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Christopher Shultis
Waldmusik
LabelNeuma RecordsGenreComposition
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Forests have inspired composers from Schubert to Messiaen, but Christopher Shultis takes it one step further with Waldmusik, a sonic chronicle of fourteen years of walking and listening. This cycle of compositions traces a personal and artistic evolution sparked by solitary walks in woodlands and mountains across the globe. The genesis of Waldmusik dates to a 2003 residency in Taos, New Mexico, where its core idea—”walking in woods / listening … / what I hear”—became a lifelong creative mantra. The album documents Shultis’s transformation as his daily practice of “sauntering,” inspired by Henry David Thoreau, quieted his mind and allowed the sounds of the natural world to become the music itself.
“Waldmusik is not just a collection of pieces; it is a document of my journey to a place where I could truly listen,” says Shultis. “The woods of New Mexico, Pennsylvania, South Korea, and Germany were where I learned to listen. This album is the sound of what I heard there.” The album offers a rich trail of acoustic and electroacoustic music, featuring an international cast of performers. The journey begins with “Circlings” (2010), a work for the Gyeonggi Gayageum Ensemble, electronics, and percussion, built from field recordings in South Korean temples and mountains. The trio “Wissahickon, Pulpit Rock, French Creek” (2008-2009) for percussion and piano captures the distinct sonic character of the Pennsylvania trails that first deepened Shultis’s connection to Eastern woods.
The collection also includes two major piano cycles performed by Curt Cacioppo: “Devisadero: Six Preludes for Piano Solo” (2002-2007), inspired by the high desert trails of New Mexico, and “World’s End Preludes” (2012-2015), a profound musical pilgrimage following the tragic path of the Lenape people, ending with the Gnadenhütten massacre of 1782. The album closes with “One Far Noise” (2016) for tamtam and electronics, a piece written for percussionist Simone Mancuso that beautifully integrates birdsong recorded along the Philosophenweg in Heidelberg, Germany, bringing the composer’s journey full circle.
“Waldmusik is not just a collection of pieces; it is a document of my journey to a place where I could truly listen,” says Shultis. “The woods of New Mexico, Pennsylvania, South Korea, and Germany were where I learned to listen. This album is the sound of what I heard there.” The album offers a rich trail of acoustic and electroacoustic music, featuring an international cast of performers. The journey begins with “Circlings” (2010), a work for the Gyeonggi Gayageum Ensemble, electronics, and percussion, built from field recordings in South Korean temples and mountains. The trio “Wissahickon, Pulpit Rock, French Creek” (2008-2009) for percussion and piano captures the distinct sonic character of the Pennsylvania trails that first deepened Shultis’s connection to Eastern woods.
The collection also includes two major piano cycles performed by Curt Cacioppo: “Devisadero: Six Preludes for Piano Solo” (2002-2007), inspired by the high desert trails of New Mexico, and “World’s End Preludes” (2012-2015), a profound musical pilgrimage following the tragic path of the Lenape people, ending with the Gnadenhütten massacre of 1782. The album closes with “One Far Noise” (2016) for tamtam and electronics, a piece written for percussionist Simone Mancuso that beautifully integrates birdsong recorded along the Philosophenweg in Heidelberg, Germany, bringing the composer’s journey full circle.
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