Amoration by AndrewMarchComposer

"Amoration" started life as a piano solo which was composed in 2008 as part of a set of 14 pieces. Despite a struggle with the central section, and the encouragement of a friend who urged him to complete it, the final touches were eventually put to the score whilst sitting in a London café. Two fellow coffee drinkers were interested in what Andrew was doing, and asked to hear the piece. Surprisingly they both came to the conclusion that it needed the addition of strings, which was not something that he had previously considered. Indeed, it was not until late 2015 that Andrew revisited the idea of adding strings, and this too happened in a public place – a hospital! Unfortunately a bout of illness meant that he was forced to spend the night there, and, whilst sandwiched on either side by the hustle and bustle of doctors tending to fellow patients, Andrew fixed his eyes squarely on a point on the ceiling. Whilst doing so, a thought passed through his mind; that if he was to suffer this experience he needed his life to have greater meaning. In the seconds that followed he felt that he was being guided by something outside the terrestrial sphere, and suddenly he knew with clarity exactly what he had to do – the idea of adding strings suddenly felt like exactly the right path to take.
Work duly started on the string parts, and it was at this point that Andrew’s sister began to show a keen interest in the piece. Her help and support turned out to be invaluable: she offered help, she supported him when he occasionally become ‘snow-blind’ as a result of focusing too intently on the piece, and with her support, ‘Amoration’ was truly born.
As Andrew completed the score of the full version, he became instantly aware that he wanted to hear it, and to have the piece recorded professionally. He felt that it had an uplifting, hopeful nature, but with an underlying serene, yet pensive quality. Despite the fact that to some, it may sound somewhat cinematic, it is not intended to come across as a romantic epic, but rather as a story of complete and total purity and integrity. Programme Note by Sue Threakall.

Recorded by Macedonian Muzik & Entertainment (MME) in Studio M1 at Makedonska Radio Televizija (MRT), Skopje, on Sunday, 31st January, 2016, with the strings of the Macedonian Radio Symphony Orchestra with conductor, Oleg Kondratenko; concertmaster, Ana Kondratenko and pianist Marjia Vrskova.
(Sound Engineer: Georgi Hristovski; Pro Tools Engineer & Editing: Atanas Babaleski; Studio Manager: Laurent Koppitz; Orchestra Contracting: Aude Nassieu Maupas; Stage Manager: Evtim Ristov; Librarian: Riste Trajkovski.)

The piano used for this recording was a Steinway model D.