CELESTIAL under the magnifying glass of Bertrand Loreau

A look back at my 2021 album CELESTIAL,
with Bertrand Loreau's questions
which I had the pleasure of answering

Sequentia Legenda's CELESTIAL album, released in 2021

A SPONTANEOUS STATE OF GRACE
The start of a new, exciting and creative experience

Bertrand Loreau : Since the release of your first album, you've claimed to make music that expresses your deepest sensibility. Do you need to be in a particular state to compose and come up with the framework for a new album?

Sequentia Legenda : I need to feel this call, this excitement that guides me forcefully to my keyboards, like a magnet. It's a spontaneous state of grace, a very special and magical moment that I sometimes find hard to understand and explain. In any case, this is how my heart can truly express itself, releasing all my energy, all my sensitivity, all my deepest emotions. It's the start of a new, exciting and creative experience, full of surprises and challenges.

Work session for the title Symphonic Dawn of the Stars

Bertrand Loreau : Do you ever know in advance, before you play, what direction you're going to take on a new album?

Sequentia Legenda : To be honest: not really. I'd rather say that I have a global perspective, which can come from a title idea, a sound, an image, an emotion. As explained above, it's an unpredictable experience, a new adventure, an enrichment. It's one more step on the exciting musical path I've been offered to take.

Bertrand Loreau : Do you think your music is aimed at a particular audience?

Sequentia Legenda : I think my music is aimed at listeners who want to give themselves time to travel, to immerse themselves, to relax and who are willing to let go in order to let themselves go completely.

 

Sequentia Legenda's CELESTIAL album, released in 2021

ESCAPE, DREAM OF UNKNOWN WORLDS
Music is good for the Soul, a medicine for well-being

 
Bertrand Loreau : At the end of your presentation you mention Hope and Love; would you like to elaborate on what kind of hope and love you're talking about?

Sequentia Legenda : The two go hand in hand - I think. Some listeners tell me that they rediscover many hidden subtleties as they listen. Others tell me that they can escape, dream of unknown worlds and give free rein to their imagination. I've even had the pleasure of hearing people say that my music is good for the soul, a medicine for well-being, and that delights me to no end. It's wonderful to be able to share, and if my music can also help, or even heal, then it's nothing but happiness. 

 

Bertrand Loreau : In your presentation of "CELESTIAL" you talk about the instruments you use. Do the instruments you use have a big influence on the way you design an album?

Sequentia Legenda : Instruments are not the priority. They make up my sound palette, that's obvious. But the most important thing is the heart, the soul. My music is the total expression of my sensibility, and so it is this that will influence the design. The choice of instruments will be made instinctively in accordance with the creative and inspirational influence of the moment.

 

Bertrand Loreau : You claim to be attached to the Berlin School, but do you think this musical genre can still evolve or surprise?

 

Sequentia Legenda : Yes, I believe in this great musical movement.
I remain convinced that it has not finished making us dream and surprising us. In my opinion, evolution is subjective, and there are still things to invent and avenues to explore. One thing is certain: we ALL have a great need for freedom, and Berlin School is the perfect invitation to free ourselves and take a beautiful, immersive journey in sound.

CELESTIAL – ENTRANCE INTO A NEW HORIZON

Bertrand Loreau : Do you have any idea what kind of music you'll be making in five or ten years' time?

 

Sequentia Legenda : No, not at all, and so much the better for that. I'm letting myself be surprised, and we'll see what the future holds. I hope I still have enough to express musically.


Bertrand Loreau : Your presentation suggests a certain mystical sensitivity. Do you think that those who enjoy your music have that in common with you?

 

Sequentia Legenda : Yes, indeed, it's possible. My sound worlds are imbued with nostalgia, mysticism and hope too. These different components speak to listeners, they resonate with them, that's the feedback I've heard.
 

Sequentia Legenda (Laurent Schieber)

ABOUT HOPE FOR A BETTER, MORE HUMANE WORLD
Music is a vector of Hope and Love

Bertrand Loreau : At the end of your presentation you mention Hope and Love; would you like to elaborate on what kind of hope and love you're talking about?

