Watch the Video for "Piano Etude No.2" by Philip Glass Reworked by AVR In Collaboration with Mugler
music written by Philip Glass & reworked by AVR
recorded, produced & mixed by AVR
additional production by Fergus Frost
recorded drums: Luca Marini
performed drums: Hanno Stick
Director & Editor: Alex de Brabant
DOP: Kevin Klein
VFX: Felix Geen
Mastering: Felix Davis
Atmos Mastering: Mike Hillier @mikehillier
Colorist: Alaa Abdullatif
Rotoscope: Rohaman Sabbi
AC: Michael Herbers
Assistants: Raphael Fischer-Dieskau, Leander Rau, Mitch Speed
Styling: Nicole Walker
Wardrobe: Mugler
Titles & Logo Design: Fabian Maier-Bode
Logo Animation: Chernoff Faces
Special thanks to: Musicboard Berlin and Gema
AVR’s music is about collective transcendence and experiences that remind us of our shared humanity. The multi-gentre producer, composer and performer who studied jazz and classical piano since the age of nine had some rework ideas about the Philip Glass piece “Piano Etude No.2” for a while. To have it released on Glass’ label now is something she didn’t dare to dream of.
The most famous of his piano works has a big dynamic range, from introverted and serene to powerful and ecstatic — framed by the Glass meditation-like minimalism. the pieces’ emotional state Anna von Raison describes as her favorite in music: neither sad nor happy but instead on a meta-level, looking at things through the lens of freedom.
AVR’s recording starts with Glass’ original piano melody performed solely by her voice, as the song starts to build, the piano enters and once the full chords come together, her rework begins. She extends the composition with a high-energy drum solo part, played by Luca Marini (performed by Hanno STick). Later a choir enters with a legato arena chant melody to settle for the finale the way it all began: in the intimate sung version of the main theme.