Archives

PGM 1386R ‘LIGHT TIME’ : dec.12-19

In the brief interlude between Thanksgiving and the winter holiday celebrations, we undergo a rapid change in emotional tone. Gone are the fearful ghosts and goblins of Halloween, the somber melancholy of the autumn season, and the quiet gratitude of Thanksgiving. Approaching the shortest day and longest night of the year on the winter solstice, we celebrate the return of the light.

Today, we chase away the gloom and transform our environment with millions of colorful lights and dazzling screens. From the brilliance of our seasonal displays to the hypnotic warmth of a single candle — we embrace the joy of light and color, and the fulfillment of sound and music. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, electronic ambient for the season of light, on a program called ‘LIGHT TIME.’

Music is by DAVID HELPLING and singer MIRIAM STOCKLEY, JOHAN AGEBJÖRN and singer LISA BARRA, ERIK WØLLO, TOM EATON, ROSS CHRISTOPHER, ROBERT RICH & LUCA FORMENTINI, JON HOPKINS & ÓLAFUR ARNALDS, and WILL BANGS. https://bit.ly/HoS-1386R

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PGM 1411 ‘ARCADIA’ : dec.5-12

The name “Arcadia” is associated with a vision of pastoral simplicity and harmony with nature. The term was inspired by the remote, mountainous Greek province ARKADIA, over 2500 years ago. In time it came to symbolize an unspoiled wilderness of natural splendor and harmony—an unattainable, lost Eden—virtuous and uncorrupted by civilization.

For New York composer KEVIN KELLER, Arcadia was a natural extension of his love for “plainsong” or “plainchant”—the medieval sacred vocal music that originated in the early years of Christianity, and led to the development of the more sophisticated “Gregorian” Chant beginning in the 9th century. Keller’s 2023 album EVENSONG included plainchant melodies and Latin texts by HILDEGARD VON BINGEN, who played a key role in the evolution and eventual dominance of the Gregorian Chant in the 12th century.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a journey from “Contemporary-Medieval” to “Ethereal Electronic Classical,” on a program called “ARCADIA.” Music is by KEVIN KELLER with SOFIA CAMPOAMOR, BRIAN ENO, IMMERSION THEORY, MEG BOWLES, DEBORAH MARTIN & J.ARIF VERNER, BLUETECH, and JEFF PEARCE.

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PGM 615R ‘THE CONSTANT FLAME’ : nov.28-dec.5

In the russet and golden days of autumn, we gather round the fire and the table with family, friends, and food—to give thanks. It’s an inflection point, a moment of warmth and communion in the busy days of year’s end.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space called ‘THE CONSTANT FLAME,’ we honor the emotional fire that fuels music with creativity and passion, and the inner flame in us that seeks it. In the words of composer ALEX CLINE, “it’s a fire that can warm, consume, illumine, destroy, purify, blind…or save.”

With music by SECRET GARDEN, BILL DOUGLAS, THE MARQUIS ENSEMBLE, GEORGE WINSTON, MICHAEL GETTEL, TIM STORY, ALEX CLINE ENSEMBLE, and MASAJI WATANABE.

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PGM 1410 ‘META MODAL’ : nov. 21-28

THIS WEEK on Hearts of Space: a journey across cultural history and music theory, time and tuning

A look at the history of “modal” music and 7 note “diatonic” scales, which set the standard for Western music for over 1100 years. We journey across the musical space between ancient Greece , the Byzantine Empire, the Medieval church, the European folk tradition, and modern chamber-jazz, with the SOKRATIS SINOPOULOS QUARTET, ELENI KARAINDROU, TIGRAN HAMASYAN, CRAIG TABORN, YANN KEERIM.

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PGM 1357R ‘AUTUMN TWILIGHT’ : nov.14-21

Of all the seasons, fall is the one that comes with the most mixed emotions: relief at the return of moderate temperatures, pleasure at nature’s autumn color show, and a feeling of melancholy at the darkening of the light.

Technical interventions like Daylight Saving Time can’t hide the fact that the amount of daylight is decreasing. In the northern hemisphere, we’re counting down to the Winter Solstice—the shortest day of the year, around December 21st.

For ambient musicians, fall offers a darker palette, more somber harmonies, and a call to explore deeper feelings. On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, we descend into the dimming light of fall, on a program called “AUTUMN TWILIGHT.”’

Music is by TOM EATON, BOB HOLROYD, SUBDREAM, DEEPSPACE, STEVE ROACH, and RUSSEL WALDER.

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PGM 1409 ‘ADAGIETTO’ : nov.7-14

Sublime melodic classics for string orchestra and small ensembles

The language of music notation is Italian, and the Italian word “adagietto” calls for a musical tempo that falls between adagio—”slow and stately”—and andante—”at a walking pace” — calm, flowing, relaxed.

