By the time of his Re:Composed album in 2018, cellist and composer Peter Gregson had already become world-famous for an assortment of prestigious projects. Born in Edinburgh and educated at the Edinburgh Academy and London’s Royal Academy of Music, Gregson released acclaimed solo albums such as Terminal and Lights In The Sky, but had also made waves with scores for the ballet Flow (2013), films such as 2015’s A Little Chaos (directed by Alan Rickman) and 2019’s Adolescence, and the open-world game Boundless.
For his Re:Composed, he was more than ready to take on one of his favourite composers: Bach. To do so, he applied his characteristic cello-playing and penchant for synthesised sounds to Bach’s Cello Suites, bringing a sextet into London’s Air studio with him that included fellow cellists Ben Chappell, Reinoud Ford, Richard Harwood, Katherine Jenkinson and Tim Lowe. For the recording, Gregson showcased his skills not only as a musician but also a sound engineer, reworking material from Bach’s much-loved Cello Suites for various combinations of solo cello, cello ensemble and electronics. Despite leaving the original scores virtually untouched, he still managed to breathe new life into them, with a more peppy approach.
“Rather than thinking about Bach’s compositions as a two-dimensional painting, I thought about them as sculpture,” said Gregson at the time of the release. “So, although the object is the same, if you turn it around and see it from a different angle – shine the light on it in a different way – you get different textures; new shadows, new shapes appear; new pathways through the melodies and harmonies.”
This was even more clearly revealed in a subsequent album, An Evening at Capitol Studios: Bach Recomposed, in 2021. As the longer title suggests, the album—his first for the Yellow Label—was recorded at the Capitol Studios in Hollywood, the place where musical icons such as Frank Sinatra, the Beach Boys, and Michael Jackson have made legendary recordings, and which added even more sonic resonance to Gregson’s reworkings.
Not long afterwards, in 2022, Max Richter took everyone by surprise by releasing a whole new version of his phenomenally successful recomposition of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, which had been originally released in 2012. Although that version had stormed the classical charts in 22 countries, was streamed 450 million times, and appeared in numerous films, Richter’s original vision had been to record with the kinds of period instruments Vivaldi would have used, but which he hadn’t managed to do.
Hence the New Four Seasons not only saw Richter essentially rework his former score with gut strings (as well as a 1970s Moog synthesiser thrown in for good measure), but also worked with violinist Elena Urioste and musicians from Chineke!—a multi-ethnic, majority black ensemble to create a grittier, more “punk” version. Since they weren’t used to these more antiquated instruments, Urioste and Chineke! had to prepare for the recording with workshops in London led by Nwanoku and Baroque specialists, who taught them how to wield the lighter Baroque bows and attach and wind on gut strings. Describing the difference in sound between modern and period strings, Richter has said: “I heard someone say it’s the difference between smooth peanut butter and crunchy peanut butter, which encapsulates it really well!”
The latest Re:Composed challenge comes from Grammy®-winning French composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Victor Le Masne. Classically trained on piano, Le Masne started his musical career as the founder of ‘French Touch’ electronic band Housse de Racket, touring alongside Phoenix and collaborating with the likes of Metronomy and Chilly Gonzales on his solo albums; along the way, he also produced and worked with Sébastien Tellier, Justice, Cassius, The Rapture, Jungle and many more electronic-pop stars.
Since 2021, his renown soared even higher after re-arranging the French National Anthem La Marseillaise for the handover of the Olympic Flame during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony, working as Musical Director of the multi-awarded musical Starmania, and bagging the composer and musical director role for the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics ceremonies. For the latter, he worked alongside Lady Gaga, Céline Dion, Gojira, Aya Nakamura, Angèle, Jean-Michel Jarre and many more.
For Re:Composed, Le Masne takes on some of Ravel’s orchestral, operatic, chamber and piano classics. “I grew up in a family of musicians, and my father is a composer,” he explains. “When I was very young, he played a lot of Ravel’s music. And my mother loved “L’enfant et les sortilèges”. It was a bit scary for me – the idea of furniture and animals turning against this naughty child. But I think the music went into me in a very strong way.”
At the age of sixteen, Le Masne was also handed a mixtape by his father which included “Boléro” and “Lever du jour” from Daphnis et Chloé, both of which are included on the album and given bold reimaginings: Le Masne is certainly at the helm, playing piano, synths and percussion, but is joined by singer, songwriter and producer Rahim C Redcar (Christine and the Queens) improvises lyrics on “Boléro”, cellist Camille Thomas on “Chanson hébraïque”, and pianist Julius Asal on “Jeux d’eau”, which also features strings and wind instruments added by Le Masne.
Additional recompositions include the debut single, “Le jardin féerique”, selections from the String Quartet, and the afore-mentioned “L’enfant et les sortilèges”—but perhaps the most audacious song is “Lever du jour”, which has been melodically reversed with impressive results. “Ravel’s music is so modern, so universal,” says Le Masne. “He can be very demanding, yet he is always generous and very warm. I tried to keep his warm feeling of humanity…if you add in some fun as well, you can create something very interesting.”
Victor Le Masne's latest instalment in the Re:Composed series is out now. Listen and order here.
