This CD presents a musical cross-section of French musician and composer Yann Tiersen's life, from his time in Paris -- to quote Tiersen himself, "I hate Paris", "the city is a shithole" -- to his retreat many years ago to the island of Ushant / Ouessant, about 30 kilometres distant from Brest and the westernmost point of metropolitan France off its Atlantic coast.
Yann Tiersen combines many different musical forms in his music: Traditional French music such as folk and chanson as well as avant-garde rock and pop music. It is also striking that most of his works are recorded entirely by himself, as a kind of "one-man orchestra". His instrumental studio releases often feature electric guitar, piano, synthesiser, violin, but also melodica, xylophone, harpsichord and accordion. His music can probably be categorised as "neoclassical", in which the fields of classical, pop, jazz and electronic music intermingle. There is also a connection to minimalism/minimal music, a musical style in which the repetitive aspect and the reduction of the material used are the strongest.
Michael van Krucker has given concerts over the years throughout Europe and Asia as well as in South America and the USA. He has also performed at many renowned festivals, including the Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival, Heidelberger Fruhling, Festival de la Roque d'Antheron (France), Pomeriggi Musicali (Italy), and the Julius Rontgen Festival Den Haag (The Netherlands). He has made CD recordings for RCA Red Seal, Sony/BMG, Koch Schwann, Berlin Classics, NCA and NM Classics, as well as EtCetera Records. Michael van Krucker also appears regularly as a member of the Trio Ostwestinato with Kayako Bruckmann and Rene Berman.
