Night of Hunters
Encyclopedia
Night of Hunters is the 12th solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Tori Amos
, released on September 20, 2011, in the United States, through Deutsche Grammophon Records. It is a concept album
that Amos has described as "a 21st century song cycle
inspired by classical music themes spanning over 400 years." She uses the musical tradition of variations on a theme
to pay tribute to such renowned composers as Bach
, Chopin, Debussy, Granados
, Satie and Schubert, while taking inspiration from their original compositions
to create a new, independent work. Regarding the album's concept, she has described it as the exploration of "the hunter and the hunted and how both exist within us" through the story of "a woman who finds herself in the dying embers of a relationship."
Night of Hunters is Amos' first studio album recorded entirely through the use of both acoustic
means and instruments, relying solely on her vocals and classically trained piano
skills, along with a variety of accompanying string
and woodwind
instruments, to create its classical sound. Additionally, to record this album Amos has broken a nearly 15-year-long collaboration with her studio and touring bandmates, choosing to work with a variety of new musicians, including the Berlin Philharmonic's principal clarinetist, Andreas Ottensamer
, and the award-winning string quartet
, Apollon Musagète, while enlisting her daughter, Natashya Hawley, and niece, Kelsey Dobyns, as guest vocalists. Night of Hunters also marks the twentieth anniversary of her long-time collaboration with John Philip Shenale
, who has contributed arrangements
to most of her albums, beginning with her solo debut, Little Earthquakes
(1992).
The album is Amos' first release on a classical music
label. Like her previous releases, it is available in both standard and deluxe CD formats, digital format, as well as limited edition vinyl.
approached her to write a 21st Century song cycle under the condition that it be centered around classical music themes. She also suggested that her work on the upcoming musical, The Light Princess
, sharpened her narrative skills for the project. In the official electronic press kit released for the album, Amos spoke of listening to and being inspired by the music of Stravinsky and of how she was "taken by the idea of an octet
" for this project, stating that she found it appealing that other instruments could serve as the voices of various characters throughout the story while not overpowering the piano as the central instrument of the piece. In an interview with Marcel Anders, journalist for The Interview People, Amos credited Dr. Alexander Buhr, executive producer
for Deutsche Grammophon, with providing her with a wealth of knowledge on the great composers of the last four-hundred years and with recordings of some of their best compositions. Amos pointed out that it was Dr. Buhr who initially approached and offered her the opportunity to headline this project. During this interview, Amos also cited Schubert's Winterreise
as "a mentor in many ways" while composing Night of Hunters.
house near the River Bandon
, located on the outskirts of Kinsale
, County Cork
in Ireland
. As dusk turns to night, the woman is confronted by Annabelle, a shapeshifting
"childlike creature" who "emerges from nature", played by Amos' daughter. The mythical creature, representing "duality", as well as the ancient forces of "the hunter" and "the hunted", coaxes the woman to follow her into the night, transporting them both approximately three-thousand years into the past to witness a previous incarnation of the woman's relationship. It was a time of great chaos and violence in ancient Ireland as a war of beliefs raged on, and the woman and her lover fought side-by-side as bards, using the ancient tree alphabet
as their only weapon. Once the war was lost, however, the woman and her lover crossed the Atlantic on his sailboat, abandoning her world, the New World
, in favor of his world, the Old World
. It was during this time that forces, both within and outside of their control, drew the couple apart. After their sojourn into the past, Annabelle inducts the woman in an ancient peyote
ritual which is meant to further expand her consciousness through both hallucinogenic and meditative
means. During the ritual, Annabelle helps the woman realize how she abandoned her own fire and inner-strength when she left her world in favor of her lover's. The woman also sees how both she and her former lover interchangeably misused the ancient forces of "the hunter" and "the hunted" against one another throughout the course of their union. This self-destructive dynamic, in turn, also plagued the present-day incarnation of their relationship. Once the ritual and woman's self-examination are complete, Annabelle reminds her of the perils and benefits found in using and misusing the ancient energies of "the hunter" and "the hunted". The creature also advises the woman that there are "forces" at work that must be dealt with and that she must leave her so that she alone may face the Fire Muse
, played by Amos' niece Kelsey Dobyns. In meeting the mythical goddess, the woman is allowed to recapture the fire and inner-strength she had abandoned, both in her past and present incarnations, and is taught about the "light" and "dark" forces of the world at large. The Fire Muse reminds the woman that more than just her own mortal pains and desires are of concern and, together, as the fiery goddess calls upon the woman to see the world from a higher perspective, they weave a spell to protect the light of the world from the forces of darkness. The woman ends her journey at dawn, renewed and grateful for her place in the world and for all of the people that have inhabited her life, including her former lover.
