hearts of space | news

PGM 685R "THE HEALING HARP" : Week of Dec. 28th...

THE HARP. For over 4000 years, it's brought the human family a little bit of heaven on earth.

From its beginnings in Mesopotamia, it spread across the ancient world to Asia, Egypt, Greece, and Africa. In Medieval times, it was used for sacred and secular music, and to comfort the dying. As the instrument of the bards and troubadours, it played a key role in the evolution of folk music.

In the 19th century, the pedal harp matured into a concert instrument and took its place in the orchestra. And in the 20th century it went electric —  even laser. Whether wirestrung, cross-strung, single, double, or triple strung, pedal or electric, folk or classical — there are harps for every purpose.

A winter celebration of the harp, with music by AINE MINOGUE, GEORGIA KELLY, JOEL ANDREWS, ANDREAS VOLLENWEIDER, CLAUDE DEBUSSY, THERESE SCHROEDER-SHEKER and more.

[ view playlist ]      [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

Radio Channel update

New winter and holiday programs today:

01    826   TO THEE WE SING   winter treasures from the sacred choral repertoire
02    823   POINTS OF LIGHT   a turn-of-winter ambient journey
03    825   HYMNOS   contemplative hymns and prayers for the holiday season
04    792   METALLICA   a wintry excursion for resonant percussion
05    822   RESTRAINT   subtle, lyrical Nordic spacejazz
06    793   HYPERBOREA   a journey beyond the north wind
07    824   VOICES IN THE NIGHT   heavenly harmonies and angelic voices
08    790   INTERSTELLAR   a cosmic electronic journey
09    788   COMFORT AND JOY 2   a seasonal potpourri — acoustic, electronic, Celtic
10    787   CAMERATA NOVA   Early Music reconsidered
11    789   CANTORUM   hymns and sacred spaces for chorus
12    786   WINTER ON THE WIND   deep, clear electronics : warm, floating harmonies
13    756   PIANOSCAPES 3   piano, personal and contemplative
14    750   PHOS HILARON   a journey in contemplative sound and light
15    752   VOX SUBLIMAE   sublime voices and eternal spaces of sacred music
16    749   TRANSLUCENT MUSIC   seeking the light, from darkness to hope
17    720   VAJRA WEST   neo-Tibetan songs and soundscapes
18    719   SUBLIMATION   supercooled wintry electronica
19    718   NORDIC CIRCLE   wintry orchestral spaces from the far north
20    715   MIDNIGHT CLEAR   Celtic-inspired acoustic music for winter
21    714   DECEMBER   artfully chilled piano and electronic keyboards
22    709   STARGAZER   spacemusic inspired by the celestial spectacle
23    722   TELHARMONIA   floating and flying on electronic waves
24    688   VIRTUAL DREAM BELLS   electronic bells and contemplative percussion
25    659   LUX AETERNA   a magnificent triple concerto by Norway's TERJE RYPDAL
26    660   AERIAL BOUNDARIES   a flight across Guitar Heaven
27    649   CRYSTAL BELLS   clear and deep: a winter's holiday journey
28    648   MEDIEVAL WAVES   a Celtic/Scandinavian/Middle Eastern winter's journey

PGM 826 "TO THEE WE SING" : Week of Dec. 21st...

The legacy of choral singing is never more cherished than during the holiday season, when it brings warmth and light to the winter darkness by opening the heart and feeding the soul. From the Christian churches and cathedrals of Europe and the U.S., to the Orthodox churches of Russia, central Asia, and the Holy Land, the human family gathers to listen, sing, and worship together.

After more than ten centuries of evolution, some of the finest choral music was written during the last 100 years by a special breed of contemporary composers, who respect and extend the tradition. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another compilation of sublime choral pieces from our longtime guest producer ELLEN HOLMES called TO THEE WE SING. Music is by the cream of liturgical composers from Russia, Estonia, Bulgaria and the U.S.

[ view playlist ]      [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

PGM 825 "HYMNOS" : Week of Dec. 14th...

The Greek word hymnos means a "song of praise," prayer or adoration, normally to a god or religious figure. The roots of the word go back to the Hittites over six thousand years ago and mean "to sing. There were hymns in ancient Egypt and India; in the west, the Homeric hymns, praising the gods of Greek mythology, date from the 7th century B.C.

Praise is affirmative, so hymns are naturally positive experiences. Whether stirring and intense, or quiet and contemplative, the effect is to lift the spirit. It's a feeling that's abundant during the end of the year holiday season, a time when — against all odds — the human family renews its commitment to generosity, goodwill and peace.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a selection of quietly joyous hymns and instrumental prayers called HYMNOS, with music by LOREENA McKENNITT, JEFF JOHNSON, HILARY STAGG, DANA CUNNINGHAM, DAVID HICKEN, and BEN DOWLING.

[ view playlist ]      [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

Radio Channel update

A playlist of older seasonal shows this time:

1      040   NORTHERN VISIONS   clear, blue, deep : electronic music for winter
2      119   JOURNEY TO STRATOS   a classic celestial deep space journey
3      183   WINTERSONGS   winter songs for silent landscapes
4      215   SILENT FIELDS   a deep winter journey
5      201   PIANOSONGS   spacemusic for piano, plus...
6      213   PEACEFUL SEASON   our 1989 Holiday Special
7      245   ARS ANTIGUA   Plainsongs, Litanies and Romances of Medieval spacemusic
8      249   WINTERGARDEN   a journey in the quiet spaces of winter
9      252   WINTERSCAPES   soundtrack music and the timbres of winter
10    263   RIVERS OF BELIEF   an ENIGMAtic mix of the spiritual & the seductive
11    275   SACRED SPACE 2   mystery and majesty for the winter holiday season
12    276   VOICE FROM THE CLOUD   sacred spacemusic from Medieval Europe and beyond
13    306   BLUE SHADOWS   modern guitar from Spaceblues to Blue Shadows
14    312   NORTHERN LIGHTS   the chilly side of the European soundscape
15    315   A WINTER'S TALE   a journey for the silent season
16    341   UNSEEN WORLDS 2   space adventure soundtrax and deep space explorations
17    340   SPIRITS OF EUROPA   accordion-friendly expressions of the European spirit
18    344   NEW ALBION   a ten year retrospective of the New Albion new music label
19    347   ELECTRONIC DREAMS   electronic spacemusic in the grand tradition
20    349   POLAR FLIGHT   Nordic spacejazz meets a California warm front
21    369   CONTEMPLATION   international masters of contemplative sound
22    376   RIDING SOLAR WINDS   interstellar electronics from the U.S. and France
23    407   ANGEL SKY   vocal, choral and instrumental Holiday spacemusic
24    382   SILENT LAKE   a 'north of the border' journey
25    406   GRAY LIGHT   an early winter's journey in a land of gray light
26    408   ANCIENT AND MODERN   choral spacemusic--ancient and modern
27    411   NORTHERN LIGHTS 3   adrift in the winter atmospheres
28    412   UNDER STARS   robot electron fantasies in deep space

PGM 824 "VOICES IN THE NIGHT" : Week of Dec. 7th...

Each year in December, we gather to sing sacred hymns and songs. For over a millennium, the holiday season in Christian cultures has been associated with the sublime, ethereal high voices of female sopranos, male sopranos or countertenors, and boys choirs. In the massed voices, we hear an image of unity and peace; in the heavenly harmonies, we hear the sound of angels — magically brought to earth.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a holiday celebration of choral singing called VOICES IN THE NIGHT, with music by ZBIGNIEW PREISNER, PETER TOGNI, KARL JENKINS, and the English boys choir LIBERA.

[ view playlist ]      [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]