Rosarium is the third solo album by English composer, Daniel O’Sullivan. After releasing two albums of experimental songwriting (VELD, 2017; Folly, 2019) and four instrumental collections for the KPM Music Library, O’Sullivan has devoted the past five years to composing a suite of chamber music for the Belgian classical ensemble Echo Collective. The result is a mosaic of self-possessed, elegantly latticed arrangements for strings, woodwinds, piano, harp, choir, and percussion, sculpted with a deep emphasis on texture and counterpoint.
Drawing on a period of solitude, introspection, dream journaling and the insight of raising young children, the influences on this music can be felt more as an internalised elegy rather than musical ancestry. The title of the work is an homage to the mystery schools from Greco-Roman antiquity to modern day psychedelic research and ethnobotany.
There is an opaque sonic lineage at work here as meticulous intervals and shapes are dreamt and sought, mirroring elements of high renaissance music, the late orchestral suites of Duke Ellington, modern sacred music, village green minimalism and hauntological English wyrd. Rosarium is a hybrid music and a new benchmark for O’Sullivan who has diligently scouted musical treasures for over two decades.
Rosarium was recorded at Decca/Jet Studios in Brussels and engineered by Timothy Lewis aka Thighpaulsandra of Spiritualized, Coil, etc. Alongside Echo Collective the ensemble on Rosarium is augmented by American multi-instrumentalist Peter Broderick, English vocalist Astrud Steehouder, and poems read by O’Sullivan’s daughter Ivy.
Mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis, London
Composed by Daniel O'Sullivan
Performed by Daniel O'Sullivan, Peter Broderick, Astrud Steehouder and Echo Collective
Peter Broderick • Voice and Bass Synthesizer
Margaret Hermant • Violin and Harp
Yann Lecollaire • Bass Clarinet and Baritone Saxophone
Neil Leiter • Viola
Annemie Osborne • Cello
Daniel O'Sullivan • Voice, Piano, Drums, Bass and Flute
Ivy O'Sullivan • Narration
Astrud Steehouder • Voice
Thighpaulsandra • Modular Synthesizer
Recorded at Jet Studios, Brussels
Mixed by Thighpaulsandra at Aerial Studios, Carmarthenshire
Cover illustration by Jenny Hirons
Photography by Lewis Hayward
Design and layout by Mark Titchner
Published by Mute Song
Order from House Of Mythology here