Sequentia Legenda : I'm talking about hope for a better, more humane world. The expression of a Love that knows no borders, that is timeless and true. Through my music and the Berlin School, I am asserting my resistance to the dark side that is projected onto humanity. Music is one of the divine means offered to me to share this Love and Hope with humility and sincerity. I'm delighted to be able to help people in my own way and thus contribute to a little happiness, a little dream and a little freedom - a freedom that's so necessary right now. I think we all need to get out of this hellish spiral imposed on humanity, and music is a vector of Hope and Love.

Thank you Bertrand for your attention and for your questions, which I was delighted to answer. I should also add that this album and the others in my discography are also available from Patch Work Music.

 

Bertrand Loreau in the Keyboards Magazine

 

Bertrand Loreau has been recording albums for the Musea and Spheric Music labels for almost 30 years, and has covered a wide range of styles, from melodic music to electroacoustic music and the Berlin School.

Bertrand Loreau's discography on Patch Work Music

I invite you to read this article dedicated to Patch Work Music (PWM)

To CELESTIAL

 

            

CELESTIAL – Entrance Into New Horizon

“The music is so beautiful and flows quietly without
ever getting tired of it”
Extract from Sylvain Lupari's review

CELESTIAL
To immerse myself in the universe of Sequentia Legenda

I wish you a lot of enjoyment with CELESTIAL.
May your entrance into this new sound horizon be a source of freedom. May your journey through the three musical atmospheres bring you dreams, softness and serenity.

CELESTIAL

THREE ASTRAL ARCHES
Spiritual and Mystical

It is a richly-pigmented sound painting with a spiritual and mystical framework and atmosphere, created with the instrumental palette of analogue synths.

With a total duration of 23:23, the three parts, "Yasna," "Feldi" and "Jerrish," follow one another, each delivering their own atmospheres to dress this sound painting with a mystical patina and reinforcing the resonance of the harmonic tones.

The introduction is rather unusual - I'll leave you with the surprise - it is built mainly with effects from the AKS and ARP Odyssey. The chords of the string instruments and the choirs unfold, gradually giving way to the different sequences that make up the rhythmic framework. Cymbals then reinforce the tempo. Velvety string ensembles from the famous Solina emerge in the distance to distill melodic lines here and there supported by subtle reverberation. The climax is reached with the addition of further drum elements to make way for the ethereal and spiritual finale consisting of choirs, effects, and a lulling of various crystalline sequences.

SYMPHONIC DAWN OF THE STARS
Thousands of twirling fireflies

The atmosphere is in the continuity of the first track.
With a length of 21:29, this composition takes off with several sequential lines, multiplying, subtly changing and supported by the broad string ensemble chords of the PS-3300. The Solina then discreetly mingles with the aerial sweep, sublimating the phrasing of the legato notes with their soft starry tones. I am happy to have been able to add to the middle of this composition a sequence that is new in its technical development. This sequence comes from the AKS, delivering a stereophonic back-and-forth, finalizing the first half of this sonorous and cadenced effluvium, offering a gentle transition to the more spiritual part of this track. I'd like to say, what an exceptional sound machine the AKS is, with extreme sensitivity and richness!

The second part of "Symphonic Dawn of the Stars" is a glissando of choirs and strings, from which loops of crystalline notes emerge like thousands of twirling fireflies. In the last two minutes, there is a little wink to my oldest son Dylan. I won't tell you any more, so you'll be surprised.

VOICES 55 (REVISITED VERSION)
The language of my heart, my soul

My dream is gradually coming true since the beginning of my musical adventure. I thank God for granting me the gift of being an Artist. I am delighted to be able to offer you a part of a dream, an introspection.

In these complicated times, we all need freedom and music.
My music is the language of my heart, my soul. For me, music will always be a vehicle for hope and love.

