Vivaldi Sleep was a project undertaken in the spring of 2020, during the United Kingdom's first national lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Orchestra of the Swan recorded the slow movement of Vivaldi's Autumn concerto, then asked several other musicians to record their own track at home to go with it. The name of the album comes from the section of the sonnet that goes with the concerto, describing how the harvest celebration has ended and everyone has fallen into carefree sleep. That idea was picked up by all of the guests, so the results are hazy, changeable, and follow a stream-of-unconsciousness. Bandoneon player Eduardo Garcia does this literally with his recitation, but what most would think of as a "carefree" mood is hard to achieve when Vivaldi's figured bass is rooted in minor chords. Morpheus by Klezmer clarinetist Susi Evans is perhaps the most bittersweet. Philip Sheppard plays electric cello over the sampled and processed orchestra track in a haunting way. Oboist Paul Sartin uses a pastoral folk song as part of his improvisation, that again becomes darker-hued when paired with the Vivaldi. The tracks by Yumi Kurosawa on koto and by Shahbaz Hussain on tabla are a little closer to being emotionally neutral because their instruments are an exotic contrast to the Western orchestral strings. Overall, the idea of the album is an interesting one, executed by skilled and thoughtful musicians, but your response to it depends on understanding what is behind it and reconciling that with your own idea of "carefree sleep." ~ Patsy Morita, Rovi

1		Sleep Walk
2		Morpheus
3		Adrift in a Sea of Sleep
4		Night Song
5		Stasis
6		REM
7		Slow Wave
8		Polyphasic
9		Night Shift
10		Nocturnal Transmissions
11		Circadian Clocks

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