In an interview with Instinct
, Amos spoke of relating "to both the male and female in this story," while during her interview with The Interview People, she stressed that the themes tackled on the record are dualistic in nature for her, whereby they are somewhat telling of both "intimate conflict[s]" within her own marriage along with the "greater problem[s]" of the world today. Amos revealed that the album is "a compilation of experiences Mark and I have had for over sixteen years. We're still together, knock on wood. And we work together and we play together. And we're trying to be parents together. And it's difficult sometimes when you have to be the grown-ups." "I understand the man and the woman [on this album] very well," she continued. "It's not a play by play of me and husband, but there is a bit of us in there." In regards to the universal aspect of the record, Amos concluded, "As the story progresses, the protagonist begins to see that there [are] greater problem[s] in the world. And they have to deal with their world. Not just another person in their world, but their relationship to the world itself."
. On September 12, 2011, NPR
featured the first authorized full audio stream of Night of Hunters, accompanied by a review of the album by music journalist Ann Powers
, co-author of Amos' biography, Piece by Piece
(2005).
To promote the album, Amos will embark on the Night of Hunters tour
supported by the Apollon Musagète, making it her first tour with a string quartet
. Amos will launch the tour in Europe
on September 28, 2011, in Helsinki, Finland, finishing off in Dublin, Ireland on November 9, 2011. This will be followed by a tour in North America
, beginning on November 29, 2011, in Atlanta, Georgia
and ending on December 22, 2011, in Dallas, Texas
. In addition to playing select songs from Night of Hunters, Amos has also revealed that Shenale will be rearranging various songs from her catalogue to accommodate the string quartet.
, citing both as major highlights of the record.
The All Music Guide gave the album a glowing review, stating, "[Amos] employs her finest vocal and piano-playing skills [here]," resulting in an album of "sophistication, elegance, and poetry" that "contains the power, dynamics and splendor of her very best material," while the Associated Press
observed, "There are clear classical, even operatic influences, from sweeping strings and reedy woodwinds, [to] Amos' gripping piano" on this "beautifully composed album which highlights Amos' classical training and fierce intensity as a musician and songwriter." The prestigious A.V. Club praised Amos for "[getting] back to the basics", calling the record a "sprawling [...] thesis on the enduring beauty of classical music" and "[Amos'] most enjoyable album in years," while Blurt magazine insisted, "There's so much more to Amos' latest music," stating, "The one-time child prodigy is a celebrated virtuoso for a reason. Doubters need only listen to her ever-masterful piano playing intertwined with orchestral movements [here] and her as-distinctive-as-Stevie Nicks
' voice to confirm that", declaring the album "a rare musical vision you'd be foolish to pass up." The Daily Express also hailed the album, calling it "complex, accomplished and [Amos'] finest work in a decade," while The Daily Mail declared it antithetical to "easy-listening", raving, "[Amos] is a real talent. Her virtuoso piano work [here] is augmented by stunning orchestration." Glide Magazine was taken by the "power, immediacy and splendor" of the album, stating, "Amos has delivered her most absorbing, forceful and captivating record since 2002’s Scarlet's Walk
," declaring it, finally, "a venerable tour de force." Drowned In Sound
gave a positive review, praising Amos for the sparse production of the album and noting "as a whole [it] showcases the best of [Amos'] piano work." The Guardian
criticized the album for its "overthought concept" and focus on "resolution rather than build-up", but praised Amos for her craftmanship as a musician, stating, "[The fact] that Amos can weave her own songs so deftly into variations on classical pieces is testament to her talent, and the piano, string and woodwind arrangements frequently sound as lovely as her earlier orchestral experiments." The prestigious Harvard Crimson
praised Amos for "composing an album that effectively uses chamber music
as a tool relevant to the times," declaring it "the work of an accomplished musical architect" and describing it as "an inimitable blend of vocal arrangements, orchestral scoring, and a spiritual homage to nature" with "moments of impeccable instrumentation" that "play more like the score of a dramatic film than the work of a singer-songwriter," all of it culminating in "an intricate, swirling triumph." Holy Moly!
