Sister ...
.2004

Songs of
...- 2002

Elvenmusic 2
- 2003

Caprice website

Tribute to J.RR Tolkien poetries

Genre: Neo classical
May 2004 - 15 titles - Digipack
This is a different Caprice album - instead of the exquisite world of faerie, this time Anton Brejestovski's music speaks through Britain's best poets (Shelley, Byron, Wilde, Shakespeare, Wordsworth) about human passions - love and beauty, death and hatred. The concept of Simplicity is most breathtakingly revealed, and by so few instrumentalists, all of them Russia's top-notch musicians. And Inna Brejestovskaya's voice is more beautiful and passionate than ever.

Tracks : 1. Winter (Shelley) 2. I Saw You Weep (Byron) 3. A Red, Red Rose (Burns) 4. The Dole of the King's Daughter (Wilde) 5. The Faerie Chime (Maelwys) 6. To My Sister (Wordsworth) 7. Once Kings (Anonymous, 6th century) 8. The Green Bowl (Lowell) 9. Green Are the Rashes (Burns) 10. Juliet's Beauty (Shakespeare) 11. Autumn (Shelley) 12. Twilight (Byron) 13. Nothing Will Die (Tennyson) 14. Summer (Shelley) 15. bonus track The Dole of the King's Daughter (remix)

Style: Neo-classical heavenly faeric
References:Cheche lune, JRR Tolkien
May 2003 - 16 Titres

Caprice is a russian symphonic orchestra with 11 musicians passionated by the Tolkien's books. This album is a tale full of elves, orcs, dwarfs, ents, hobbits and men.
This album is the second part of the Elvish trilogy. The title of the album was chosen because it illustrates the last days of the Elves, Men, Ents, Hobbits co-existing in Middle Earth, the days described in J.R.R.Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Rhyme of Lore is a short intro, like a distant voice from the past speaking of the ancient knowledge of the Wise. Of Beren and Luthien is a ballad about the love between Beren, a Man, and Luthien Tinuviel, an Elven maid, who chose to become a mortal woman and pass away together with her beloved. O Rowan Fair is Bregalad the Ent's lament about a tree's death. Elves of Rivendell is a merry summer evening song from The Hobbit, an invitation to Bilbo Baggins and his dwarf companions to stay and rest for a while in Rivendell.A real tribute to Tolkien's poetry that will spell you with its charming sounds even if you don't know anything about Tolkien.

 
TITLES: Rhyme of Lore / Of Beren and Luthien / O Rowan Fair / Bath song / Elves of Rivendell/ shadow bride/ galadriel song / Galadriel message to Aragorn/ Galadriel's message to Legolas/ Athelas/ Elves rolling Barels/ Sam's song/ The tower of Cirith Ungol/ Passion (Sam meets rodo)/ Elves beyond the sea/ The last ship

for ordering LISTEN

Reviews:

"Even if you are one of the last people on Earth to claim unfamiliarity with the words and worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien, you may be drawn in by the charm of Caprice's second volume of "Elvenmusic." The songs here are all tales and portraits inspired by "The Lord of the Rings" that play like fairytales read aloud, escaping from mundanity and creating a place of fantasy that is both comforting and uncanny. Inna Brejestovskaya's high, bright voice is joined by an orchestra of strings, woodwinds, and brass instruments which invites visions of a magical setting, sparkling leaves and elven maidens in the groves. Even for listeners who do not know the roles of Galadriel,
Aragorn or Legolas, "Galadriel's Song" and her "Messages" come alive with tender feeling. The brimming orchestral music and darker presences ("Shadow Bride," "Athelas") keep Caprice's confection from being oversweet, as fairies themselves are as tricky as they are dainty, and Tolkien's world is populated by creatures from all facets of the psyche." Gothic Beauty USA

"Two years after the first element of Elven Music, the trilogy of the neo-classical/heavenly band from Moscow, the second part is finally
released. Admittedly, the quality and the emotions of the first volume explains our impatience: never was the poetry underlying the work of the Master of Legends rendered so well. For those who are not familiar with the idea lying behind Caprice's work, their aim is to put music on poems and songs from the works of Tolkien (and not to tell the tale of The Lord of the Rings). Once more, Prikoskovenie has done a wonderful job. Even before the precious disc is put under the lens of the laser, the superb digipack, designed by Sabine Adelaïde, catches the eye and takes us to another realm: pure poetry, so different from the traditional iconography usually inspired by the subject. Let us not forget the photographs of Séverine Stiévenart. If, for one part, this second volume quite logically fits into Elven Music, it is for the other part different through a greater variety of themes and moods. This can be explained by the fact that, whereas the first was mostly dedicated to the elves with an atmosphere blending fantasy, richness and sweet sorrow, this opus introduces other characters and themes which enrich the work (from the amusing "Bath Song" to the tragic "Shadow Bride"). The music, which fitted much into "chamber music", has been made denser, integrating more effects, percussions, voices and noises, sometimes going up the road of symphony ("The Tower of Cirith Ungol"). The instrumental technique is, as usual, flawless, whereas the really magical voice of Inna Brejestovskaya still manages to surprise us through its purity and its beauty ("Galadriel's Song", "The Last Ship"). The singing, which was sometimes too dominant in Elven Music, merges now perfectly the instrumental play (the pair harp-voice is particularly successful). The Evening of Iluvatar's Children, in the end, is 52 minutes of joy, beauty and escape: too rare to miss."
PJH (translated by Jean-Luc Delghust(le fantastique.net, Khimaira

