Ten years ago, when we caught up with Dutch DJ and record producer Armin van Buuren, he offered a glimpse into the music he grew up with. “I try to be open-minded. The right music comes at the right time. My parents listened to the Pink Floyd record The Dark Side of the Moon. To this day, it’s still the best-sounding record I’ve ever heard. It was made in 1973 and if I compare it to a lot of other records, it’s just the best sound. It was recorded on tape and then transferred to vinyl. It adds a certain warmth.”
His depth in music comes through with his new album, Piano. And it has nothing to do with trance or electro — the 48-year-old has gone classical.
The album is being released exclusively on Apple Music and Apple Music Classical (before a wide release in a few days), with additional content including behind-the-scenes videos of Armin learning piano and composing for strings, a Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos listening experience, and playlists bridging the dance and classical worlds.
“Playing the piano, I feel more naked than on the cover of Men’s Health magazine… If people dislike this or are critical of it, because it’s so personal, that will hit me harder than when I release another dance track. But I feel I’m looking for that vulnerability right now in my life, and this is exactly where I need to be,” he told Zane Lowe of Apple Music 1.
The electronic artiste has had a lifelong connection to classical music, and the challenge of learning piano from scratch has been an exciting one. He started taking piano lessons in 2018, “already when I was in my dark period”. “But in 2020, I had a new teacher. I found this guy called Geronimo Snyder… and I wanted to read scores, and it was a bit hard. So what I did was, I started composing. When he came in, I said: ‘Hey, look, listen to this, man. I created this and I love this.’ And instead of us playing more sheet music, he said, ‘Well, I actually really like what you’ve done here,’” Buuren told Apple Music.
Every track on the album has been recorded in one take, and this has been a “radical departure” from everything he has done before. “There was one track — it’s called Soaring Kites on the album — and I couldn’t record it without mistakes… I felt like the biggest loser on the planet. I went to bed panicking, and I only had five hours of sleep. I woke up the next morning, sat behind my Steinway, and I played it flawlessly… That was the biggest reward — that piece was recorded without mistakes,” he told Lowe.
He feels a freedom behind the piano that “I don’t feel behind the sequencer”. “What I learned most while recording all these pieces is the power of breath. There’s music without any notes being played. And that’s something I didn’t understand being a DJ… Now I understand how fundamental that is, and how all the composers already knew that — the power of breathing.”
At the same time, Piano allowed him to let go of control. “It’s a serenity prayer. God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference... I’m no longer the driver in my car. I got out of the car and I took a backseat… If anything, I feel more grateful than ever. Gratitude is the attitude for me.”
The album was recorded over seven days at Utrecht’s ConcertLab, which bills itself as “the world’s first purpose-built filming studio dedicated to fine arts music”.
Each composition on Piano is inspired by a feeling, emotion, moment, or person deeply important to Armin — including his family: his wife Erika, his father, and his brother — as well as the natural world. The album translates these memories and emotions into piano-driven narratives.
In addition to original compositions, Buuren revisits one of his all-time favourite trance classics, Children by Robert Miles, as a fresh piano interpolation that bridges his electronic roots with his classical sensibilities.