called it "a sumptuous sounding work, with the piano to the fore," also noting "While this is a new approach for [Amos] (abandoning her usual musicians in favour of [a] clarinettist and string quartet), she sounds completely at home with what is essentially an intellectual take on the Broadway musical
." The Los Angeles Times
called the album "a beautiful kaleidoscope of remembering and letting go", comparing it to the works of Kate Bush
and stating, "[Amos'] voice is a crystal bell with only the ivory [of her piano] guiding her" as we witness "an artist maturing and growing with her music, [and] making sense of her past in a wholly original, intelligent way." The London Evening Standard
praised Amos for handling the classical proceedings "triumphantly", stating, "From the reassuringly bleak opening to the breathy piano and scratched strings of the [album's centerpiece], these graceful, imaginative, all-acoustic songs threaten to give classical crossover a good name. Amos, meanwhile, deserves a reappraisal." Metromix
called the record "one of the most gorgeous and challenging albums of Amos' career," pointing out her "stunning acoustic piano skills," and labeling it, finally, "a master class in Amos' artistic power." The Music Fix gave the album a positive review, distinguishing it for its "rich sonic tapestry, with strings and woodwinds swelling underneath [Amos'] always virtuoso piano performances," and NPR
declared it "the album [Amos] was destined, by early apprenticeship and spiritual affinity, to record." The Observer
, in turn, criticized the album for its "florid excesses", stating, "it plays out like an intermittently absorbing, if overly demanding, night at the theatre [...] but Amos's voice possesses enough conviction and personality to breathe life into what could have been an orchestral folly," while Ology
also cited it as "[Amos'] best album in more than a decade," calling it "an overpoweringly lush rumination on her classical influences that’s both sprawling and intimate, powerful and delicate." PopMatters
criticized the album for its "elliptical" narrative but noted, "Nevertheless, the album does contain its share of gripping drama, undeniable poignancy, and iridescent beauty" and "it is hard not to applaud, even marvel at its intense focus, meticulous craftsmanship, and bravura performances, not to mention its sheer artistic ambition." The Salt Lake Tribune commended Amos for "[skipping] the gimmicks that have marred her later works and [returning] to the raw emotion and power of her earlier songs," while The Scotsman
hailed the album, also comparing it to the works of Kate Bush
and calling it "piano rich", "intensely personal", "bonkers, mesmeric and charged with a pristine eroticism," declaring, finally, "This is a real record by a real artist, a rare thing in this age of disposable culture." The Scottish magazine, The Skinny, praised the album for its "focus on delicate symphonies and baroque drama," comparing it to "the stark and candid nature of Under The Pink
," and citing it as both "a breathtaking return" and Amos' "strongest album in over a decade," while Slant
criticized the album for its uniform sound and tempo, but noted, "The more direct songs are genuinely beautiful and transcend the trappings of the album's rigid construct," also stating, "every [string and] woodwind instrument rings with the purest of tones in support of Amos's typically stunning piano work" resulting in a "beautiful, smart record." Spin
praised Amos for creating "a wildly imaginative ride full of orchestral fireworks and fairy-tale melodrama," while Uncut Magazine
declared, "If the aim was to out-bonkers Joanna Newsom
and Kate Bush
while creating a compelling album, Amos has more than succeeded." The UK-based women in music compendium, Wears The Trousers Magazine, continued with the praise, also crediting the album with being Amos' "most cohesive and consistent" in nearly a decade, lauding her for "[building] on the work of past masters to develop an utterly distinctive vision of her own," resulting in "a rich, immersive record of beauty, danger and grace."
While the album's debut at #24 on the Billboard 200 broke her tally of Top 10 debuts, Amos did make Billboard history by being the first female artist to have an album place in the Top 10 of the Classical, Alternative, and Rock charts simultaneously.
Tori Amos
Tori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...
