# Orphée (album)

Orphée is a solo studio album by Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson. It was released on 16 September 2016, through Deutsche Grammophon. It received generally favorable reviews from critics.

## Background

The music of Orphée is inspired by Jean Cocteau's film of the same name, Ovid's interpretation of the Orpheus myth, and Jóhann Jóhannsson's own life changes, specifically his relocation from Copenhagen to Berlin. The album includes contributions from Jóhannsson (on piano, electronics, pipe organ, and electric organ), Hildur Guðnadóttir (on cello), the American Contemporary Music Ensemble, the Air Lyndhurst String Orchestra (conducted by Anthony Weeden), and the Theatre of Voices (conducted by Paul Hillier). Recordings of numbers stations are also used in the album.

## Critical reception

Professional ratings :
| Aggregate scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 79/100 |
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| The Guardian | |
| Pitchfork | 7.5/10 |
| PopMatters | 7/10 |
According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Orphée received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 79 out of 100 from 7 critic scores.
Kate Molleson of The Guardian commented that Jóhann Jóhannsson "does lush, spacious things with piano, organ, solo cello, string quartet, string orchestra, voices and crackling electronics, and the arrangements are sensitively done, though I can't say I found much compelling drama in it." Mark Mobley of NPR stated, "If you're into Philip Glass and Michael Nyman and Arvo Pärt and movie soundtracks in general, this could be for you."

### Accolades

Year-end lists for Orphée :
| Publication | List | Rank | Ref. |
| Rolling Stone | 20 Best Avant Albums of 2016 | 11 | |

## Track listing

All tracks are written by Jóhann Jóhannsson.

## Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.
Musicians
* Jóhann Jóhannsson – piano, electronics, pipe organ, electric organ, arrangement, orchestration, production, recording
* Hildur Guðnadóttir – cello
American Contemporary Music Ensemble
* Yuki Numata Resnick – violin
* Caleb Burhans – violin
* Ben Russell – viola
* Clarice Jensen – cello
Air Lyndhurst String Orchestra
* Anthony Weeden – conducting, additional orchestration
Theatre of Voices
* Paul Hillier – conducting
* Else Torp – soprano vocals
* Signe Asmussen – mezzo-soprano vocals
* Ellen Marie Brink Christensen – mezzo-soprano vocals
* Elenor Wiman – mezzo-soprano vocals
* Kristin Mulders – mezzo-soprano vocals
* Chris Watson – tenor vocals
* Paul Bentley-Angell – tenor vocals
* Jakob Bloch Jespersen – bass-baritone vocals
* Jakob Soelberg – bass-baritone vocals
Technical personnel
* Geoff Foster – recording
* Preben Iwan – recording
* Ívar Ragnarsson – recording
* Mette Due – recording
* Francesco Donadello – recording, mixing
* Calyx Mastering – mastering
* Owen Roberts – additional orchestration
* Christian Badzura – executive production
* Leonie Petersen – project management
* Burkhard Bartsch – project management
* Jens Schünemeyer – booklet editing
* Anders Ladegaard – artwork
* Jónatan Grétarsson – photography

## Charts
### Weekly charts

Chart performance for Orphée :
| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
| UK Classical Artist Albums (OCC) | 4 |
| US Top Classical Albums (Billboard) | 6 |

### Year-end charts

Chart performance for Orphée :
| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
| Icelandic Albums (Plötutíóindi) | 68 |