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PGM 1008 'IN PARADISUM' : mar.29 - april 5

Spring brings us the pagan celebrations of death and rebirth in the natural world, and the Christian festival of Easter, commemorating the death and rebirth of Christ. The music composed for this period is among the most inward, contemplative and penitential of all sacred choral music.

On this Easter week transmission of Hearts of Space from our regular guest producer for classical and sacred spacemusic ELLEN HOLMES — a collection of sacred and choral music spanning ten centuries, on a program called IN PARADISUM.

Music is by HILDEGARD VON BINGEN, Renaissance composers ANTOINE BRUMEL, GREGORIO ALLEGRI, CHRISTOBAL DE MORALES, WILLIAM BYRD, ORLANDO DI LASSO, CHRISTOPHER TYE and JUAN DEL ENZINA; and modern composers MAURICE DURUFLÉ, KARL JENKINS, ROBERT MORAN, JOHN TAVENER, and ARVO PÄRT.

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PGM 1007 'TIME LAPSE' : mar. 22-29

The perception of time is as elusive as a subatomic particle. As soon as you concentrate on it, it changes. Something similar happens in the contemporary music genre called Minimalism. Invented in the 1960s by composers looking for an escape from the bitter dissonances and static textures of academic Serialism, artists like LA MONTE YOUNG, TERRY RILEY, STEVE REICH, PHILIP GLASS and JOHN ADAMS created a new approach to composition that changes our sense of time.

Simplicity, silence, repetition, slowly changing phrases, continuous drones, modal tunings and hypnotic patterns created both flowing textures and a meditative quality that's influenced Classical and Electronic, Rap and Rock. And the foundations of Minimalism were absorbed by BRIAN ENO in the 1970s and applied to the new language of electronics to create Ambient music.

Today the characteristics of minimalism are so embedded in contemporary music that we hardly notice them. And since the turn of the century, there's been a move to "humanize" the strict forms of Minimalism by adding back the melodic and harmonic sensitivity of Classical music.

No one has had more success at this than Italian composer and pianist LUDOVICO EINAUDI. As I said about him in 2008: "Like fine Italian food, fashion and design, Einaudi's music has a humanized opulence and sensual appeal. The elements are simple and often repetitive, but the effect is subtle, contemplative, satisfying, even profound."

On this transmission of Hearts of Space...a the timeless sound of humanized Minimalism, on a program called TIME LAPSE.

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PGM 974R 'THE CELTIC ROAD' : mar. 15-22

This week, dear listeners, we come once again to our yearly celebration of all things Celtic. Though the time has passed when Celtic music was trending, it's a tradition that continues to evolve. Ireland has boomed and bust, and through it all the beauty and spirit of Celtic music has continued to charm audiences around the world, with its brilliant dances and heartfelt airs and ballads.

In the poetic imagination of the Celtic bards and troubadours, travel metaphors are as common as thoughts of home. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we take another journey across those green and rocky lands, on a program called THE CELTIC ROAD.

Music is by DAVY SPILLANE, MOYA BRENNAN, LISA LYNN & ARYEH FRANKFURTER, LOREENA McKENNITT, AINE MINOGUE, DAVID ARKENSTONE, BRAGH ADAIR, and JAMES GALWAY & PHIL COULTER.

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AMBIcon Update, March 9th

NEW TICKET OPTIONS! 

The big news is that we've put SINGLE DAY tickets and INDIVIDUAL CONCERT tickets on sale now!  The effect of this is to give potential attendees a lot more options, especially if you live within driving distance of Northern California.

On the other hand, some of the concerts will sell out much sooner, so if you've been on the fence, now's the time to review the options and decide. See our event page at Brown Paper Tickets for details:

    heartsofspace.brownpapertickets.com

BIG WRITEUP ON AMBIcon

Our longtime colleague JOHN DILIBERTO of the Echoes Nightly SoundScape program is a veteran music writer and reviewer. On the Echoes Blog he's done a major preview of the AMBIcon event and profiled the artists who will be appearing in concert:

    http://wp.me/pgATL-1Wy

AMBICON SCHEDULE and GETTING HERE

We've added a comprehensive schedule and a detailed guide to Airports, Shuttles, Buses and Taxis to the AMBIcon event page on our web site, including printable versions:

    Schedule: http://www.hos.com/#ambicon-schedule

    Getting Here: http://www.hos.com/#getting-here

PGM 1006 'UNDERSCORE 2' : mar. 8-15

The unmistakable sound of East Indian vocal music — you wouldn't think anything this exotic would be from the soundtrack to a major motion picture. But these days, music from around the world plays an increasing role in film scores, while the classic orchestral score has taken on new dimensions and influences.

Over the years we've devoted a series of programs to film music. Just as today's Ambient music creates a background for our lives, the original function of film music was to create an ambient background for the story — which is why it was called the "underscore."

Today you'll find some of the most talented musicians and composers working in film music. The budgets are relatively large, and the quality of the writing and the recording is unsurpassed.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, produced with help from Austin film music composer and radio host BRIAN SATTERWHITE (who provided a large film music library for us to work with) we return to the increasingly exotic world of contemporary film music, on a program called UNDERSCORE 2.

(Brian Satterwhite info at www.nuancemusic.com and www.filmscorefocus.org )

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PGM 903R 'COSMIC TRAVELER' : mar. 1-8

Since the earliest days of electronic music, composers have developed the natural relationship between electronic sounds and images of cosmic space.

Free at last from the limits of physical instruments, they could create vast stereo spaces and sustain tones endlessly, with an unlimited palette of pitch, timbre, modulation, and resonance. In time the electronic studio became a vehicle for virtual space flight. 
It's a theme we've been pursuing since our 23rd program back in 1983.

The waning days of winter are a particularly good time to take a cosmic vacation. Restless from too much time indoors, we seek expansive sounds and galactic spaces, filled with dark drones or floating harmonies, a sense of adventure and discovery. On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, an interstellar journey called COSMIC TRAVELER, with spacemusic by JONN SERRIE, DAVID PARSONS, PHILLIP WILKERSON and MEG BOWLES.

[ view playlist ]     [ view Flickr image gallery ]     [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]