, released on September 20, 2011, in the United States, through Deutsche Grammophon Records. It is a concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
that Amos has described as "a 21st century song cycle
Song cycle
A song cycle is a group of songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a single entity. As a rule, all of the songs are by the same composer and often use words from the same poet or lyricist. Unification can be achieved by a narrative or a persona common to the songs, or even, as in Schumann's...
inspired by classical music themes spanning over 400 years." She uses the musical tradition of variations on a theme
Variation (music)
In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve harmony, melody, counterpoint, rhythm, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these.-Variation form:...
to pay tribute to such renowned composers as Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
, Chopin, Debussy, Granados
Enrique Granados
Enrique Granados y Campiña was a Spanish pianist and composer of classical music. His music is in a uniquely Spanish style and, as such, representative of musical nationalism...
, Satie and Schubert, while taking inspiration from their original compositions
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
to create a new, independent work. Regarding the album's concept, she has described it as the exploration of "the hunter and the hunted and how both exist within us" through the story of "a woman who finds herself in the dying embers of a relationship."
Night of Hunters is Amos' first studio album recorded entirely through the use of both acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
means and instruments, relying solely on her vocals and classically trained piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
skills, along with a variety of accompanying string
Bowed string instrument
Bowed string instruments are a subcategory of string instruments that are played by a bow rubbing the strings. The bow rubbing the string causes vibration which the instrument emits as sound.-Violin family:...
and woodwind
Woodwind instrument
A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument which produces sound when the player blows air against a sharp edge or through a reed, causing the air within its resonator to vibrate...
instruments, to create its classical sound. Additionally, to record this album Amos has broken a nearly 15-year-long collaboration with her studio and touring bandmates, choosing to work with a variety of new musicians, including the Berlin Philharmonic's principal clarinetist, Andreas Ottensamer
Andreas Ottensamer
Andreas Ottensamer is an Austrian clarinetist.- Life :Ottensamer commenced his musical studies in 1999 on piano in his hometown and then at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, on Violoncello with Wolfgang Herzer and then from 2003 Clarinet with Johann Hindler. Ottensamer is also...
, and the award-winning string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
, Apollon Musagète, while enlisting her daughter, Natashya Hawley, and niece, Kelsey Dobyns, as guest vocalists. Night of Hunters also marks the twentieth anniversary of her long-time collaboration with John Philip Shenale
John Philip Shenale
John Philip Shenale is a Canadian composer, arranger, musician and producer based in Los Angeles. He has contributed his talents to over forty Gold and Platinum albums, and over thirty Top 40 singles. His work has also been associated with twenty-one Grammy Award nominations.-Background:Shenale...
, who has contributed arrangements
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
to most of her albums, beginning with her solo debut, Little Earthquakes
Little Earthquakes
-B-sides:The album is also known for its collection of B-sides. The four songs recorded with Davitt Sigerson that did not make it to the final version of the album were included on the singles released from Little Earthquakes....
(1992).
The album is Amos' first release on a classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
label. Like her previous releases, it is available in both standard and deluxe CD formats, digital format, as well as limited edition vinyl.
Origins
In an interview with Out Magazine, Amos revealed that work on Night of Hunters began after Deutsche GrammophonDeutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
approached her to write a 21st Century song cycle under the condition that it be centered around classical music themes. She also suggested that her work on the upcoming musical, The Light Princess
The Light Princess
The Light Princess is a fairy tale by George MacDonald. It was published in 1864.- Plot summary :A king and queen, after some time, have a daughter. The king invites everyone to the christening, except his sister Princess Makemnoit, a spiteful and sour woman. She arrives without an invitation and...
, sharpened her narrative skills for the project. In the official electronic press kit released for the album, Amos spoke of listening to and being inspired by the music of Stravinsky and of how she was "taken by the idea of an octet
Octet (music)
In music, an octet is a musical ensemble consisting of eight instruments or voices, or a musical composition written for such an ensemble.-Octets in classical music:Octets in classical music are one of the largest groupings of chamber music...
" for this project, stating that she found it appealing that other instruments could serve as the voices of various characters throughout the story while not overpowering the piano as the central instrument of the piece. In an interview with Marcel Anders, journalist for The Interview People, Amos credited Dr. Alexander Buhr, executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
for Deutsche Grammophon, with providing her with a wealth of knowledge on the great composers of the last four-hundred years and with recordings of some of their best compositions. Amos pointed out that it was Dr. Buhr who initially approached and offered her the opportunity to headline this project. During this interview, Amos also cited Schubert's Winterreise
Winterreise
Winterreise is a song cycle for voice and piano by Franz Schubert , a setting of 24 poems by Wilhelm Müller. It is the second of Schubert's two great song cycles on Müller's poems, the earlier being Die schöne Müllerin...
as "a mentor in many ways" while composing Night of Hunters.