 

Extract of the first track "Three Astral Arches" from Sequentia Legenda's next musical opus "CELESTIAL".

 

 

            

From DNA to the Berlin School

"From DNA to the Berlin School, life is made of sequences"
Christophe Bargeault

Christophe Bargeault's testimony
To immerse myself in the universe of Sequentia Legenda

SL: "How did you discover my music?"

Christophe Bargeault: "My name is Christophe and I am passionate about music, mainly electronic. Although this music does not constitute my DNA, it is nevertheless part of my daily life and I consider it as vital, as air and water can be. This passion has led me on a perpetual quest, from my first memories forty years ago, to the present day where musical networks lead me from surprise to discovery.

It is this quest that led me to meet the Patch Work Music association three years ago, and to immerse myself in the universe of Sequentia Legenda.

I discovered the Berlin School late in life, twenty-five years ago, at a flea market, when a record dealer, looking at my T-shirt with a certain JMJ on it, handed me a vinyl and said: "Here, this is for you". I was holding Klaus Schulze's Picture Music in my hands. That was the start of a new musical life."

 

THE UNIVERSE OF SEQUENTIA LEGENDA
Back to my first electronic emotions

SL: "How do you feel when listening to my sound worlds?"

Christophe Bargeault: " The music and the universe of Sequentia Legenda are fantastic in that they instantly take me back to my first electronic emotions. Like Proust's madeleine, the sounds, sequences and rhythms take me back in time, with this incomparable flavour, while keeping this very current signature."

THE RETURN (LONG VERSION)
A return to the roots, a return to the essential

Christophe Bargeault: "Laurent, you offered us at the beginning of this month of July a long version of your track "The Return". This particular track finds its genesis in 1984 when the idea of your project "Over There" was born in your mind. In 2017, an experimental version of The Return was released and in 2019, your 1984 project was realised. Finally, comes this long version from 2021.

Is this song one of the most important of your career? Listening to this new version, we feel that you still had things to express."

SL: "Indeed, you are right, I still had things to say, emotions to share. This title says a lot about my state of mind and my musical vision: a return to the roots, a return to the essential, in every respect. I reworked this track not only in its duration, but also in its depth, in its "soul" if I may say so. There isn't necessarily an excess of artifice as one might expect when a longer version is released. The challenge was, on the contrary, to make this title "grow" a little more, with subtlety, with sensitivity and creativity. I can't say if it's the most outstanding track in my discography, but in any case, it's the one that Tommy and I played in concert with great complicity and aptness. At the end of the concert in Tübingen, Till Kooper, a musician friend of mine, said something beautiful to me that really touched me: "It's as if I'd just heard the third track of Klaus Schulze's Trancefer exclusively!", and Tommy added: "It made me think back to the nightly rehearsals with Klaus, and tonight I felt in a trance again!"

Christophe Bargeault: "You mention in the notes of this new version the use of a new emulated instrument: the Korg modular PS-3300. At a time when physical reissues of mythical synthesizers are commonplace, you use almost exclusively virtual instruments. What led you to make this choice? Doesn't this "distance" between the composer and his instrument, because of this difference in interaction, slow down your creativity?"

SL: "When I was 18 years old, I had a lot of analog instruments: the ARP Odyssey, the Korg PS-3200, MS20 and SQ10, the Oberheim Two Voices and so on. When the MIDI standard came along, I gradually got rid of my analogue synths and bought digital instruments. Then life took me away from music for a while. Just ten years ago, I started making music again and discovered virtual instruments. Their possibilities seduced me immediately, and I was able to work happily with these emulations while combining my knowledge of analog and digital synthesis.

I don't really perceive any distance between my instruments, virtual as they are, and myself. I have taken my marks, my routines and I always discover with pleasure the vast field of action which is offered to me. With the large and beautiful palette of possibilities to express myself, I have the freedom to sculpt my sequences at will and program certain things that I feel cannot be easily done with a hardware synth. But this is subjective, of course, it's my feeling, the fruit of my experience.

