Encore Programs

PGM 1368 ‘SACRED SONGS of DEVOTION’ : apr.3-10

This week on Hearts of Space “SACRED SONGS OF DEVOTION” — a special program of choral and instrumental music for Easter, from our longtime guest producer for classical and sacred music ELLEN HOLMES. 

The show includes choral selections from Ellen’s compilation “SACRED SONGS of MARY: Devotion”—the third in her series of albums showcasing music honoring the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus. “In Western culture,” writes Ellen, “Mary is the personification of tenderness, compassion, forgiveness, protection, and unconditional love—emotions reflected in music praising her or beseeching her comfort and help.”

This wide-ranging program includes sacred choral music from the Russian Orthodox mass, a 12th Century song by HILDEGARD VON BINGEN, 17th century sacred music from Spain by ALONSO LOBO, sacred works by19th and 20th century composers JOHN TAVENER, SERGEI RACHMANINOFF, PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY, and MAURICE DURUFLÉ, and contemporary works by SIGUR RÓS, LISA GERRARD, DAVID DARLING, MAX RICHTER, and ARVO PÄRT. 

Choral and instrumental music for Easter: “SACRED SONGS OF DEVOTION”…on this transmission of Hearts of Space.

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PGM 1044R : “ETHNOTRONIC”— mar. 20-27

THE TRIBAL MUSIC TRADITIONS of Asia, Africa and the Americas stretch back to the mists of pre-history. For perhaps a hundred centuries, music was made with simple, even primitive instruments: flutes, rattles, drums and percussion; lyres, harps and strings; and wind instruments of various sizes and tones. It was an all-acoustic world, where music and instruments evolved slowly.

Then in the late 19th and 20th centuries, electricity and electronics began to transform the world and transform music. First came the telegraph and the telephone, then radio, then recordings, and then the instruments themselves. Guitars and pianos became electric…and then electronic. And finally, purely electronic instruments of dazzling variety and unlimited potential to create new sounds.

After the electronic music revolution of the 1960s and 70s, the entire studio became a musical instrument, and the sound of recordings has never been quite the same. Today, ethnic instruments and genres can be set in new Ambient soundscapes, a fusion of the old world and the new.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, ethnic instruments join electronic ambient, on a program called “ETHNOTRONIC.” Music is by TUU, GREEN ISAC, SACRED EARTH, CHINMAYA DUNSTER, MANEESH DE MOOR, ARCHETRIBE, LOREN NERELL & MARK SEELIG, STILLPOINT, and MICHEL BANABILA.

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PGM 870 ‘TRANSPARENT SPRING’ : march 13-20

The transition between winter and spring is never predictable. After a time of darkness and confinement, we long for light, air and freedom. We seek change: space and openness, movement and flow.

Filled with new purpose, we clean out old structures. In uncertain times, we shine the light into dark places, and prepare for the challenges ahead. Transparency is the new watchword, the key to trust.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a collection of freshly grown and gracefully aged electronica for the season, on a program called TRANSPARENT SPRING. Music is by GENERAL FUZZ, TRISTAN FELDBAUER and friends, HILLTON FM, JOHAN AGEBJORN, ISHQ, MYCHAEL DANNA and TIM CLEMENT, GLEN DARCEY, and MINOR.

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PGM 1137R ‘FLYING and FLOATING 3’ : feb.27-mar.5

Slogging through the recurring storms, natural disasters and political turmoil of this seemingly endless winter, even the sudden appearance of the first blossoms of spring on the trees here in California brings only a moment of joy and relief. No, what we need is some extended sonic therapy, the kind that Ambient Electronic music magically provides.

So let’s get back to basics: on this transmission of Hearts of Space, music for deep space traveling and weightless levitation, on a program called “FLYING AND FLOATING 3.”

Music is by TRANSPONDER, ASCENDANT, STEVE ROACH, JEFFREY KOEPPER, JIM OTTAWAY, PALANCAR, KLAUS SCHULZE (with TOBIAS BECKER), and HOLLAN HOLMES.

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PGM 1308R ‘NORTHERN NIGHTS 3’ : feb. 13-20

The heart of a long, cold winter is a good time to return to the far north folk music of Scandinavia: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. While not as celebrated as the music of its Celtic neighbors to the south, it’s every bit as warm and soulful.

Originally distinguished by traditional instruments like the Finnish box zither called the kantele, and the Norwegian hardanger fiddle with its sympathetic strings — like other folk genres, in recent years electronics and studio recording techniques have been added to enrich and modernize the sound.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, traditional and contemporary winter music from Scandinavia, on a program called NORTHERN NIGHTS 3. Music is by BUKKENE BRUSE, ANNBJØRG LIEN, PRISCILLA HERNANDEZ, SINIKKA LANGELAND, ARJA KASTINEN & PETER PHIPPEN, TRINA OPSAHL, LAKKI PATEY, and ØYSTEIN SEVÅG.

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PGM 1032R ‘POLAR VORTEX’ : jan. 30-feb. 5

Chicago during the polar vortex

This week a frigid mass of North Pole air spun south and descended on the United States. In addition to sub-zero temperatures, disruption of travel and general misery, it introduced a new phrase to describe extreme winter weather.

We were working on an Ambient electronic winter show and we already had a pretty good title for it, but this new phrase, well, it just blew it away.  On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a super-chilled winter journey called “POLAR VORTEX.”  Music is by IAN BODDY & ERIK WOLLO, SIMON LOMAX, STORMLOOP, DILATE, TUU, and NETHERWORLD.

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PGM 898R “ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS” : jan.16-23

The winter skies are a broad, constantly changing panorama: flat, gray shadowless light… chilled fogs with subtle, desaturated colors… dramatic dark storm clouds… and brilliant clear days, with infinite horizons of the deepest transparent blue.

The ambient music inspired by these environments displays a corresponding range of tones, textures, and techniques: from foggy soundscapes and dark drones, to crystalline percussion and ethereal harmonics.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a program inspired by the winter skies called “ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS.” Music is by RUSSEL WALDER, JEFF GREINKE, KEVIN KELLER ENSEMBLE, PETER GARLAND, STUART DEMPSTER, TOM HEASLEY & ERIC GLICK RIEMAN, JOHN LUTHER ADAMS, and TIM STORY.

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PGM 1135R “OVERCAST” : jan. 2-9/

The typical winter atmosphere is muted and monochrome, under a sky of dense grey-blue clouds. Above, chilled vapor waits to return to earth as cold rain, sleet or snow. On the ground, it’s a world of desaturated colors and diffuse shadows, punctuated by storms and relieved briefly by short bright days. Nature sleeps, awaiting the awakening of spring.

The sound of winter is slow, ethereal, subtle, with occasional accents of brilliant white or deep black. Bell sounds and the metal strings of the piano ring across the landscape, supported by profound dark drones.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we ride the sounds of winter to a place of deep calm, on a program called OVERCAST.

Music is by BEN LUKAS BOYSEN, JANNE HANHISUANTO, LIBRARY TAPES (DAVID WENNGREN), BRUNO SANFILIPPO & MATHIAS GRASSOW, BIOSPHERE, and SIGUR ROS.

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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 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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