Que Quede Escrito, the fourth single from Mirabai Ceiba‘s upcoming album ‘The Quiet Hour’ is like that drop of distilled nectar that represents all that the you see in a flower. The musical expression in this song takes you on quite a journey, and understanding how that music came to be was my goal in reaching out to Markus Sieber (of Mirabai Ceiba) and Jamshied Sharifi (who both co-produced this track and composed the string arrangement for it). We were so blown away by this string arrangement and the beauty of it that we have decided to submit it for this year’s Grammy for ‘BEST ARRANGEMENT, INSTRUMENTS AND VOCALS.’ Once you’ve listened, you’ll understand.
I am always in awe of Jamshied’s artistry. He has produced most of Mirabai Ceiba’s albums with such a gentle touch. He also produced Snatam Kaur’s Grammy-Nominated album, Beloved. But outside of our own musical circles, he is celebrated for his masterful writing, composing and arranging. He won a Tony Award for his orchestration of ‘The Band’s Visit.’
I asked Jamshied what it was like to compose this string arrangement and how it felt to have it woven in with the story of this song about love that transcends distance.
Jamshied’s answer: “The arrangement for “Que Quede Escrito” was meant to take the song into a new direction for Mirabai Ceiba, one not driven by guitar and without a constant pulse, but with more of a chamber orchestra feel. We had touched on this direction in previous works together: in the inclusion of string trio on Between The Shores Of Souls, string quartet on Sevati, and in pieces such as “Oh, My Soul” from Awakened Earth. But this was the first time in a song with tempo that we let go of a stated pulse entirely, and it felt entirely appropriate for a piece that reflects on a time in the earliest history of Gely and Markus’ relationship.
Can you share a little window into the experience of composing the music for Que Quede Escrito?
Markus: This song talks all about the longing and the process of overcoming sadness when being physically separated from the one you dearly love, and from such a situation it was written, actually many years ago when we were just relatively fresh together. It was on a frosty January morning, I had dropped Angelika off at Berlin airport to fly back to her home country Mexico. We had just learned that she was pregnant with our first daughter, and we knew we wouldn’t see each other for at least two months. When I returned to my apartment I was in such perplexity and despair, that I grabbed my guitar to find some consolation in the sound of its strings and out from that moment I started writing a pretty melancholic instrumental guitar piece. In the two months of being apart Angelika and I wrote emails back and forth ( which was a pretty new thing at the time ) and in one of these emails she wrote those beautiful words, which I saved in my diary and which later then, when we were united again in Mexico, would become the lyrics to my instrumental piece which then became song. In its emptiness and also monotony, almost more spoken than sung, it is probably one of our most personal songs, and it took us almost 20 years, to have the confidence and musical maturity to record it.
For the uninformed, can you explain what it means to have a string arrangement for this track?
Markus: Since 2009 we have worked with Jamshied as our producer, and over the years we have grown into a really magical creative bond, he is so much part of the sound of Mirabai Ceiba. For this album, as we could not come together in a major recording studio as usual and had to work long distance, we decided that he and I would co-produce the album. I was recording and partially arranging all of our parts in Ireland and Jamshied would then add things, further arrange and also mix the album in New York.
I felt I wanted to find a piece on the album where he could just find a bigger creative space on its own, where he could just take off with all the skills he brings to the table, and as I knew from other projects, his stellar talent for piano playing and writing string arrangements. I thought let’s try something completely new for Que Quede Escrito. I suggested to mute all the original guitar parts and go entirely for a piano string trio arrangement. I described a rough idea of a slowly moving, emotive atmosphere and he absolutely nailed it. I think he reads our minds telepathically by now. He often knows exactly what we are imagining and then brings it even further.
I was so struck by the stillness in this song - the moments that almost touched a sort of musical silence that is then followed by a build of emotion in the instruments - can you explain how that lives in a musical piece and how you use instruments to create such profound emotions?
Markus: The original song itself was already very fragile and empty with long spaces between lines and not really a melody to be carried on.
And I have to say that we are really proud and happy that we allowed ourselves this time to invite more silence and emptiness, not only in this particular song, but also as a general guideline on the entire album, because essentially we know that music is born from silence and also leads us back into it, but often we don’t dare to give that space where silence really can be experienced within a piece of music.
This song certainly walks on fragile ground, it could at times almost fall apart but then another emotive wave of sound moves it assertively forward.
Listen to Que Quede Escrito now.