Ludovico Einaudi

Ludovico Einaudi is an Italian pianist and composer from Torino, Italy. His work sits within classical, modern classical, and western classical music, and it also draws on ambient, instrumental, and meditative qualities. He begins his career as a classical composer and later incorporates elements of pop, rock, folk, and world music into his writing.

Background and training

Einaudi is born in 1955 and grows up in a musical family. His mother, Renata Aldrovandi, plays the piano to him as a child, and his grandfather Waldo Aldrovandi is a pianist, opera conductor, and composer who later emigrates to Australia after World War II. His father, Giulio Einaudi, is a publisher and founder of Giulio Einaudi Editore, with authors including Italo Calvino and Primo Levi among those he works with. His paternal grandfather, Luigi Einaudi, serves as President of Italy between 1948 and 1955.

He starts composing in his teenage years, first using a folk guitar. He trains at the Conservatorio Verdi in Milan, where he obtains a diploma in composition in 1982. In the same year, he takes an orchestration class taught by Luciano Berio and wins a scholarship to the Tanglewood Music Festival. He later says that Berio teaches him orchestration and a more open way of thinking about music. He also develops his approach through collaborations with musicians including Ballaké Sissoko of Mali and Djivan Gasparyan of Armenia.

Composition and recordings

Einaudi releases a number of solo albums for piano and other instruments. Among the best known are I Giorni, Nightbook, and In a Time Lapse. He also releases Seven Days Walking, a seven-part project that appears across seven months in 2019.

His music is used in film and television, and he composes scores for productions including This Is England, The Intouchables, I'm Still Here, the television miniseries Doctor Zhivago, and Acquario. He wins the Grolla d'oro for Acquario. His music is also used as the score for Nomadland and The Father, both of which win major awards.

Recognition

In 2005, Einaudi is appointed an Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

Associated act

Whitetree is listed as an associated act.