Latest CD
The Unbroken Surface of Snow
Cloud Valley CV2009
Andrew Cronshaw
with Tigran
Aleksanyan,
Ian Blake,
Sanna Kurki-Suonio
Available direct from Cloud Valley (please click one of the rather garishly
imperative 'buy' buttons below)
and from the usual shops and online sellers
1. Käärme
2. Fujaruk
3. The Unbroken Surface of Snow
4. Mhąiri Mhģn Mheall-Shłileach (Gentle Dark-Eyed Mary)
5. Im Hogutz
In the seven years since Andrew
Cronshaw's previous album, Ochre, most of his performances have featured
a musician who until now hadn't appeared with him on CD - Armenian duduk master
Tigran Aleksanyan.
Now with The Unbroken Surface of Snow they record together, joined by
long-time Cronshaw collaborator
Ian Blake on bass clarinet and soprano sax, and
the great Finnish singer
Sanna Kurki-Suonio, probably best known outside
Finland for her membership of Swedish/Finnish band Hedningarna. She sang on
Cronshaw's sixth album The Language of Snakes back in 1993, and this time
contributes a Finnish epic runo-song to the spacious, minimalist unfolding
conversation of the new album's 34-minute title track.
After its release in October 2011
the album spent three months in the top 10 of the
World Music Chart Europe.
"Delicate, haunting... glacial"
-
Robin Denselow,
The Guardian
"Stunningly beautiful"
- Fiona Talkington,
BBC Radio 3
"Absolutely exquisite"
- Mary Ann Kennedy,
BBC Radio Scotland / BBC Radio 3
"Sublime"
- Max Reinhardt,
BBC Radio 3
"Music of snowflake-like singularity"
- Ken Hunt,
fRoots
"A palpable sense of space and peace"
- Norman Chalmers,
Scotland on
Sunday
"Spacious, gracious, subtle, quietly
surprising"
-
Doug Spencer,
ABC Australian
national radio
"Unfolds, seduces and ultimately
mesmerises"
-
Tony Hillier,
The Australian
"The music is sparse, glacial and utterly beautiful, with
a wide, panoramic sense of infinite space;
you will happily lose yourself again and again in the title track,
a far northern wilderness transformed into sound"
- Tim Cumming,
Songlines
"Ochre was already a masterpiece,
but The Unbroken Surface of Snow is a
musical paradise on earth"
- Marius Roeting,
New Folk Sounds, Netherlands
"Deep, unfolding music... and like
snow itself, it falls silently and accumulates
additional weight and resonance with repeated listening"
- Lee Blackstone,
Rootsworld, USA
"If the BBC ever make a sequel to
Frozen Planet, here surely is its emotive soundtrack"
- David Quantick,
Uncut
"This remarkable, quiet, haunting piece of folk art... The 34-minute title track
is a Finnish creation myth set to
a musical landscape that is as close to silence as a heavy snowfall, and more
beautiful"
- Tim Cumming,
The
Independent
"Here is a great beauty that you might
not notice immediately; it took me several months.
The music just came flowing towards me, as if I was on a summer meadow, looked
up at the sky and saw white clouds drift past.
Or a winter night out in the country with the Milky Way's glittering ribbon of
stars.
Such occasions when there is all the time in the world and no boundaries"
-
Lennart Wretlind, Swedish national radio P2
Click
here for fuller review quotes
Since the recording of the album
the four musicians - Andrew Cronshaw, Tigran Aleksanyan, Sanna Kurki-Suonio and
Ian Blake - have united as the band
SANS, in
which Sanna's and Ian's roles are much increased. See below, and the
SANS pages for info and schedules; SANS show dates are
also included in the Andrew Cronshaw schedule further down this page.