By far the best known adagietto in the classical repertoire is the gorgeous 4th movement of GUSTAV MAHLER’s Symphony No. 5, which due to its length and beauty is often performed as a standalone concert piece. We’ll be hearing it on this transmission of Hearts of Space from longtime guest producer for classical and sacred music, ELLEN HOLMES, on a special program of much-loved orchestral and chamber classics called ADAGIETTO.

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PGM. 1331R ‘CELLO ELEGIES 2’ : oct.31-nov.7

Mournful…plaintive…melancholy…somber…sonorous…resonant.

The cello is all this and more — a compact, versatile string orchestra in one instrument, with a four-octave range that comes fully alive in the dark days of autumn. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, it’s an autumn journey featuring the plangent tones of the cello, on a program called “CELLO ELEGIES 2.”

Music is by DAVID DARLING, HANS CHRISTIAN, MAYA BEISER, BLACK TAPE for a BLUE GIRL, ERALDO BERNOCCHI & HOSHIKO YAMANE, JESSE AHMANN, MAX RICHTER, and MARCELLO DE FRANCISCI.

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PGM 1408 ‘DARK SIDE OF THE FORCE’ : oct. 24-31

The advent of the astrological house of Scorpio each year brings with it the ambient sub-genres of Gloom, Gothic, and Dark Atmospheres. This music displays a romantic quest for strangeness, a taste for the ominous, and a fascination with darkness, death, and decay that’s appropriate for the fall season—and celebrated on All Hallow’s Eve.

Grief, fear, depression, doleful lamentations, and solemn processions are expressions of the season, but this music has a mysterious restorative power that comes from the emotional confrontation with challenging feelings. The Greeks called it…catharsis.

On this Scorpio transmission of Hearts of Space, it’s another Dark Ambient journey for Halloween, on a program called ‘DARK SIDE OF THE FORCE.’ Music is by RICHARD BONE, STEVE ROACH & SORIAH, INSECTARIUM, AJNA, SUN’S MUSE, ARGYRE PLANITIA, and MOUNT SHRINE.

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LIVE EVENT Saturday Oct. 25, 2pm

Hearts of Space producer STEPHEN HILL in conversation
with ambient music historian DANIEL BROMFIELD

No.1 in the series “Contemplative Music In Marin”
Saturday Oct. 25th, 2:00pm -3:30pm at the
Belvedere-Tiburon Library, 1501 Tiburon Blvd., Tiburon, CA

EVENT PAGE : https://www.beltiblibrary.org/event?id=14376098

Join Stephen Hill, host of the nationally syndicated “space music” radio program Hearts of Space, in discussion with Daniel Bromfield about his over-50-year career on the airwaves and the history of ambient and new age music in Marin and beyond.

Stephen Hill has been broadcasting his nationally syndicated radio program “Hearts of Space” since 1973, focusing on the broad scope of “space music,” which includes the ambient and new age music of which Marin County was a prime incubator in the 1970s.

During this time, he’s brought national attention to ambient, new age and experimental artists while remaining at the cutting edge of technology, being an early adopter of both streaming and AI voice technology.

For the first in a planned series of talks with local luminaries focusing on Marin County’s history as a hub of contemplative music, Hill talks to ambient music historian Daniel Bromfield about his over-50-year career broadcasting the sounds of space over the airwaves.

Daniel Bromfield is a writer, critic and musician based in San Francisco. In addition to writing about music and film for the Marin Independent Journal, he has a prolific freelance career with publications such as Pitchfork, Stereogum and Atlas Obscura.

STEPHEN HILL
DANIEL BROMFIELD

PGM 1092R ‘SPIRIT OF ARMENIA’ : oct. 17-24

Armenian landscape with Mt. Ararat

THE ANCIENT LAND OF ARMENIA has had a complex and often contentious history. Sitting astride the Silk Road trade route in the southern Caucasus, east of Turkey and north of Iran and Azerbaijan, Armenia served as one of the gateways between Christian Europe and the non-Western cultures of the Middle East and Central Asia.

Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as the state religion in 301 A.D. Both location and history account for the rich set of cultural influences that became Armenian music, from roots in Zoroastrian and Pagan folk and sacred music, through the rise of Christianity, and continuing to evolve for over 1500 years.

The great historical figure of Armenian music was KOMITAS — the late 19th/early 20th century scholar, priest, folk song collector and arranger, composer, choir-master and singer. Educated in an Armenian seminary, then in western classical music in Berlin, Komitas combined traditional sacred and secular Armenian modal music with western classical practice, to create the foundation for an authentic Armenian classical music.

The German ECM label has been documenting new and traditional Armenian music for over 30 years, with a series of superb recordings, many of which have been featured on these programs. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we focus on two of these recordings, on a program called “SPIRIT OF ARMENIA.”

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