Rosarium

 

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

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