Creativity for me is a matter of sensitivity and it is the language of the heart and soul that takes precedence over everything else."

 

THE RETURN (Long Version)

MY VISION FOR THE BERLIN SCHOOL IN 2021
Self-expression, passion to share and authenticity

Christophe Bargeault: "Compared to what it was when it was born, how do you see the Berlin School of 2021?"

SL: "I believe in this beautiful musical movement and I am still convinced that it has great days ahead. The technology may have changed, but the purely musical approach remains much the same. Once again, as far as I am concerned, it is not the instruments that come first, but the self-expression, the passion to share, the authenticity. CELESTIAL will be my vision for the Berlin School in 2021.

I am already looking ahead to 2022 with RESONANCE, where I invite the audience to resonate with my music, with the Berlin School."

ENTER IN RESONANCE

 

Extract of the first track "Three Astral Arches" from Sequentia Legenda's next musical opus "CELESTIAL".

I am very happy to announce that the work on my next opus "CELESTIAL" is progressing in a positive way. The result corresponds to the idea that had germinated a few months earlier in my mind, it is the reflection of what I wish to communicate emotionally and artistically. A new experience, a new sharing, that I will have the pleasure of presenting and highlighting on 21 September 2021, the date of the album's release.

 

 

            

Three Astral Arches by Sequentia Legenda

Dear listeners,

I am pleased to announce that my new album "CELESTIAL" is being finalised. A new musical adventure is coming to fruition, where challenges, surprises and hardships had to be faced.

With this new opus, I tried to get out of my comfort zone a bit.
The album consists of three tracks: "Three Astral Arches", "Symphonic Dawn of the Stars" and "VOICES 55".

CELESTIAL
Three Astral Arches

The first track "Three Astral Arches" is almost finished.
It is a richly pigmented sound painting with a spiritual and mystical framework and atmosphere, created with the instrumental palette of analogue synths.

With a duration of 23:23, the three parts "Yasna", "Feldi" and "Jerrish" follow one another, each delivering their own atmospheres to dress this sound painting with a mystical patina and reinforcing the resonance of the harmonic tones.

The introduction is rather confusing – I'll leave you with the surprise – it is built with effects from the AKS and ARP Odyssey mainly. The chords of the string instruments and the choirs unfold, gradually giving way to the different sequences that make up the rhythmic framework. The cymbals then reinforce the tempo. The velvety string ensembles of the famous Solina emerge in the distance to distil melodic lines here and there supported by subtle reverberation. The climax is reached with the addition of further drum elements to make way for the ethereal and spiritual finale consisting of choirs, effects, and a lulling of various crystalline sequences.

 

CELESTIAL
Entrance Into New Horizon

Dear listeners,

I am very pleased to announce that the work on my next opus "CELESTIAL" is progressing in a positive way, both musically and in terms of layout, giving me pleasure and satisfaction. The result corresponds to the idea that had germinated a few months earlier in my mind, it is the reflection of what I wish to communicate emotionally and artistically.
A new experience, a new sharing, that I will have the pleasure of presenting and bringing to light on September 21, 2021, the date of the album's release.

"CELESTIAL" is a symbiosis of different mythical instruments, all of them coming from the analogue era, such as the EMS Synthi AKS, the Moog modular, the ARP Odyssey, to name but a few. It's true that at the moment I use almost only virtual instruments, but these are carefully selected to match the analogue sound grain so typical of the mid-70s. I would also like to add that it is the turn of the fabulous Korg PS-3300 modular to join the set of analogue synthesizers. This is a first. This modular offers a wide sound palette and a great harmonic density: a "big" sound. I had a lot of fun working with this remarkable and truly unique instrument. I would like to add that when I was between 18 and 20 years old, I bought the Korg PS-3200 the "little brother" of the PS-3300 modular. I would like to take this opportunity to say a BIG thank you again to my father who helped me financially. I can invite you to discover a little more about the history of the encounter between the PS-3200 and myself by reading the blog article.