Peter Gregson - Peter Gregson: Touch (2015) [Hi-Res]

“Touch follows on from my previous album, Lights in the Sky. It comprises eight tracks for analogue synthesiser, cello, piano, and string orchestra. Where Lights in the Sky was saturated, sonically intense, almost ‘spoilt brat’-ish sound, Touch has a more refined palette of sounds. Composers are often asked what their music is about, especially with instrumental music such as this. To me, it sort of defeats the purpose and joy of listening to music. How do we interpret the emotion and meaning of music when we aren’t hand held through listening, or guided by a lyric? Just because music is slow, doesn’t mean that it is sad; just because it is fast, doesn’t make it happy. The same goes for tonality: major music isn’t intrinsically happy, minor music isn’t exclusively sad. Yes, these can be devices for eliciting an emotional response, but they are not in and of themselves complete. For me, this is the magic of music. Where it isn’t objectively about something, it becomes amorphous, changing shape and purpose to fit the ear and mind of the listener. It has many lives and many meanings, none of them right and none of them wrong.” (Peter Gregson)

Peter Gregson is a tremendously talented cellist and composer who is described by The New Yorker as “working at the forefront of the new music scene”. Incredibly versatile, Peter has worked on many successful and innovative projects despite being so young. He has premiered works by composers including Tod Machover, Daníel Bjarnason, Gabriel Prokofiev, Max Richter, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Steve Reich and Sally Beamish. He also collaborates with many of the world’s leading technologists, including Microsoft Labs, United Visual Artists, Reactify and the MIT Media Lab.

Peter’s debut album, Terminal, was released in 2010, followed by his Cello Multitracks consisting of compositions by Gabriel Prokofiev, released in 2012 on Prokofiev’s Nonclassical label. Lights in the Sky his second studio album, composed for cello, piano and analogue synthesisers, was released at Imogen Heap's ‘Reverb Festival' in August 2014.

Peter Gregson, cello
Sarah D'Angelo, violin
Henry Flory, violin
Eunice Kim, violin
Derek Powell, violin
Esme Allen-Creighton, viola
Dana Rokosny, viola
Douglas Jameson, cello
Ali Cook, double bass