The Roots of Neoclassical
Long Read

Minimal Music: The Roots of Neoclassical

Various Artists

From Einaudi’s hypnotic arpeggios to Jóhannsson’s ominous drones – if you’re searching for the shared roots of neoclassical music, you inevitably land in 1960s America. grains explains the Minimal Music movement that originated as a rebellion against the European avant-garde

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grains Winter Calm listicle
Listicle

Winter Calm: A Soundtrack for the Season

Various Artists

The winter season means different things to different people; and sometimes even myriad things to each of us individually. It can be a time of darkness and melancholy; a time of snowfall and Christmas cheer; a time for quietude and contemplation; a time, even, of fairy-tales and mystery

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Francesco Donadello
Interview

Francesco Donadello: Documenting Sound

Francesco Donadello

Look closely at the credits your favourite neoclassical album, and you might discover the name of Francesco Donadello. grains paid a visit to one of the scene’s finest sound engineers and producers in his Berlin studio to chat about working with everyone from Jóhannsson to Einaudi to Nils Frahm

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Yair Elazar Glotman
Interview

Yair Elazar Glotman on Scoring Films

Yair Elazar Glotman

How does film scoring actually work? How do you get to work on movies? What’s the role of the composer in relation to the director? grains spoke to Yair Elazar Glotman, a Berlin-based electroacoustic composer and orchestral double-bass player, about his experience in writing music for films

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Grains - Innovative Film Scores From The 00s
Listicle

Innovative Film Scores From The 00s

Various Artists

Our editors select several movie soundtracks from the 2000s that are distinctive, innovative and just plain breathtaking

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Gabríel Ólafs
Interview

The Icelandic Auteur - An interview with Gabríel Ólafs, Gen Z’s most important classical composer

Gabríel Ólafs

At just 25-years-old, Icelandic composer Gabríel Ólafs is already one of classical music’s most exciting composers. He has released several albums, racked up 200 million streams, and has co-founded an orchestra for film and TV music that features on his new recording. Read our interview here…

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Jóhann Jóhannsson
Artist Feature

Jóhann Jóhannsson: The Early Years

Jóhann Jóhannsson

A dive into Jóhann Jóhannsson’s formative early years in the Icelandic capital, where he played guitar and keyboards for rock, indie and electronic bands; collected—and formed a group based on—vintage organs; and blurred the boundaries between music and art with the progressive Kitchen Motors collective.

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Snorri hallgrimsson & Marie Awadis
Interview

Sonic Pilgrims: Marie Awadis & Snorri Hallgrímsson

Various Artists

As Armenian composer and pianist Marie Awadis and Icelandic composer and producer Snorri Hallgrímsson prepare to release their debut recordings on the Deutsche Grammophon label, we bring them together to contrast and compare their musical journeys so far…

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Ludovico Einaudi
Artist Feature

Ludovico Einaudi’s Endless Summer

Ludovico Einaudi

The Italian composer announced the release of his 17th solo album “The Summer Portraits” in January 2025. Reminiscing on his childhood summers, he speaks on the inspirations behind his newest work

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Music for Explorers

Welcome to grains, your destination for neoclassical, ambient, electronic, and film music. Dive into exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes stories, and the latest trends. Discover handpicked playlists and explore our curated shop with limited-edition releases. Start your musical journey with grains today.

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ARTICLES

FOOD FOR RESTLESS MINDS

Listicle

Innovative Film Scores From The 00s

Our editors select several movie soundtracks from the 2000s that are distinctive, innovative and just plain breathtaking. The choices include music from movies as diverse as Joker, Drive, Ad Astra, There Will Be Blood and Birdman, and span jazz percussion, avant-garde electronics, esoteric neoclassical and 80s-inspired pop.

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Interview

The Icelandic Auteur - An interview with Gabríel Ólafs, Gen Z’s most important classical composer

At just 25-years-old, Icelandic composer Gabríel Ólafs is already one of classical music’s most exciting composers. He has released several albums, racked up 200 million streams, and has co-founded an orchestra for film and TV music that features on his new recording—an album that reimagines his most popular compositions with additional production and instrumentation. Read our interview here…

Gabríel Ólafs
Read
Artist Feature

Jóhann Jóhannsson: The Early Years

A dive into Jóhann Jóhannsson’s formative early years in the Icelandic capital, where he played guitar and keyboards for rock, indie and electronic bands; collected—and formed a group based on—vintage organs; and blurred the boundaries between music and art with the progressive Kitchen Motors collective.

Jóhann Jóhannsson
Read

Artists

Meet those who sow the grains

Ludovico Einaudi

Ludovico Einaudi

"I don’t consider the piano as a job. It’s very connected to my inner feelings.”

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Ludovico Einaudi

Jóhann Jóhannsson

Jóhann Jóhannsson

“I try to make music that doesn’t need layers of complexity or obfuscation to speak to people.”

VIEW PROFILE
Jóhann Jóhannsson

Balmorhea

Balmorhea

“Oftentimes we find ourselves bridging different worlds, which is something I love
about our music”

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Balmorhea

Max Richter

Max Richter

"I like the idea of a piece of music as a place to think, and it is clear we all have some thinking to do at the moment."

View Profile
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stories

Red hot picks from our channel

And I Alone

Snorri Hallgrimsson
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videos
unseen meets the unheard
Jonas Gewald - Ruh

Ruh

Jonas Gewald, the multifaceted German producer, pianist, and composer, has carved a niche for himself with his melancholic melodies. With his thoughtful composition «Ruh» he captures the silent peacefulness of a white winter landscape inviting the listener to dream and contemplate.

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Ólafur Arnalds - re:member

2024 Reissue: Limited White/Blue Marble Vinyl LP

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Snorri Hallgrímsson - Longer Shadows, Softer Stones

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Erland Cooper - Carve the Runes Then Be Content with Silence

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Lambert - Actually Good

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Roger Eno - the skies: rarities

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Max Richter: In a Landscape

Recycled Black 2LP
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Ludovico Einaudi - The Summer Portraits

LP
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