Another Dimension: Ludovico Einaudi and the Modern Classical Composition

As an art form, music has the capacity to both provoke deep introspection in the listener as well as transport them to another world entirely. With his work, Ludovico Einaudi seeks to do just that.

Einaudi is an Italian pianist and composer that creates a wide variety of classical works, ranging from soft and lyrical to grand and orchestral. His most popular work, Divenire, not only topped the classical charts, but also made its way onto the pop ones—an unprecedented feat for such a record. 

His interest in the piano began at a young age, when he heard his mother playing, and he began learning himself. It wasn’t until he was a teenager, however, that he began to take his music more seriously. He studied at the Conservatory of Turin, and went on to compose for ballets, films and theatrical productions in addition to creating his own works for orchestra.

His music has been included in award-winning films such as Nomadland and The Father. At present, he is one of the most highly streamed classical artists.

Incubation and the subconscious play a significant role in Einaudi’s process of composition. “It was like the music was coming by itself, without any effort from me,” he states in an interview. He also says that “I was connected to something inside … It was not coming from a logical process, but it was coming from somewhere else.” He may not be able to articulate where his ideas come from, but his lifelong experiences with music are likely working in the background to help him form new creations.

Divergent thinking is also clearly at play; he says that for his latest album, he recorded 500 pieces and eventually whittled it down to the twelve released.

Einaudi compares this process of determining an album’s length to writing a book. As he explains it, authors must decide how long their book should be, and so too must a musician. This is just one way that he uses analogy in his creative process. Another example of this is his album Seven Days Walking. The inspiration behind the album, he says in an interview, was the concept of a walk that is repeated every single day of the week. Each song contains many similar motifs and elements, in order to replicate the experience of walking an identical route each day, with slight variations due to circumstance.

While the composer primarily works alone, he does occasionally collaborate with the Royal Philharmonic in his orchestral pieces. Einaudi also recognizes that his music works as inspiration for many, whether it be students or other artists.

While a creative’s motives can never truly be externally assessed, Einaudi does seem to possess a great deal of intrinsic motivation. In a conversation on the Instagram live performances he gave during lockdown due to the pandemic, he says that, “It was just the desire for me.” No one told him to do it, and he kept coming back to it as an activity he enjoyed.

 

Many factors have contributed to Einaudi’s success. But the openness to experience that he possesses is one of his greatest assets. “I felt that music was the territory wherein I knew I could express myself. Outside of music, I felt that my life was more black and white. With music in my life, I felt more colours.”

Einaudi’s latest record, titled Underwater and made up entirely of solo piano works, was released in 2021, and he will be performing in July 2022 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.