References:JRR Tolkien,
June 2001 - 12 Titles - 50'

Heavenly voice from Russia with classical instruments (Harp, violin, bassoon, oboe, cello, flute, clarinet...) are inviting us into fairy worlds. The music is inspired by Tolkien's books. It's talking about princess, dungeons, dragon, dwarves... For all fans of Cherche-Lune, XVII VIE.

TITRES:
The realm of faerie / Princess Mee / Song of the wind / Far over misty
mountains / The last dance / Lullaby / The Mewlips / Of Amroth and Nimrodel
/ The road goes over on and on / Merrymaking of the forest elves / Of
true thomas and Fairy Queen / Farewell

for ordering LISTEN

Reviews from Tolkien music.com

'For Tolkien, a defining characteristic of the realm of Faerie is its arresting strangeness, an alterity which for mortals is at once perilous and intensely attractive.
Amid the massive proliferation of Tolkien-inspired music in our time, one can point to many successful attempts to translate the hypnotic magnetism of the secondary world. (Of recent vintage one might cite the work of Arturo Stàlteri, Giuseppe Festa, and The Tolkien Ensemble.) Few, however ˆ I would say none ˆ have managed to capture _both_ the beauty _and_ the peril of Middle-earth in a single melody. Indeed, for all their variety, musical interpretations of Tolkien‚s legendarium tend rather to blunt strangeness into familiarity (at least for me who must listen to more Tolkien music than most).
It is against this backdrop that I am excited to introduce Caprice, a Russian neo-classical ensemble that is in the process of recording a trilogy of CDs that set Tolkien‚s verse to music (the first two of which are now available; the third is due for release late in 2004). Caprice is the brainchild of keyboardist Anton Brejestovski, who has convened an impressive cadre of professional musicians from the Russian National Symphony, the Bolshoi Theatre and other prestigious quarters to realize his vision of „Elvenmusic.‰ The descriptor is to be taken literally, for Brejestovski‚s goal is to imagine what Tolkien‚s poems might sound like if they were sung by Elves. It is this deliberate attempt to approach these poems from a vantage point _within_ Faerie that imbues the result with its uniquely „perilous‰ quality.

The music of Caprice drifts effortlessly across a landscape of moods expressive of Tolkien‚s own versatility, ranging from the epic tapestry of Amroth and Nimrodel to the light-hearted Bath Song and the stately Athelas epigram. In a spirit of ecumenism, a number of poems from the _Adventures of Tom Bombadil_ have been included, adding dimensions of whimsy (Princess Mee), gothic horror (The Mewlips, Shadow Bride) and unrequited longing (The Last Ship). All of the lyrics are rendered by the ethereal voice of Inna Brejestovskaya, which saturates even the least perilous of the poems with an element of indefinable otherness. The Tolkien Ensemble sounds tame by comparison to the restless spirit that moves Caprice.

No aficionado of Middle-earth should let pass an opportunity to hear this strikingly different interpretation of Tolkien‚s poesy.'
Chris Seeman http://www.tolkien-music.com/

"The Russian Caprice has just released their 1st full length album on Prikosnovénie. That's already a reference! The least I can say is that it's a surprising and great voyage into folk-territories built up with a bunch of acoustic instruments. It creates a certain neo-classical and sometimes barroque feelings. At the same time it's an artisitc production. The title reveals a part of their inspiration, which concerns a fairy world. A female vocalist with a rather a-typical voice sings it. Caprice stands for reverie, based on the poems of J.R.R. Tolkien. Instruments like clarinet, bassoon, cello etc. surprise me because of thier particular intonation. It sounds refreshing and rather happy while the last track "Farewell" contains a certain melancholic feeling.... probably because of the last song! If you would like to join the magical unvierse of th "Elf", you have to put your finger on this magisterial and authentic production. "

(SIDE-LINE #36)

INTERVIEW:


" Elvenmusic " is your first album, could you introduce your world to us ?

