Caprice (band)

Caprice
OriginMoscow, Russia
Genres
Years active1996–present
Labels
Websitecaprice-music.bandcamp.com

Caprice is a Russian neoclassical ensemble formed in Moscow by composer Anton Brejestovski. The group is centered on Brejestovski's compositions and the vocals of Inna Brejestovskaya, using acoustic chamber instrumentation such as harp, violin, flute, clarinet, bassoon, cello, keyboards, and occasional electronics.[1][2][3]

Caprice became known outside Russia through the fantasy-oriented Elvenmusic cycle, released by the French label Prikosnovenie.[4][5][6] The group also recorded albums based on English-language poetry and, in 2024, released Amargo, an album based on poems by Federico García Lorca.[7][8]

History

Formation and early work

Caprice began with the 1996 album Zerkalo (Russian: Зеркало, Mirror). In later interviews, Brejestovski described the project as moving from a progressive-rock basis toward a more academic chamber sound built around harp, strings, woodwinds, and voice.[1] The early ensemble grew into a large acoustic group, with members trained in classical music and connected with Russian orchestras.[1][2]

Zerkalo was reissued in 2006 as Mirror by Prikosnovenie and as a remastered Russian edition by Irond and Molot Records.[9][10] The reissue brought the group's earliest material into the same international catalog as the later Prikosnovenie releases.[9]

Elvenmusic cycle

The first major international Caprice release was Elvenmusic, issued by Prikosnovenie in 2001.[4][5] The album used poetry by J. R. R. Tolkien and developed the group's fantasy idiom, which Brejestovski described as an attempt to imagine music written by elves rather than by humans.[1] The cycle continued with Elvenmusic 2: The Evening of Iluvatar's Children in 2003 and Elvenmusic 3: Tales of the Uninvited in 2005.[11][12]

The Evening of Iluvatar's Children was reviewed as an eleven-piece Russian symphonic project heavily inspired by The Lord of the Rings.[11] Tales of the Uninvited expanded the cycle through the use of Laoris, an invented fairy language associated with the group's fantasy concept.[12]

Poetry albums and stylistic expansion

Alongside the Tolkien-related trilogy, Caprice recorded albums built around literary texts. Songs of Innocence and Experience set poems by William Blake, while Sister Simplicity used texts by Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, Robert Burns, William Wordsworth, William Shakespeare, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and Oscar Wilde.[13][7][14]

Sister Simplicity was treated as a lighter and more song-oriented work within the group's neoclassical and fairy-tale sound.[7] Kywitt! Kywitt!, released in 2008, widened the palette with electric guitars, drums, electronic samples, and German-language singing while keeping the chamber instrumentation central to the music.[15][16]

In 2008, Caprice and the electronic project Dvar released the split compilation Gnomy protiv elfov (Russian: Гномы против эльфов, Gnomes Against Elves) through Stereo & Video.[17][18]

Later albums

Six Secret Words followed in 2009.[19] Masquerade, released in 2010, moved the group toward a larger and darker chamber-rock sound, combining Russian literary material with orchestral and progressive elements.[20][21][22]

The fantasy-oriented line continued with Girdenwodan Part 1 in 2012 and Girdenwodan Part 2 in 2014.[23][24][25] The Japanese progressive-music catalog World Disque described Girdenwodan Part 1 and Girdenwodan Part 2 as gothic-folk and chamber-oriented releases centered on Brejestovski and Inna Brejestovskaya.[26]

In 2024, Caprice released Amargo, a digital album based on poems by Federico García Lorca. It was written and recorded over a long period and was released through the band's own channels, with digital distribution through Bandcamp, Qobuz, and Deezer.[8][27][28]

Musical style

Caprice's music combines neoclassical chamber writing, ethereal vocals, fantasy imagery, acoustic instrumentation, and selective electronic elements.[1][3][4] The early Elvenmusic material used Tolkien's poetry, harp, strings, woodwinds, female vocals, and a deliberately delicate rather than martial fantasy sound.[4][5][6]

The group's poetry-based albums use English literary texts and arrange them in a chamber-neoclassical and folk-influenced idiom.[7][14] Tales of the Uninvited introduced Laoris as a central vocal language of the fairy-world cycle.[12] The later albums Masquerade and Girdenwodan broadened the sound with stronger chamber-rock, folk, progressive, and theatrical elements.[20][21][25]

Reception

Caprice's reception has been concentrated in specialist neoclassical, gothic, ethereal, fantasy, and progressive-music media. Elvenmusic received attention from Guts of Darkness and Sonic Seducer as an unusual neoclassical interpretation of Tolkien-related fantasy material.[4][5] Compulsion described The Evening of Iluvatar's Children as a symphonic project whose musical ability was "highly impressive", while Funprox reviewed Sister Simplicity and Tales of the Uninvited within the group's fairy-tale and neoromantic direction.[11][7][12]

