Jonny Greenwood: the new record is an eight-hour-long composition for organ

Not just Radiohead and The Smile: Jonny Greenwood is also continuing his career as a solo composer. With a new chapter that looks set to be particularly ambitious: an eight-hour-long composition for pipe organ. The piece, titled "268 Years Of Reverb", will receive its premiere performance by James McVinnie and Eliza McCarthy at the Octagon Chapel in Norwich (UK) on May 18, as part of the Norfolk & Norwich Festival.

"The organ is the lung, it's the voice of every building it's housed in," Greenwood pointed out. "In an old church, people have been hearing the sound of air passing through the same organ pipes for centuries. It's a kind of time travel, the closest thing we have to a faithful reproduction of an ancient sound. In the Octagon Chapel, we're talking about 268 years: season after season, the same sounds have accompanied celebrations, laments, praise, tears. In writing this piece, I was influenced by the classical Indian approach to melody, where new notes are introduced very gradually in improvised solos – the arrival of each note is so anticipated that its appearance becomes the revelation of a new world. Knowing this brings enormous tension to the experience of listening to that music. Also, within the tanpura's drone there are swirling overtones and harmonics that add to the complexity and beauty of the textures. It's a meditative experience, but not only that."

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