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PGM 1129 'ELECTRON TRAVELER 2' : nov.24-dec.1

If you make music with conventional acoustic instruments, you know in advance what each of them will sound like; your sonic choices are in the combination of instruments and how they're played.

On the other hand, if you're an electronic musician, you have to choose or invent every sound you work with, a process we now call "sound design." These days there are pre-designed electronic sounds built into instruments and software, but the variety is much greater, and the choices...are endless.

So the electronic sounds you select or create are as much a part of your artistic identity as the music you make with them. And when it comes to ambient electronic music, you have to add the virtual dimensions of space and atmosphere. Taken together, these elements give electronic music its unique psychological character.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, ambient electronics for the fall/winter transition, on a program called ELECTRON TRAVELER 2. Music is by ENIGMA, SOLOMON GREY, NERVOUS_TESTPILOT, BIOSPHERE, MARTIN KENNEDY, CHRONOTOPE PROJECT, RUDY ADRIAN, TOM EATON, and DEEPSPACE.

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

PGM 1164 'REQUIEM AETERNAM 2' : nov.17-24

For centuries, the sacred spaces and restrained emotions of the Requiem Mass honoring the dead have brought beauty and healing in times of conflict and violence. 

The root meaning of requiem is rest, or repose for the soul of the deceased. It's a musical tradition with origins in Medieval times, when a special "funeral mass" was set to Gregorian melodies. 

During the Renaissance, composed requiems for unaccompanied a cappella voices were performed at important funeral services. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the requiem expanded into large scale concert works for chorus, orchestra and organ by mainstream composers from MOZART to BERLIOZ. In the 20th century, non-liturgical requiems commemorated wars and victims of tragedies, along with hymns and instrumental elegies, commemorative poems and psalms set to music. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another special program by our longtime guest producer for sacred and classical music ELLEN HOLMES, called REQUIEM AETERNAM 2. The Latin translates as "grant them eternal peace." The "2" refers to Ellen's original "Requiem Aeternam" show from 1987.

Music is by PATRICK HAWES, the boy's choir LIBERA, the BOYS AIR CHOIR, the ST.PHILIPS BOY'S CHOIR, ROBERT MORAN, HESPERION XX, THOMAS TALLIS, MANUEL CARDOSO, JEAN RICHAFORT, TOMAS LUIS DE VICTORIA, GUILLAUME BOUZIGNAC, ARVO PÄRT, MAX RICHTER, the PAT METHENY GROUP, and GAVIN BRYARS.

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

PGM 1163 'PROVENANCE' : nov.10-17

When it comes to lyrical, atmospheric jazz, the German ECM label is in a class by itself. From its inception in 1969 through over 1500 releases, founder and producer MANFRED EICHER established a pristine sound for improvised jazz and for serious composed music on the companion ECM NEW SERIES. Artists and composers come mainly from Europe, plus the U.S., North Africa, Greece, India, Brazil and other countries. 

Eicher encouraged experimentation and unique cross-genre collaborations, but even when the music was relatively conventional, ECM jazz recordings always had a generous sense of space and atmosphere. Under Eicher's guidance, many ECM artists went beyond the typical jazz ballad, and explored the slow pace and expanded spaces of ambient music. Both for musical content and sonic quality, ECM recordings have been a key source for Hearts of Space since the very beginning. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, atmospheric ECM jazz from 2016 and 2017, on a program called PROVENANCE.

Music is by the BENEDIKT JAHNEL TRIO, the JOHN ABERCROMBIE QUARTET, BILL FRISELL & THOMAS MORGAN, JAKOB BRO, AVISHAI COHEN, THOMASZ STANKO & NEW YORK QUARTET, CRAIG TABORN, DOMINIC MILLER, and BJORN MEYER.

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

PGM 1162 'MAYAN SKIES' : nov. 3-10

Mesoamerica — the southern regions of Mexico and the northern countries of Central America, including parts of Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador — is the home of one of the world's great early civilizations: the Maya. 

The indigenous culture of the Maya goes back over 3000 years. They were an aggressive, warrior people who practiced animal and human sacrifice, and are hard to romanticize. The Spanish arrived in the 1500s and it was all over by 1697, when the last Maya city surrendered. 

The Classic Period of Mayan culture produced highly sophisticated art forms — architecture, sculpture, and painting, as well as astronomy, hieroglyphic writing, and an advanced calendar system. There was no written music, but various Pre-Columbian flutes and wind instruments, drums, rattles, and metallic percussion have come down to us. Starting with these simple traditional instruments, native and western Ambient musicians have created electro-acoustic sound worlds that summon up the shamanistic and ritual spaces of this ancient culture. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, magical sound worlds of early Mesoamerica, on a program called MAYAN SKIES.

Music is by JORGE REYES, ANTONIO ZEPEDA, MICHAEL STEARNS, SORIAH+ASHKELON SAIN, LUIS PEREZ, and SUSPENDED MEMORIES.

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