Later reviews treated Masquerade and the Girdenwodan albums as significant expansions of the group's sound. Femme Metal Webzine and Black Magazin emphasized the scale and conceptual density of Masquerade, while Sonic Seducer described Girdenwodan Part 2 as the close of a diptych by a neoclassical formation.[20][21][25]

Members

Caprice is centered on Anton Brejestovski, who composes the music, and vocalist Inna Brejestovskaya.[1][2] The core lineup described in a French interview included Inna Brejestovskaya, Alexei Bazhalkin, Alexandra Korzina, Anton Konchakov, Vladimir Bobovnikov, and Anton Brejestovski.[2] Other recurring and associated musicians documented in reviews and album materials include Tatiana Strunina, Alexey Tolstov, Nikolai Gorshkov, Vladislav Lavrik, Max Brejestovski, and Dmitriy Vlasenko.[20][8]

Discography

Studio albums

  • Zerkalo (Russian: Зеркало, Mirror) (1996), self-released debut; reissued in 2006 as Mirror by Prikosnovenie and as a remastered Russian edition by Irond and Molot Records[9][10]
  • Elvenmusic (2001), Prikosnovenie; first album in the Elvenmusic cycle[4][5][6]
  • Songs of Innocence and Experience (2002), Prikosnovenie; based on poems by William Blake[13]
  • Elvenmusic 2: The Evening of Iluvatar's Children (2003), Prikosnovenie; second album in the Elvenmusic cycle[11]
  • Sister Simplicity (2004), Prikosnovenie[7][14]
  • Elvenmusic 3: Tales of the Uninvited (2005), Prikosnovenie; third album in the Elvenmusic cycle[12]
  • Kywitt! Kywitt! (2008), Prikosnovenie; later issued by Shadowplay[15][16]
  • Six Secret Words (2009), Prikosnovenie[19]
  • Masquerade (2010), Prikosnovenie[20][21][22]
  • Girdenwodan Part 1 (2012), Prikosnovenie[23][24][26]
  • Girdenwodan Part 2 (2014), Prikosnovenie[25][26]
  • Amargo (2024), self-released; based on poems by Federico García Lorca[8][27][28]

Split albums, compilations, and other releases

  • Gnomy protiv elfov (Russian: Гномы против эльфов, Gnomes Against Elves) (2008), split compilation album with Dvar, released by Stereo & Video[17][18]
  • Viola Floralis (2008), suite associated with the compilation La Nuit des Fées 2[29]
  • Think Caprice (2010), compilation issued by Shadowplay[30]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Caprice interview". Equilibrium Music. January 2002. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Interview de Caprice". Indiepoprock (in French). Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Caprice". Russian Gothic Page. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Caprice — Elvenmusic". Guts of Darkness (in French). Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Caprice - Elvenmusic Part I". Sonic Seducer (in German). Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 "Caprice "Elvenmusic"". Russian Gothic Page. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 MvG (September 24, 2004). "Caprice – Sister Simplicity". Funprox. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Amargo". Bandcamp. December 13, 2024. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 "Caprice "Mirror" (Prikosnovénie)". L'auberge des Korrigans (in French). January 2007. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  10. 1 2 "Caprice – Mirror". Discogs. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Caprice - The Evening of Iluvater's Children". Compulsion. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 MvG (June 1, 2006). "Caprice – Elvenmusic 3: Tales of the Uninvited". Funprox. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  13. 1 2 "Caprice Songs of Innocence and Experience". Spirit of Metal. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  14. 1 2 3 "Caprice Sister Simplicity". Spirit of Metal. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  15. 1 2 "Caprice: Kywitt! Kywitt!". L'auberge des Korrigans (in French). February 22, 2008. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  16. 1 2 "Kywitt! Kywitt!". Bandcamp. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  17. 1 2 "Release "Гномы против эльфов" by Dvar vs. Caprice". MusicBrainz. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  18. 1 2 "DVAR Vs. Caprice – Гномы Против Эльфов". Discogs. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  19. 1 2 "Caprice Six Secret Words". Spirit of Metal. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 "Eerie Sounds Review: Caprice – "Masquerade" (2010)". Femme Metal Webzine. 2010. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  21. 1 2 3 4 "Caprice – Masquerade". Black Magazin (in German). Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  22. 1 2 "Caprice - "Masquerade"". Mentenebre (in Spanish). Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  23. 1 2 "Caprice: Girdenwodan Part 1". Claire des Bruyères (in French). September 23, 2012. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  24. 1 2 "Caprice Girdenwodan (Part 1)". Spirit of Metal. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  25. 1 2 3 4 "Caprice - Girdenwodan Part 2". Sonic Seducer (in German). May 2014. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  26. 1 2 3 "Marquee / World Disque archives: C". Marquee Inc. / World Disque (in Japanese). Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  27. 1 2 "Amargo by Caprice". Qobuz. December 13, 2024. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  28. 1 2 "Amargo by Caprice". Deezer. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  29. ↑ "Caprice". MusicBrainz. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  30. ↑ "Release "Think Caprice" by Caprice". MusicBrainz. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
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