:37	buy track
6.	V. Leo 02:35	buy track
7.	VI. Virgo 04:31	buy track
8.	VII. Libra 03:20	buy track
9.	VIII. Scorpio 03:37 video	buy track
10.	IX. Sagittarius 01:33	buy track
11.	X. Capricorn 03:18	buy track
12.	XI. Aquarius 03:25	buy track
13.	XII. Pisces 03:01	buy track

about

In 1945, Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981) completed the composition of the Zodiac Suite. Each movement corresponded to an artist’s portrait associated with an astrological sign. It was a pretext to escape the rigidity of the musical forms for which Williams had previously written, and to experiment with the sonorities of the music of European composers such as Berg, Hindemith or Schoenberg.

Although the Suite was composed for piano, Williams undertook to orchestrate it for chamber orchestra. Late in 1945, the public premiere left the composer frustrated,. A close look at Williams’ manuscripts clearly shows that the music that was performed that night does not reflect the composer’s original intentions. Movements had been stripped of their orchestration and performed as solo piano, entire sections had been cut, and multiple errors had not been corrected, due to a lack of time and resources.

A cornerstone of Williams’ artistic life, this legendary work has never been recorded in its original form. After working for several years on the Mary Lou Williams archives, publishing the album Mary’s Ideas (Umlaut Records 2021) and being selected as a Villa Albertine 2023 resident, Pierre-Antoine Badaroux decided to tackle the chamber orchestra version of the Zodiac Suite, in an interpretation that underlines its heterogeneity and its richness.

credits

released November 10, 2023

Music by Mary Lou Williams.
Pierre-Antoine Badaroux: direction
Agathe Peyrat: voice
Chloé Tallet: flute
Guillaume Retail: oboe
Geoffroy Gesser: clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone
Pierre Fatus: bassoon
Brice Pichard: trumpet
Harmonie Moreau: french horn
Michaël Ballue: trombone
Stéphanie Padel, Florian Perret, Emilie Sauzeau, Raphaël Coqblin, Clémentine Bousquet, Clara Jaszczyszyn, Lucie Pierrard: violin
Elsa Seger, Valentine Garilli: viola
Myrtille Hetzel, Pablo Tognan: cello
Matthieu Naulleau: piano
Sébastien Beliah: double bass
Antonin Gerbal: drums

Recording: Tandem, Scène nationale, Arras (FR) – May 24-27, 2023
Engineering and mixing: Baptiste Chouquet/B•media, assisted by Louis Delgrange
Mastering: Benjamin Joubert
Artwork and graphic design: Cabinet d’objets graphiques
Production: Nawel Benziane and Pierre-Antoine Badaroux
Coproduced by Umlaut Records and B•media, with support from Mary Lou Williams Foundation Inc., SCPP, CNM, MMC.

license

about

Umlaut Records Paris, France

Umlaut is a music collective born in 2004 in Stockholm, which then opened two branches in Berlin and Paris.

« Transformation of sound » is the motto around which they gathered to produce records, organize concerts, discover new artists and play music together.

The collective works to spread a music that is too rarely shared and discovered. ... more

contact / help

Contact Umlaut Records

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Zodiac Suite, you may also like:

ENGAGE
by Dave Douglas

supported by 11 fans who also own “Zodiac Suite”
go to album
The Other One
by Henry Threadgill

supported by 11 fans who also own “Zodiac Suite”

A very interesting album. At a few places I keep asking myself: Was this composed by Arnold Schönberg (or his disciples)? Anyway, I'm all for skilled musicians exploring the boundary (if one exists) between jazz and classical. Thumbs up! jyrki63
go to album
Unclosing
by Illegal Crowns

supported by 11 fans who also own “Zodiac Suite”

Extraordinary music, it will linger with you for a long time. Carlos Ibanez
go to album
Pith
by Tomas Fujiwara

featured on Bandcamp Radio Apr 2, 2024
go to album
Circle of Madness
by Janek van Laak

Drummer, composer, and producer Janek van Laak creates free and flowing jazz that highlights bold vocals and instrumentation. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 19, 2024
go to album
A Call For All Demons (Sun Ra Suite)
by Myles Boisen Past-Present-Future

featured on Bandcamp Radio Mar 29, 2022
go to album
Pillars
by Tyshawn Sorey

supported by 11 fans who also own “Zodiac Suite”

Total mastery of patience, time, and drama create a constantly engaging journey that never gets tiresome or same-y: in fact the harder you listen the better it gets! Somehow Sorey et al. find a way to combine the deep listening and spontaneous interaction of the best jazz with the sense of every tone and sound being worth a universe of listening, which could be equally from Cage and Feldman or the accompaniment to an ancient ritual. The recording/engineering is absolutely perfect as well. Giles
go to album