Chorale from Piano Improvisations

“While my first piano album on the 2L label, Stone Rose (2007), was all pre-composed or outlined, I wanted its 2012 sequel Piano Improvisations to be completely spontaneous.

“Chorale is a transcription of a free improvisation I recorded for that album. It was recorded in one take, with no preparation or preconceived thoughts other than an idea to improvise a piece that was a pure expression of what I felt in that particular moment – which turned out to be something very slow, warm and introspective.

“Since the entire album consisted of improvisations, as well as fantasies over three existing pieces of mine, I wasn’t planning on releasing the sheet music to this album. But I kept receiving emails about a score for Chorale, so I figured that was a nice excuse to produce a transcription.”

Ola Gjeilo