Songs I rest to. Ascent
Ascent - Ludovico Einaudi
I've been listening to and playing Ludovico Einaudi's music for as long as I can remember. My nan introduced me to him when I was around 13 or 14, and it completely caught me. She bought me his sheet music book - Islands - a collection of his greatest pieces at the time, and I still use it to this day. It's one of those books that just means something. That was where it all started for me with his music. I was learning to play his pieces before I really understood why they affected me so much. Tracks like Le Onde, Berlin Song, Nuvole Bianche, and I Giorni gave me genuine goosebumps - that feeling where the music just stops you completely. But Ascent came out around the time I was working on the ships, and it became my piece for quite a long time. Almost every time I finished work, if I needed to calm down or just have a moment or two to myself, that was the track I went to. It slowly but importantly brought me back to complete calmness so I could rest.
It was July 2019. I was working on board a mini cruise ship for the first time - playing piano in the restaurant during the day and evening sets, no more than two hours a day. I'd done plenty of weddings, hotels, corporate events - but this was my first time going away for work as a pianist. Two weeks, first shift, somewhere between France and Spain. Europe was in the middle of a heatwave. It felt like being on holiday, except I was performing every day and night.
I absolutely loved it. But it was also a lot. New, exciting, slightly overwhelming - the way anything new and wonderful can also be exhausting.
After my first set finished - it must have been around half nine, maybe ten - I went up to the top of the ship to get some fresh air. It was a late summer evening somewhere over the Bay of Biscay.
I put on Ascent.
I don't know exactly why that song hit me the way it did in that moment. There's something in it - the simplicity of it, the way it just moves gently forward without ever demanding anything from you. Standing on the top of that ship, watching the water, completely exhausted but completely at peace - it slowly but importantly brought me back to complete calmness so I could rest.
When I moved into a shared house during COVID - another one of those big life changes that feels small from the outside - I'd sit out in the garden at the end of the day and put it on. Same feeling every time. A moment of rest.
Some songs just find you at the right moment. Ascent found me on a ship in the Bay of Biscay at ten o'clock on a July night, and it's never quite left.
I'll leave a link below so you can listen for yourself. I hope it brings you some rest.
Lewis x
rest. by Lewis Bolland is a series of calming felt piano music releases written for sleep, relaxation, studying, and the quiet moments in between. If you enjoy modern classical and ambient piano music from artists like Ludovico Einaudi, Gibran Alcocer, Max Ricter, and Alexis Ffrench, rest. was made with you in mind.
Whether you are looking for piano music to help with insomnia, anxiety, focus, or just a calmer day, all volumes are available to stream now on Spotify and Apple Music. Shop restalso has a growing collection of digital art prints and wellbeing worksheets designed to help you slow down and rest a little more.
You can listen to all of the rest. volumes by clicking here.
explore our rest. spotify playlists
I believe that rest is a practice that shifts depending on where you are and what you need. Because of this, I’ve curated a collection of playlists on our Spotify profile - each designed to accompany a different part of rest for your day.
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