Concept
According to Amos, the concept centers on a woman who is left alone on the eve of her relationship's demise in an old GeorgianGeorgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
house near the River Bandon
River Bandon
The River Bandon is a river in County Cork in Ireland. It rises at Nowen Hill , to the north of Drimoleague.The river then flows to Dunmanway, before turning eastward towards the twin villages of Ballineen and Enniskean...
, located on the outskirts of Kinsale
Kinsale
Kinsale is a town in County Cork, Ireland. Located some 25 km south of Cork City on the coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon and has a population of 2,257 which increases substantially during the summer months when the tourist season is at its peak and...
, County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. As dusk turns to night, the woman is confronted by Annabelle, a shapeshifting
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
"childlike creature" who "emerges from nature", played by Amos' daughter. The mythical creature, representing "duality", as well as the ancient forces of "the hunter" and "the hunted", coaxes the woman to follow her into the night, transporting them both approximately three-thousand years into the past to witness a previous incarnation of the woman's relationship. It was a time of great chaos and violence in ancient Ireland as a war of beliefs raged on, and the woman and her lover fought side-by-side as bards, using the ancient tree alphabet
Ogham
Ogham is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the Old Irish language, and occasionally the Brythonic language. Ogham is sometimes called the "Celtic Tree Alphabet", based on a High Medieval Bríatharogam tradition ascribing names of trees to the individual letters.There are roughly...
as their only weapon. Once the war was lost, however, the woman and her lover crossed the Atlantic on his sailboat, abandoning her world, the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
, in favor of his world, the Old World
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
. It was during this time that forces, both within and outside of their control, drew the couple apart. After their sojourn into the past, Annabelle inducts the woman in an ancient peyote
Peyote
Lophophora williamsii , better known by its common name Peyote , is a small, spineless cactus with psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline.It is native to southwestern Texas and Mexico...
ritual which is meant to further expand her consciousness through both hallucinogenic and meditative
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
means. During the ritual, Annabelle helps the woman realize how she abandoned her own fire and inner-strength when she left her world in favor of her lover's. The woman also sees how both she and her former lover interchangeably misused the ancient forces of "the hunter" and "the hunted" against one another throughout the course of their union. This self-destructive dynamic, in turn, also plagued the present-day incarnation of their relationship. Once the ritual and woman's self-examination are complete, Annabelle reminds her of the perils and benefits found in using and misusing the ancient energies of "the hunter" and "the hunted". The creature also advises the woman that there are "forces" at work that must be dealt with and that she must leave her so that she alone may face the Fire Muse
Muse
The Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature, are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths...
, played by Amos' niece Kelsey Dobyns. In meeting the mythical goddess, the woman is allowed to recapture the fire and inner-strength she had abandoned, both in her past and present incarnations, and is taught about the "light" and "dark" forces of the world at large. The Fire Muse reminds the woman that more than just her own mortal pains and desires are of concern and, together, as the fiery goddess calls upon the woman to see the world from a higher perspective, they weave a spell to protect the light of the world from the forces of darkness. The woman ends her journey at dawn, renewed and grateful for her place in the world and for all of the people that have inhabited her life, including her former lover.
In an interview with Instinct
Instinct (magazine)
Instinct is a monthly American magazine geared toward gay men, published by Instinct Publishing, Inc. since 1997. Distributed by Curtis Circulation...
, Amos spoke of relating "to both the male and female in this story," while during her interview with The Interview People, she stressed that the themes tackled on the record are dualistic in nature for her, whereby they are somewhat telling of both "intimate conflict[s]" within her own marriage along with the "greater problem[s]" of the world today. Amos revealed that the album is "a compilation of experiences Mark and I have had for over sixteen years. We're still together, knock on wood. And we work together and we play together. And we're trying to be parents together. And it's difficult sometimes when you have to be the grown-ups." "I understand the man and the woman [on this album] very well," she continued. "It's not a play by play of me and husband, but there is a bit of us in there." In regards to the universal aspect of the record, Amos concluded, "As the story progresses, the protagonist begins to see that there [are] greater problem[s] in the world. And they have to deal with their world. Not just another person in their world, but their relationship to the world itself."
