FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts:
Angela Barkan / Larissa Slezak – Sony Music Masterworks
Angela.Barkan@sonymusic.com Larissa.Slezak@sonymusic.com 212-833-8575 / 6075
LONGTIME FRIENDS, CELLIST YO-YO MA & PIANIST KATHRYN STOTT
COLLABORATE ON NEW ALBUM
SONGS FROM THE ARC OF LIFE
Available September 18, 2015 on Sony Classical
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Kathryn Stott create a unique classical music experience with their
new Sony Classical recording Songs from the Arc of Life available September 18, 2015. This all-new
recording also celebrates thirty years of friendship and collaboration in concerts and recordings for
Ma and Stott. The album includes pieces they have frequently performed but never recorded, as
well as a handful of discoveries.
“I like to think of Songs from the Arc of Life as an invitation to our audience to remember and
imagine what the soundtracks of their lives might be,” Yo-Yo Ma says. “Kathy and I have talked for
years about recording an album of music we absolutely love, pieces that express the context of a
life, of our lives. Childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle age, old age: what do they
sound like?”
“I love this title,” Stott says, “the ‘Arc of Life’ – because it is one big arc. Once we arrived at the
idea, we began to see a beautiful story, a journey through life’s experiences. It has taken us a long
time and much discussion, back and forth, to discover what that journey might be, because
everyone’s journey is slightly different.”
Songs from the Arc of Life begins and ends with two, much-beloved settings of the traditional “Ave
Maria,” opening with the soaring, radiant Bach/Gounod arrangement and closing with Schubert’s
more serene, contemplative version.
In between is a remarkable spectrum of music that includes such enduring favorites as Brahms’
“Lullaby,” Dvořák’s “Songs My Mother Taught Me,” Elgar’s “Salut d’amour,” Gade’s “Jalousie” and
Saint-Saëns’ “The Swan,” as well as richly evocative works by Debussy, Delius, Fauré, Gershwin,
Grieg, Kriesler, Messaien, Schumann, Sibelius and Tchaikovsky. Ma and Stott also include a
haunting piece by the contemporary composer Giovanni Sollima, a friend and colleague of both
artists.
In addition to beginning his fourth decade of collaboration with Stott, Yo-Yo Ma is celebrating a
milestone birthday this year. “Turning sixty has me wondering what the future might bring, but
also reflecting on what has passed,” Ma says. “Kathy and I have known one another since we were
in our twenties. We have a shared performing history and thousands of conversations and
experiences and we’re delighted, through Songs from the Arc of Life, to share them with you.”
Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, OKeh, Portrait, Masterworks
Broadway and Flying Buddha imprints. For email updates and information please visit
www.sonymusicmasterworks.com.
TRACK LIST
1.
Bach/Gounod: Ave Maria
2.
Brahms:Lullaby
3.
Dvořák: Songs My Mother Taught Me
4.
Fauré: Papillon
5.
Gade: Tango Jalousie
6.
Schumann: I. Vanitas vanitatum (from Five Pieces in the Popular Style)
7.
Sibelius: Was It a Dream?
8.
Fauré: Après un rêve
9.
Elgar: Salut d’amour
10.
Gershwin: Prelude No. 1
11.
Delius: Romance for Cello and Piano
12.
Kreisler: La Gitana
13.
Sollima: Il bell’Antonio, Tema III
14.
Saint-Saëns: The Swan (from Carnival of the Animals)
15.
Grieg: The Wounded Heart (from Elegiac Melodies)
16.
Tchaikovsky: Valse sentimentale, Op. 51, No. 6
17.
Messiaen: Louange à l’éternité de Jésus (from Quartet for the End of Time)
18.
Debussy: Beau Soir
19.
Schubert: Ave Maria
Yo-Yo Ma, cello
Kathryn Stott, piano
ALBUM PREORDER LINKS (Insert)
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SOCIALS
YO-YO MA
Website: http://www.yo-yoma.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YoYoMa
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/yoyo_ma
YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/user/YoYoMa
VEVO
KATHRYN STOTT
Website: http://www.kathrynstott.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kathystott