Mari

Tranquillity lies at the heart of this beautiful album. In our relentless world, Mari Samuelsen wants the crystalline music of composers including Glass, Richter, Vasks, and Bach to help us stop, reflect, and just be. Bach, Samuelsen’s musical and spiritual lodestone, forms the foundation around which she builds a collection of stunning modern works and arrangements. She’s at her best in the slower, refulgent pieces, such as Jóhannsson’s “Good Night, Day,” her powerful tone piercing the gloom like shards of light. In the unquiet of Max Richter’s “Dona Nobis Pacem 2,” Samuelsen offers reassurance, while, through Bach, delivering emotional strength.