Promotion and touring
Promotion for Night of Hunters kicked-off on August 18, 2011, when Amos and Deutsche Grammophon debuted a video for the song "Carry" along with an audio stream of the song "Shattering Sea" on FacebookFacebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
. On September 12, 2011, NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
featured the first authorized full audio stream of Night of Hunters, accompanied by a review of the album by music journalist Ann Powers
Ann Powers
Ann Powers is an American writer and pop music critic.Powers has been writing about popular music and society since the early 1980s...
, co-author of Amos' biography, Piece by Piece
Piece by Piece (book)
Piece by Piece is an autobiographical book by singer/songwriter Tori Amos and co-authored by rock music journalist Ann Powers. It was published in the U.S. in February 2005 and in the U.K. in June 2005.-Synopsis:...
(2005).
To promote the album, Amos will embark on the Night of Hunters tour
Night of Hunters tour
The Night of Hunters Tour is the 11th world concert tour by American singer-songwriter Tori Amos in support of her 12th studio album Night of Hunters. During the tour Amos will be supported by Apollon Musagète Quartett making this her first tour with a string quartet...
supported by the Apollon Musagète, making it her first tour with a string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
. Amos will launch the tour in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
on September 28, 2011, in Helsinki, Finland, finishing off in Dublin, Ireland on November 9, 2011. This will be followed by a tour in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, beginning on November 29, 2011, in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
and ending on December 22, 2011, in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
. In addition to playing select songs from Night of Hunters, Amos has also revealed that Shenale will be rearranging various songs from her catalogue to accommodate the string quartet.
Critical response
Although some critics took issue with the extensive concept of Night of Hunters, reviews were mostly positive, with many also citing it as Amos' strongest release in nearly a decade. Additionally, a number of critics took note of the vocal contributions by Amos' daughter and of Amos' own skills as a pianistPianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, citing both as major highlights of the record.
The All Music Guide gave the album a glowing review, stating, "[Amos] employs her finest vocal and piano-playing skills [here]," resulting in an album of "sophistication, elegance, and poetry" that "contains the power, dynamics and splendor of her very best material," while the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
observed, "There are clear classical, even operatic influences, from sweeping strings and reedy woodwinds, [to] Amos' gripping piano" on this "beautifully composed album which highlights Amos' classical training and fierce intensity as a musician and songwriter." The prestigious A.V. Club praised Amos for "[getting] back to the basics", calling the record a "sprawling [...] thesis on the enduring beauty of classical music" and "[Amos'] most enjoyable album in years," while Blurt magazine insisted, "There's so much more to Amos' latest music," stating, "The one-time child prodigy is a celebrated virtuoso for a reason. Doubters need only listen to her ever-masterful piano playing intertwined with orchestral movements [here] and her as-distinctive-as-Stevie Nicks
Stevie Nicks
Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums...
' voice to confirm that", declaring the album "a rare musical vision you'd be foolish to pass up." The Daily Express also hailed the album, calling it "complex, accomplished and [Amos'] finest work in a decade," while The Daily Mail declared it antithetical to "easy-listening", raving, "[Amos] is a real talent. Her virtuoso piano work [here] is augmented by stunning orchestration." Glide Magazine was taken by the "power, immediacy and splendor" of the album, stating, "Amos has delivered her most absorbing, forceful and captivating record since 2002’s Scarlet's Walk
Scarlet's Walk
Scarlet's Walk is the seventh album released in singer-songwriter Tori Amos' solo career. The 18-track concept album details the cross-country travels of Scarlet, a character loosely based on Amos, as well as the concept of America post-September 11th . The album was the first released by Amos on...
," declaring it, finally, "a venerable tour de force." Drowned In Sound
Drowned in Sound
DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...
gave a positive review, praising Amos for the sparse production of the album and noting "as a whole [it] showcases the best of [Amos'] piano work." The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
criticized the album for its "overthought concept" and focus on "resolution rather than build-up", but praised Amos for her craftmanship as a musician, stating, "[The fact] that Amos can weave her own songs so deftly into variations on classical pieces is testament to her talent, and the piano, string and woodwind arrangements frequently sound as lovely as her earlier orchestral experiments." The prestigious Harvard Crimson
Harvard Crimson
The Harvard Crimson are the athletic teams of Harvard University. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2006, there were 41 Division I intercollegiate varsity sports teams for women and men at Harvard, more than at any other NCAA Division I college in the country...
praised Amos for "composing an album that effectively uses chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
as a tool relevant to the times," declaring it "the work of an accomplished musical architect" and describing it as "an inimitable blend of vocal arrangements, orchestral scoring, and a spiritual homage to nature" with "moments of impeccable instrumentation" that "play more like the score of a dramatic film than the work of a singer-songwriter," all of it culminating in "an intricate, swirling triumph." Holy Moly!
