Dutch pianist Matteo Myderwyk presents a new pianoalbum 'Ataraxia'

Ataraxia ' a state of serene calmness.

On January 11, prolific Dutch piano voyager Matteo Myderwyk released his third album in 18 months on Dutch imprint Excelsior Recordings: Ataraxia will be the follow-up of To Move and Verses

The new album contains 13 songs inspired by the ancient philosophy of Epicurus (341 - 270 BC),  which he practiced to his students to try and bring complete peace of mind; ataraxia. According to Epicurus, Ataraxia is the first step towards true happiness, and music is the most essential tool to achieve this goal.

On Myderwyk’s debut album LP To Move (2017),  improvisation takes center stage and on successor Verses (2018), the piano prodigy puts a stronger emphasis on harmonic developments. On Ataraxia,  melody acts as the main protagonist.

All songs on Ataraxia are categorized in Axioms. In the teachings of philosophy, an axiom is an abstractly defined proposition or statement that still needs to be substantiated as a fact. In addition, an axiom may not contradict other propositions. When composing the album, Matteo selected tracks that can’t be confused with each other. In other words: Ataraxia presents a very diverse range of melodies.

Just like his previous two records, Ataraxia materialized in just two days; in August 2018, Myderwyk chose the Muziekgebouw Eindhoven as the place to write and record. With Ataraxia, he closes his three-part series of piano-based albums with Excelsior. On Piano Day, March 29, Myderwyk is slated to release a compilation album with selected works from the trilogy.