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PGM 864 "WINTRY BRONZE" : Week of January 30th...

In the chilled, crystalline air of winter, the sound of bells, gongs and resonant percussion instruments takes on an uncanny appeal.

Purity, clarity, and simplicity are the goals; we yearn for the essence of things. From Northern and mountain cultures, music for meditation and healing invests these desires with the subtlety of art, and offers us deep interior journeys in pure sound.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another program in our resonant metals series called WINTRY BRONZE. The title is derived from a poem by WALLACE STEVENS, who observed "the life that is fluent, even in the wintriest bronze" and wrote of "the listener, who listens in the snow/ And, nothing himself, beholds/ Nothing that is not there/ and the nothing that is."

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PGM 863 "CONSONANCE" : Week of January 23rd...

The formal, pious, monarchical cultures that produced what we call Medieval and Baroque music seem worlds removed from the chaotic multicultural intensity of our era.

Yet, whether coming from cathedral or castle, dedicated to the glory of God or the entertainment of man, whether modal or harmonic, monophonic or polyphonic, homorhythmic or contrapuntal — European music from the Middle Ages to the 18th century still speaks eloquently, and carries a message of faith, civility and grace across the ages.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we revisit some of the masters of this period — GESUALDO, DOWLAND, HANDEL, and BACH — plus the incomparable LISA GERRARD, on an Early Music, Baroque and contemporary journey called...CONSONANCE.

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PGM 684R "GLACIER BAY" : Week of January 16th...

Cold, clear and quiet, we drift through frozen lakes and glacial terrain on a journey to the heart of winter. It's a sound of tiny movements locked within great static masses, deep drones and crystalline accents, punctuated by the reverberation of great natural events. A heart-of-winter journey to GLACIER BAY, with supercooled electronica by JON HOPKINS, MICHAEL THOMAS BERKELEY, LIGHTWAVE, ERIK WOLLO, BIOSPHERE, IGNEOUS FLAME, and HIMALAYAN VOICES.

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PGM 862 "ABSOLUTE ZERO" : Week of January 9th...

In the brief days after the winter solstice, we pass the apogee of the yearly cycle of earth and sun, and plunge into the season of cold and dark. 

For our friends in Alaska and the Arctic north, the days become mere formalities. The distant sun struggles to reach the horizon, appears briefly, then retreats into darkness. Water hangs suspended in the blue-gray atmosphere, and we enter a world of deep, silent spaces, muted by fog and snow. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a journey to the quiet heart of winter called ABSOLUTE ZERO, with frigid electronica by JOHAN AGEBJORN, CRAIG PADILLA, JEFFREY KOEPPER, BROEKHUIS, KELLER & SCHONWALDER, STEPHEN PHILIPS, OOPHOI, PATRICK O'HEARN and STEVE ROACH.

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PGM 861 "NIGHT LIGHT" : Week of Jan 02, 2009...

The austere folk music of Norway and the Scandinavian countries has a paradox at its heart: in a land of frigid, Arctic winters and stark, glacial landscapes, the music overflows with warmth and beauty. And while the winter days are dark, the nights are illuminated by the intoxicating spectacle of the northern lights.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a Nordic winter's journey called NIGHT LIGHT. Music is by ANNBJORG LIEN, LENA WILLEMARK & ALE MOLLER, OYSTEIN SEVAG, and introducing the sublime voice of VIDIA WESENLUND from an album of Norwegian lullabies produced by MICHAEL STEARNS.

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