Holy Moly
Holy Moly, often known as "HM", is an entertainment website and weekly email based in the UK and has similarities to Popbitch, and B3ta. It publishes gossip items related to celebrities, notably Amy Winehouse, Sienna Miller, Britney Spears, Tom Cruise and Paris Hilton...
called it "a sumptuous sounding work, with the piano to the fore," also noting "While this is a new approach for [Amos] (abandoning her usual musicians in favour of [a] clarinettist and string quartet), she sounds completely at home with what is essentially an intellectual take on the Broadway musical
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
." The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
called the album "a beautiful kaleidoscope of remembering and letting go", comparing it to the works of Kate Bush
Kate Bush
Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
and stating, "[Amos'] voice is a crystal bell with only the ivory [of her piano] guiding her" as we witness "an artist maturing and growing with her music, [and] making sense of her past in a wholly original, intelligent way." The London Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
praised Amos for handling the classical proceedings "triumphantly", stating, "From the reassuringly bleak opening to the breathy piano and scratched strings of the [album's centerpiece], these graceful, imaginative, all-acoustic songs threaten to give classical crossover a good name. Amos, meanwhile, deserves a reappraisal." Metromix
Metromix
Metromix is a network of local entertainment websites backed by a joint venture between media companies Gannett and Tribune Co. A guide to local restaurants, bars and clubs, events, concerts and movies, Metromix is currently available in over 60 markets. In late 2009, the company launched 27 new...
called the record "one of the most gorgeous and challenging albums of Amos' career," pointing out her "stunning acoustic piano skills," and labeling it, finally, "a master class in Amos' artistic power." The Music Fix gave the album a positive review, distinguishing it for its "rich sonic tapestry, with strings and woodwinds swelling underneath [Amos'] always virtuoso piano performances," and NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
declared it "the album [Amos] was destined, by early apprenticeship and spiritual affinity, to record." The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
, in turn, criticized the album for its "florid excesses", stating, "it plays out like an intermittently absorbing, if overly demanding, night at the theatre [...] but Amos's voice possesses enough conviction and personality to breathe life into what could have been an orchestral folly," while Ology
Ology
Ology is an entertainment and social media website based in New York City. It is run by Beth Haggerty and Vivian Moran, both of whom founded it. The company focuses on helping users to find and share content about their interests.-History:...
also cited it as "[Amos'] best album in more than a decade," calling it "an overpoweringly lush rumination on her classical influences that’s both sprawling and intimate, powerful and delicate." PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
criticized the album for its "elliptical" narrative but noted, "Nevertheless, the album does contain its share of gripping drama, undeniable poignancy, and iridescent beauty" and "it is hard not to applaud, even marvel at its intense focus, meticulous craftsmanship, and bravura performances, not to mention its sheer artistic ambition." The Salt Lake Tribune commended Amos for "[skipping] the gimmicks that have marred her later works and [returning] to the raw emotion and power of her earlier songs," while The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
hailed the album, also comparing it to the works of Kate Bush
Kate Bush
Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
and calling it "piano rich", "intensely personal", "bonkers, mesmeric and charged with a pristine eroticism," declaring, finally, "This is a real record by a real artist, a rare thing in this age of disposable culture." The Scottish magazine, The Skinny, praised the album for its "focus on delicate symphonies and baroque drama," comparing it to "the stark and candid nature of Under The Pink
Under the Pink
Under the Pink is the second solo album by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. Upon its release in January 1994, the album peaked at US #12 and on the back of the hit single "Cornflake Girl", the album debuted at UK #1, her highest-charting UK album debut to date. It had sold around 220,000 copies in the...