Andrew Cronshaw on Facebook
SANS on Facebook
UK
buyers (£11 including postage):
Non-UK buyers (£12 including postage):
ANDREW CRONSHAW LIVE
2013
March 11th:
Canberra 100 "Back to the Island",
Aspen Island, Canberra, Australia
Andrew Cronshaw & Ian Blake
March 28th-31st:
National Folk
Festival, Canberra, Australia
SANS [Andrew
Cronshaw, Sanna Kurki-Suonio, Tigran Aleksanyan, Ian Blake]
July
4th:
Liverpool Philharmonic,
Liverpool, UK
SANS
July 6th:
Cheltenham Music Festival,
Cheltenham, UK
SANS
July 7th:
Colchester Arts Centre,
Colchester, UK
SANS
(more UK SANS shows in early July to be
confirmed)
Dec 11th-19th:
SANS
tour in Flanders:
Dec 11th: Cultuurcentrum
Belgica, Dendermonde, Belgium
Dec 13th:
Cultuurcentrum Evergem, Evergem, Belgium
Dec 14th:
Cultuurcentrum De Ploter, Ternat,
Belgium
Dec 15th: Cultureel
Centrum Leopoldsburg, Leopoldsburg, Belgium
Dec 18th: Cultuurcentrum
Ter Dilft, Bornem, Belgium
Dec 19th: Cultuurcentrum
Zwaneberg, Heist-op-den-Berg, Belgium
2012
June 23rd:
Home Festival, Dartington Hall,
nr. Totnes, Devon, UK
SANS:
Andrew Cronshaw, Sanna Kurki-Suonio,
Tigran Aleksanyan, Ian Blake
(Click
here for a detailed review and pics of the show)
July 20th:
EthnoAmbient Festival,
Solin, nr. Split, Croatia
SANS:
Andrew Cronshaw, Sanna Kurki-Suonio, Tigran Aleksanyan, Ian Blake
(Videos online from the show: click
here and
here)
August 4th:
Special 'secret'
show, Northamptonshire, UK
SANS:
Andrew Cronshaw, Sanna Kurki-Suonio, Tigran Aleksanyan, Ian Blake
(Click
here for a track from this show)
August 5th:
Goldmark
Art, Uppingham,
Rutland, UK
SANS:
Andrew Cronshaw, Sanna Kurki-Suonio, Tigran Aleksanyan, Ian Blake
September 15th & 16th:
Whispering Woods, Bignor Park,
W.Sussex, UK
Andrew Cronshaw, Tigran Aleksanyan, Ian Blake
September 26th:
Riksscenen,
Oslo, Norway
SANS:
Andrew Cronshaw, Sanna Kurki-Suonio, Tigran Aleksanyan, Ian Blake
September 27th:
Hellviktangen Kulturhus,
Nesodden, Norway
SANS:
Andrew Cronshaw, Sanna Kurki-Suonio, Tigran Aleksanyan, Ian Blake
November 7th:
Rich Mix, London,
UK
Tigran Aleksanyan & Andrew Cronshaw
December 8th:
House concert,
Hertfordshire, UK
Andrew Cronshaw solo
2011
July 8th:
Lichfield Festival: Lichfield Cathedral,
Lichfield, Staffordshire, UK
[joined by
Tigran Aleksanyan
& Ian Blake]
July 11-15th:
Kaustinen Festival,
Kaustinen, Finland
[joined by Tigran Aleksanyan,
Ian Blake &
Sanna Kurki-Suonio]
October 23rd:
St. Ethelburga's,
London, UK
A special showcase, the first performance outside Finland by the new band:
SANS:
Andrew Cronshaw,
Tigran Aleksanyan,
Ian Blake
& Sanna Kurki-Suonio
2010
February 5th:
St Ethelburga's,
Bishopsgate, London, UK
[joined by
Tigran Aleksanyan]
March 31st:
National Library of Australia,
Canberra, Australia
[Solo illustrated lecture]
April 1st-4th:
National Folk
Festival, Canberra, Australia
[joined by
Ian Blake]
April 9th-11th:
Fairbridge
Festival, nr. Perth, Australia
[joined by
Ian Blake]
April 30th:
St Ethelburga's,
Bishopsgate, London, UK
[with
Tigran Aleksanyan]
The Voice of Duduk,
organised by
MusicofArmenia.com .
Video online here
May 29th:
Maailma Kylässä festival,
Helsinki, Finland
[joined by Tigran Aleksanyan]
June 18th:
Ethno Port festival,
Poznan, Poland
[joined by Tigran Aleksanyan
and
Svetlana Spajic]
August 14th:
Livestock Festival,
Stratton Audley, Oxfordshire, UK
[joined by Tigran Aleksanyan]
September 10th:
King's Place Festival,
King's Place, London, UK
[joined by Tigran Aleksanyan]
November 6th:
Cecil Sharp House,
"Looking for a New England
2" -
London, UK
[joined by Tigran Aleksanyan]
November 14th:
Colchester Arts Centre,
Colchester, Essex, UK
[joined by Tigran Aleksanyan
and Ian Blake]
2009
February 7th:
Colchester
Arts Centre, Essex, UK
[joined by Tigran Aleksanyan]
February 26th:
New Greenham Arts,
Berkshire, UK
[joined by Tigran Aleksanyan]
November 8th:
The Green Note,
London, UK
[joined by Tigran Aleksanyan]
2008
January 31st:
Union Chapel, London,
UK
[solo]
April 11th:
Polskie Radio Festival Nowa
Tradycja, Warsaw, Poland
[joined by
Svetlana Spajic
(vox) and
Tigran Aleksanyan (Armenian duduk etc),
and including a collaboration with
