Book of Days: Liner Notes

In the albums of KastningSiegfried, the Book of Days series are shorter in duration than the Binary Forms pieces; yet more atmospheric.  The Book of Days pieces exhibit an inclination or tendency toward vignettes; a short story; a captured moment.  Sparseness, not density, was the order of the day.

Book of Days was recorded at various times in 2001.  The track titles indicate the actual recording date. Siegfried and I wanted to capture pieces reflecting various seasonal changes, and as such, we blocked out various recording dates throughout 2001.  Book of Days was recorded for radio airplay only, and as such, its original release in 2002 was only to radio stations; it was never released on a label or made commercially or publicly available. 

Around 2010, Sándor Szabó began to ask me about a possible release for Book of Days.  He believed that it was a strong work, and should have a commercial release.  At that time, an actual and official Book of Days release had never occurred to me.  Sándor would mention it to me every year or so, but it wasn't until 2016 when he took it upon himself to remaster it that I began to consider his suggestion.  The original recordings were live to 2-track, and as such, could not be remixed.  Sándor's heroic efforts in remastering this record were impressive; were it not for him, Book of Days would never have been released.

As I went back through the recording archives during Sándor's remastering process, I discovered 10 pieces in the Book of Days recordings that were never released back in 2002.  The 10 lost pieces were also remastered, and are presented here for the first time, along with the original 13 pieces.

So, seventeen years after it was recorded, Book of Days is finally getting its official release on Greydisc Records on 19 June 2018.