," and citing it as both "a breathtaking return" and Amos' "strongest album in over a decade," while Slant
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
criticized the album for its uniform sound and tempo, but noted, "The more direct songs are genuinely beautiful and transcend the trappings of the album's rigid construct," also stating, "every [string and] woodwind instrument rings with the purest of tones in support of Amos's typically stunning piano work" resulting in a "beautiful, smart record." Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
praised Amos for creating "a wildly imaginative ride full of orchestral fireworks and fairy-tale melodrama," while Uncut Magazine
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
declared, "If the aim was to out-bonkers Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom is an American harpist, pianist and singer-songwriter from Nevada City, California.- Early life :Newsom grew up in the small town of Nevada City, California...
and Kate Bush
Kate Bush
Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
while creating a compelling album, Amos has more than succeeded." The UK-based women in music compendium, Wears The Trousers Magazine, continued with the praise, also crediting the album with being Amos' "most cohesive and consistent" in nearly a decade, lauding her for "[building] on the work of past masters to develop an utterly distinctive vision of her own," resulting in "a rich, immersive record of beauty, danger and grace."
Track listing
Chart positions
The chart below lists the peak positions for Night of Hunters on various music charts around the world.| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... (U.S.) |
24 |
| Billboard Top Rock Albums | 7 |
| Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Top Classical Albums |
1 |
| Billboard Top Alternative Albums | 5 |
| Billboard Tastemakers | 8 |
| Billboard Top Digital Albums | 15 |
| Canadian Albums Chart | 38 |
| UK Albums Chart | 27 |
| Dutch Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
34 |
| Polish Albums Chart OLiS OLiS is the official list of the highest selling music albums in Poland. The list exists since October 23, 2000 and is provided by ZPAV.... |
13 |
| Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
42 |
| Italian Albums Chart | 47 |
While the album's debut at #24 on the Billboard 200 broke her tally of Top 10 debuts, Amos did make Billboard history by being the first female artist to have an album place in the Top 10 of the Classical, Alternative, and Rock charts simultaneously.
Musicians
- Tori AmosTori AmosTori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...
– vocals, BösendorferBösendorferBösendorfer is an Austrian piano manufacturer, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha. The brand is known for producing pianos with a uniquely rich, singing, and sustaining tone...
(pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
) - John Philip ShenaleJohn Philip ShenaleJohn Philip Shenale is a Canadian composer, arranger, musician and producer based in Los Angeles. He has contributed his talents to over forty Gold and Platinum albums, and over thirty Top 40 singles. His work has also been associated with twenty-one Grammy Award nominations.-Background:Shenale...
– arrangementsArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
String quartet (Apollon Musagète)
- Piotr Skweres – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Piotr Szumieł – violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
- Paweł Zalejski – violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Bartosz Zachłod – violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
Woodwind instruments
- Laura Lucas – fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
- Andreas OttensamerAndreas OttensamerAndreas Ottensamer is an Austrian clarinetist.- Life :Ottensamer commenced his musical studies in 1999 on piano in his hometown and then at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, on Violoncello with Wolfgang Herzer and then from 2003 Clarinet with Johann Hindler. Ottensamer is also...
– clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed... - Nigel Shore – oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
, english hornCor anglaisThe cor anglais , or English horn , is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family.... - Peter WhelanPeter WhelanPeter Whelan is a British playwright.Whelan was born and raised in Stoke-on-Trent, England. His works includes seven plays for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the first of which was Captain Swing, in 1979...
– bassoonBassoonThe bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature... - Luke WhiteheadLuke WhiteheadLuke Edward Whitehead is an American basketball player. He played forward for the University of Louisville...
– contrabassoonContrabassoonThe contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower...
Additional vocalists
- Kelsey Dobyns – guest vocals as 'The Fire Muse' on "Night of Hunters"
- Natashya Hawley – guest vocals as 'Anabelle' on "SnowBlind", "Cactus Practice", "Job's Coffin" and "The Chase"
Production
- Tori Amos – record producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
- Mark Hawley – mixerAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
- Marcel van Limbeek – mixer
- Jon Astley – mastering
- Dr. Alexander Buhr – executive producer
- Victor de Mello – photography
Release history
| Country | Date | Label | Format | Catalogue number(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 16 September 2011 | Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label... |
CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... |
— |
| United Kingdom | 19 September 2011 | — | ||
| Canada | 20 September 2011 | — | ||
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
B0015849-02 (standard) | |||
| B0015852-00 (deluxe) | ||||
| LP LP album The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry... |
— | |||