Night of Hunters

Night of Hunters is the twelfth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Tori Amos, released on September 20, 2011, in the United States through Deutsche Grammophon. It is a concept album that Amos has described as "a 21st century song cycle inspired by classical music themes spanning over 400 years." She uses the musical tradition of variations on a theme to pay tribute to such renowned composers as Bach, Chopin, Debussy, Granados, Satie and Schubert, while taking inspiration from their original compositions to create a new, independent work. Regarding the album's concept, she has described it as the exploration of "the hunter and the hunted and how both exist within us" through the story of "a woman who finds herself in the dying embers of a relationship."
Night of Hunters is Amos' first studio album recorded using only acoustic instruments, relying solely on her vocals and classically trained piano skills, along with a variety of accompanying string and woodwind instruments, to create its classical sound. Additionally, to record this album Amos has broken a nearly 15-year-long collaboration with her studio and touring bandmates, choosing to work with a variety of new musicians, including the Berlin Philharmonic's principal clarinetist, Andreas Ottensamer, and the award-winning string quartet, Apollon Musagète, while enlisting her daughter, Natashya Hawley, and niece, Kelsey Dobyns, as guest vocalists. Night of Hunters also marks the twentieth anniversary of her long-time collaboration with John Philip Shenale, who has contributed arrangements to most of her albums, beginning with her solo debut, Little Earthquakes (1992).
The album is Amos' first release on a classical music label. Like her previous releases, it is available in both standard and deluxe CD formats, digital format, as well as limited edition vinyl. Amos also released an entirely instrumental version of the album entitled Night of Hunters - Sin Palabras (without words) available only to download.