River of Music

The Kanneh-Mason family is a musical phenomenon. Each of its seven siblings—Isata, Braimah, Sheku, Konya, Jeneba, Aminata and Mariatu—is a world-class musician in their own right. But together they form something incredibly powerful and unique: a supergroup bound together by musical brilliance, childhood memories—and love. River of Music is their second album together, and is a potent expression of that love, as different combinations of Kanneh-Masons perform together in solo and ensemble music that spans almost four centuries. Read on, as each work is introduced by family members for this exclusive track-by-track for Apple Music Classical. Deep River Sheku: “This is a transcription, originally for piano, of an African-American spiritual by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Coleridge-Taylor was a British composer, whose father was from Sierra Leone. Our mother Kadie was born in Sierra Leone to a Sierra Leonean father and Welsh mother, so this piece feels very personal. “Isata has previously recorded the original version for piano and Isata, and Braimah and I have also recorded a piano trio version. This is a new arrangement written by us, and it features all seven of us performing.” Ar Lan y Môr Aminata: “Ar Lan y Môr—Welsh for ‘On the seashore’—is a traditional Welsh folk love song. We chose this song for the album because, growing up, our grandmother often played the Cerys Matthews album Tir (Land). This song is one of my favourites from that album, so we decided to arrange it for all seven of us. Performing it takes me back to memories from childhood spent in our grandmother’s house in Wales. The piece starts and ends softly with just strings, which creates a calming, peaceful atmosphere.” Hiraeth Isata: “Hiraeth was written by me—its title is the untranslatable Welsh word for longing, love and connection with one’s homeland. It was chosen for this album because of our own connection with Wales, and the fact that we spent most of our childhood holidays in the mountains there or at our maternal grandmother’s house in Caldicot, South Wales. “The opening seventh chord represents the feeling of longing, and the sweeping arpeggios in the piano left hand, along with the tremolos and moving semiquavers in the strings, represent the wildness of the Welsh landscape. The way the harmony moves, bar by bar and in parallel chords, represents the way the colours of the landscape appear during a long walk.” Calon Lân Aminata: “Welsh for ‘A Pure Heart’, Calon Lân is a Welsh hymn from the 1890s. I grew up listening to it, and love its beautiful lyrics. We chose to have it as a duet for two violins (me and my brother Braimah) as it feels like two voices singing the hymn together. We really enjoyed building each verse and chorus so that the hymn grows and expands to a soaring climax.” Trio Sonata in G Minor—Largo Mariatu: “The third movement of Handel’s Trio Sonata is an intense conversation between the instruments. I chose this piece for the album because Sheku used to play cello duets with me when I was first learning the instrument. Listen out for the sonorous voices of the instruments when they’re playing together, accompanied by our sister Isata on the piano.” Sospiri Braimah: “Sospiri (Italian for ‘Sighs’) is a short, sorrowful piece written by Edward Elgar in 1914 in the shadow of World War I. The spread piano chords, large intervals and syncopations over the downbeats all create this feeling. The piece is intimate yet expansive, hopeful yet tragic, and is one of my favourite examples of Elgar’s ability to express opposing emotions at the same time. It was a special experience for me to record this in Abbey Road with [record producer] Jonathan Allen.” Fantaisie-Impromptu Jeneba: “Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu is a piece that has punctuated nearly every stage of my piano development. It was one of my first introductions to Chopin’s music, and I was instantly drawn to the turbulent passagework and passionate melodies of the first section, and the intimacy and longing of the middle section. The piece was one of my paternal grandad’s favourite pieces, and he would always come in and listen to me practise it.” Consolation No. 3 in D-Flat Major Isata: “Liszt’s ‘Consolation No. 3’ (composed between 1849 and 1850) unfolds with extraordinary emotional depth, sustaining a feeling of tenderness and sadness within the promise of consolation. Its fluid phrases create a strong sense of narrative and song. The piece was chosen for the album as it was one of the pieces we would hear our dad perform around the house when we were children. “It’s an especially interesting piece because Liszt creates an illusion of growing through a single note on the piano (which is, in reality, impossible) through his use of harmonic rhythm and texture. Listen to the way the tune comes back differently every time. Recording this piece was a focused and intimate experience for me.” Song to the Moon Sheku: “In ‘Song to the Moon’, arranged here for cello and piano, Dvořák introduces the theme of singing and love. The music comes from his opera, Rusalka, based on a Hans Christian Andersen tale. Confined to the water, the sprite Rusalka has no way of telling the prince of her love for him, so confesses to the moon instead, in the hope that her feelings will be communicated. Both my parents love opera, and this is one of their favourite arias.” Piano Quintet in A Major, “Trout Quintet” Sheku: “The ‘Trout Quintet’ is so nicknamed because the fourth movement features a theme and variations based on Schubert’s song ‘Die Forelle’ (‘The Trout’). We always listened to this piece as children in our parent’s car on long and short journeys, and it is definitely one of our favourites. We wanted to play it when we were young children, but no one played the double bass—Jeneba wanted to learn the instrument, but it was deemed too big to fit in a family car! And so to record this piece was, and will always be, a special moment.”