Recording this album was a magical experience. Labeaume is a cobbled village and in the middle stands a beautiful church with one of the finest acoustics I have ever heard. I first came to Labeaume to perform in their summer festival with the Diana Baroni Trio and was so taken by the sound that I told Phillipe, the director of the festival that I would love to come here and record one day. And thus began the journey of this album. I had always wanted to record a solo cello album featuring the Bach suites, but had never felt the time was right. The suites are such colossal monuments in the solo cello repertoire that it is hard to find other pieces to balance them. So, I decided to create a new work. In the summer I began composing The Elements, a piece for solo cello and in the midst of writing it came the inspiration for Three Mande Songs. Straight after, I travelled to Labeaume for the concert with the Diana Baroni trio and knew this ...