Wladislaw and Krzysztof Trebunia–Tutka]
[Highlights broadcast on Polskie Radio immediately following the show]
May 6th:
Brighton Festival
(Pavilion Theatre),
Brighton, UK
[joined by
Tigran Aleksanyan
(Armenian duduk etc)]
July 18th:
Kaustinen Festival,
Kaustinen, Finland
[joined by Ian Blake
(reeds etc)]
July 26th & 27th:
WOMAD festival,
nr. Malmesbury, Wiltshire, UK
[joined by Svetlana Spajic
(vox), Tigran Aleksanyan
(duduk),
Ian Blake (reeds etc)]
[The first 20 minutes of the show on the 27th was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3,
it can be heard on
www.myspace.com/andrewcronshaw, and there's video of the first number
here]
November 5th:
Etnosoi festival,
Helsinki, Finland
[joined by Tigran Aleksanyan
(duduk)]
December 20th:
All
Saints Church,
Braunston, Northamptonshire, UK
[joined by
Tigran Aleksanyan (duduk)]
Click here for YouTube
video of part of this show
2007
January 21st:
Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry,
UK
[joined by
Tigran Aleksanyan
(Armenian duduk etc)]
February 10th:
Half
the World season at the
Pizza on the Park, Knightsbridge, London,
UK
[joined by
Tigran Aleksanyan
(Armenian duduk etc.),
Attab Haddad
(Iraqi oud),
Louai Alhenawi
(Syrian ney),
Jenny
Adejayan (cello),
Zuzana Novak
(mbira, vox)][The group also featured guest vocalist
Natacha Atlas]
March 2nd:
Maa
ja Ilm Festival, Tartu,
Estonia
[joined by Tigran Aleksanyan
(Armenian duduk)]
April 15th:
Arsenaaltheater, Vlissingen,
Netherlands
[solo, in a double bill with Iain
Matthews]
June 23rd and 26th:
Pécs Festival,
Pécs, Hungary
[solo]
2006
April 9th:
Holywell Music Room,
at
Oxford Folk Festival,
Oxford, UK
[solo, in double bill with Icelandic rķmur
singer Steindór Andersen & Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson]
June 9th:
Viking festival, Karmųy,
Norway
[solo; flame-lit show in reconstructed
Viking longhouse]
June 11th:
Orre Gamle Kirke
(Orre old church),
Klepp,
nr.Stavanger, Norway
[solo]
June 22nd:
Norwich Arts
Centre,
Norwich, UK
[joined by Tigran Aleksanyan
(Armenian duduk etc.)]
June 30th & July 1st:
Suoni dell'Altro Mondo festival:
Incontri 2006
at Villa Penicina,
Romagnese,
nr.Genoa, Italy
[2
concerts resulting from week of collaboration on north Italian music
with Nikola Parov, Guo Yue, Stefano Valla,
Beppe Gambetta, Ben Mandelson
et al.]
July 6,7,8th:
Fųrde Folk Music Festival,
Fųrde, Norway
[joined by Tigran Aleksanyan]
August 5th:
(12 midday)
The Big Chill festival,
Eastnor Castle deer park, nr. Ledbury,
Herefordshire, UK
[solo]
August 17th:
Half
the World season at Live on the
Park (The Pizza on the Park), Knightsbridge, London, UK
[joined by
Tigran Aleksanyan]
August 19th:
Chateau d'Abbadie, Hendaye
at
Bidasoa
Folk Festival,
Euskadi, Spain/France
[solo]
2005 performances included:
June 19th:
Celebrating Sanctuary Festival,
London, UK
June 25th: St Clement's Church at
Leigh Folk Festival, Essex, UK
[At both of these joined by
Tigran Aleksanyan (Armenian duduk)]
August 13th:
Festival
Ethnoambient Salona, Solin, Croatia
August 21st:
Alten Kirche at
Krefelder Folklorefest, Krefeld, Germany
[At both of these joined by
Ian Blake]
September 28th:
Concert in
Montreal,
Canada
October 1st:
Concert for CBC Radio,
Montreal,
Canada
October 2nd:
Concert in
Montreal, Canada
[All three Canadian shows as trio with
Liu Fang
(pipa, guzheng) and
Pham Duc Thanh
(dan bau)]
In Autumn
2004, following the
release of Ochre, Andrew Cronshaw,
Abdullah Chhadeh,
Ian Blake
and Bernard
O'Neill performed together in the UK at:
September 23rd:
St Georges, Brandon Hill, Bristol
October 2nd:
Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford on Avon
October 12th:
National Centre for Early Music, York
October 15th:
Union Chapel, Islington, London
Abdullah Chhadeh & Andrew Cronshaw
Photos on this page by Ian Anderson (AC
solo, Ian Blake & AC), Karolina Jankowska (Svetlana Spajic & AC), Jamie
Orchard-Lisle (Abdullah Chhadeh & AC), AC (Tigran Aleksanyan), Valo Virtanen
(Great Bear)
In 2002 there was the live touring show based
on the CD
On the Shoulders of the Great Bear - see
Gallery for info and photos