This album is an attempt to show what the music written by Elves, not humans sounds like. The parallel world of faerie, so intensely felt in many western cultures, is often viewed as a place where music and dancing are of a great importance. The music of this world has been described in quite a few literary sources, and we tried to show what it may sound like. I personally think "The Last Dance", "Merrymaking of the Forest Elves" and "Farewell" are the closest to the real faerie music. However, not all songs on the album are "pure music of the elves". Some tracks, like "Mewlips" or "The Road Goes Ever On and On" are only music illustrations to JRR Tolkien's poems.

The number of musicians in your band is very impressive! where do they come from ? Do they have any former or side projects ?

I would say that Caprice is their side project :-) They are all serious academic musicians playing in orchestras and music theatres - Russian National Symphony, Bolshoi Theatre, Alexandrov Folk Ensemble etc. Some of them also perform in chamber ensembles. Caprice is their only non-academic project, and they seem to like it - all in all, they are all young people, and they enjoy informal and youthful atmosphere at our concerts, much more relaxed compared to their academic music performances.

What is the place given to the "Fairie world" in the Russian culture ?

Russian folklore has tales about supernatural forest creatures, like wood-goblins or water-nymphs, but no elves are ever mentioned. The western European lore, on the contrary, tells us a lot (and I personally think it is the most fascinating part of it) of enchanting, beautiful, ever-young creatures, who fill us with inexplicable delight and yearning when we feel their presence.

Is your country an inspiration to your music ?

No, not as far as Elvenmusic is concerned. Many people ask why being Russian I write music which has no Russian roots in it. But my other music - unrelated to elves and faeries - is maybe more "Russian"... However, Russian music tradition is very important to me. I often think and read about Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Stravinsky and other great Russian composers, and their music and their personalities really inspire me.

The lyrics of the first track "The Realm of Faerie" are not in the booklet, why ? which language is it ?

These words are, as far as I know, in one of the Elvish languages. They were recorded by Ostlupusmmeon (not in the studio) and then sampled and mixed with the music. We didn't put them into the booklet because we don't know how to spell them, we never saw them written!

Your lyrics are based on JRR Tolkien's work. Is your album simply inspired from the masterpiece "The Lord of The Rings" ? or do you consider it a real musical illustration of this book ?

Both. We were definitely inspired by Tolkien's book, but not all of the music is the actual 'illustration' to the novel, more than half of the album being faerie music. However, our second (not yet recorded) elven-album is almost entirely dedicated to The Lord of the Rings, not to its elves only, but to all the races mentioned by Tolkien (men, ents, dwarves, hobbits). Some music from the second album will be the musical illustration of the novel's episodes.

Your music can be deeply melancholic as well as full of happiness, is it your way of seeing Tolkien's world ?

All of my music is like this, not only Elvenmusic. I can't compose it any other way... I think it's melancholic, and sometimes even scaring and fearful because there is so much unhappiness, bitterness and imperfection on Earth... On the other hand, a lot of people crave for more beautiful and happier worlds, and the happiness in my music is the happiness of anticipation of a better world to be found...

Who is the mysterious Ostlupsmmeon who lends her voice on some of your tracks ?

We have an agreement with him - he inspired us and we managed to record some of his voice, which we hope adds to the album's merits. But in return we promised not to talk much about him. We can reveal that he is not a human creature, and yet has a human form. We can also say, that his name (with the stress on the "e") appeared in the 14th century (or earlier), and has been borne not only by him.

In the "Thanks" of your album, you mention the Russian Gothic Project, what is it exactly ? can you tell us more about this project.

It is a very big internet resource carefully maintained and developed by a team of enthusiasts promoting gothic subculture in Russia. It has tons of information about gothic music, literature, films etc. This project also released three CDs, a big compilation of Russian gothic music, and mini-CDs of two Russian gothic bands, Lunophobia and Dvar. RGP also regularly organizes various concerts of gothic music, goth-parties, as well as participates in various international gothic events. All its members, whom I know personally, are remarkable and unusual people. As far as the "thank you" on our album, it was RGP who issued our track Princess Mee on their compilation Edge of the Night. They also promoted it, which resulted in our contract with Prikosnovenie.

How did you meet Frederic & Sabine of Prikosnovenie ?

They contacted us in April 2000 after hearing our song on the Russian Gothic Compilation, but we actually met them only in May 2001, when we visited Clisson, a small medieval town where they live and work.

This album is a part I, how many parts do you plan to ? Will the concept be the same ?

The second part, as already mentioned, is dedicated to The Lord of the Rings. Most likely, its name won't be Elvenmusic 2 - we are thinking of another name, from which the nature of the album will be clearer. Songs of Middle Earth seems a good title, but as far as we know at least one album with this name already exists. There is also a third album, its music being composed at the moment. It is entirely dedicated to the parallel world of forest faeries (i.e. music like "Last Dance"). Thanks to Ostlupusmmeon, all lyrics will be only in Elvish, not in English.