ATLAS REALISATIONS AND PIAS ANNOUNCE THE RELEASE OF

Performed by The Berlin Music Ensemble conducted by Craig Leon

Recorded at The Meistersaal, Berlin by Emil Berliner Recording / Released 10th November 2017

An eagerly-anticipated recording that showcases – for the very first time – the major works of the iconic composer, arranger and producer, George Martin.

The album features Martin’s original music from the films Yellow Submarine, Live and Let Die and the previously unrecorded choral and orchestral score for The Mission together with the Overture to Under Milk Wood, the suite Three American Sketches for violin and chamber orchestra and other previously unreleased original compositions.

Newly recorded at the The Meistersaal, Berlin by Emil Berliner Recording, the project will be released on 10 November 2017 in CD and digital download formats. Furthermore, in January 2018 – to celebrate George Martin’s birthday – the vinyl will be released as a deluxe 2LP set, pressed on heavy-weight vinyl, housed in a varnish-finish, gate-fold sleeve complete with download codes. A special limited edition that contains a reproduction print of a signed hand-written score of a newly discovered work by Martin, ‘Belle Etoile’, which features on the album, will be available exclusively via the Atlas Realisations webshop: https://georgemartin.tmstor.es/

The Album

Craig Leon first met George Martin in 1974 when he was asked to mix singles for the American market for the album ‘Pinafore Days’ by the UK band Stackridge, which is one of Martin’s more obscure but nonetheless outstanding productions.

In 2015 Leon was asked to join the team working on a book of George Martin’s manuscript scores, due to be published in 2018. This provided him with the opportunity to study first hand the majority of the output of Martin’s orchestral career, both as an arranger and as a composer.

Notes Leon: “I had had sight of some of the scores whilst George was still alive and it was an honour to be asked to work on this project. I was struck by the elegance and unity of style that carried over in all of George Martin’s musical efforts, regardless of whether it was a pop or jazz arrangement, a film score or a concert composition. Longtime George Martin manager, Adam Sharp and I agreed that it was a wonderful opportunity to provide an overview of this body of original work and to frame it in an album that would showcase the diverse talents of this major figure in recorded music. We also found several pieces tucked away in with the other scores that had not been previously commercially available. I wanted to record them to paint a fuller picture of Martin’s output. George Martin never became “the next Rachmaninov” as he originally set out to do in his youth but he achieved something that, to me, was equally – if not more – important. He became an integral part of the process of breaking down the barriers between pop, film and classical music that thankfully exist less and less as part of our musical culture.”

George Martin ( 1926-2016)

Most people will know George Martin from his music production work and groundbreaking orchestral arrangements for The Beatles and many other pop artists. Many of the recordings that he helped create are revered throughout the world, some woven into the fabric of popular culture. What is less known is that he also composed. Starting at the age of eight, writing his first tune on piano, Martin continually wrote original music throughout his entire life.

In his career Martin was awarded two Ivor Novellos, six Grammys and in 2008 was the recipient of the Grammy Foundation’s Leadership Award.

Craig Leon

Craig Leon had a long and varied career in many genres of music recording and performance. His classical work encompasses recording, conducting and performing with artists including Luciano Pavarotti, Andreas Scholl, Sir James Galway, Joshua Bell, The London Chamber Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra, Sinfonietta Cracovia,the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra. He also releases and performs his own electronic/orchestral compositions. Leon started in New York in the underground music scene of the 1970s guiding the recordings of numerous pop artists including The Ramones, Blondie and Suicide

The Berlin Music Ensemble

The Berlin Music Ensemble was founded in spring 2011. It is composed of musicians from the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Staatskapelle Berlin, Komische Oper Berlin, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and the Kairos Quartet. The Ensemble specializes in recordings for cinema films, television and in the modern repertoire.