atmospheric classical

PGM 1396R “WARMING TREND”: apr.17-24

Ahhhh, spring at last…or is it? Our most anticipated season has a habit of arriving in fits and starts: a few days of temperate glory…and then a chilled rerun of late winter; a sweet day of sunshine and birdsong…and then, a nasty day of cold rain and hail. It breeds a kind of disorientation you feel in your body…and makes you question where you are.

When ambient musicians focus on spring, they’re thinking of brighter timbres, more energetic rhythms, and warmer harmonies. Will the weather take the hint? It’s a toss-up, but the psychological effect, at least, can be comforting.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space…ambient electronics to summon and celebrate spring, on a program called “WARMING TREND.” Music is by ERIK WØLLO, RUDY ADRIAN, STEVE ROACH, ANDREW LAHIFF, AMONGST MYSELVES, TOM EATON, and PATRICK O’HEARN.

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PGM 1419 “HANDPAN EVOLUTION” : apr. 10-17

We’re floating gently into spring on the resonant steel percussion tones of the “Hang.”

It’s an instrument with a story that goes back to the beginning of the 21st century, when Swiss instrument makers SABINA SCHäRER and FELIX ROHNER of PANArt Manufacturing were restless. They’d been making steel drums—the popular steel band instruments of the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago. They wanted to go in a new direction, and in a burst of technical and artistic creativity, they invented the Hang.

The story of the Hang is part of a longer, older story of the evolution of tuned percussion. It begins in the 18th century with the African “talking drum.” By mid-20th century it leads to the “steel drum” or “steel pan” — made from 55 gallon industrial oil drums, played with rubber tipped mallets on a concave surface, and tuned to a conventional 12-note chromatic scale.

The Hang was released in 2000 to worldwide acclaim. Demand soon overwhelmed the artisanal production methods of PANArt Manufacturing, which led to similar instruments being offered by other makers. The copyright of the brand name “Hang” was successfully established by PANArt, so other makers switched to the more accurate generic term “handpan” to describe the new instruments. There are now hundreds of makers and thousands of players in the worldwide handpan community, and PANArt has filed a lawsuit to establish its patent on the design of the Hang, as well as the name.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a tuned percussion journey for resonant steel, on a program called “HANDPAN EVOLUTION.”

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PGM 1414 “FROZEN TIME 3” : jan.23-30

We’re descending into the winter soundscape with MAX RICHTER’s “recomposed” version of “Winter” from Vivaldi’s Baroque masterpiece “The Four Seasons.”  It introduces a program of new “atmospheric classical” and electronic music from Europe, featuring the superb Polish pianist, composer, and singer HANIA RANI.

Full disclosure here……we missed Hania Rani’s debut album in 2019 and never caught up.  Since then, she’s created an enormously impressive body of work—11 solo albums, 25 singles and collaborations, and a dozen film soundtracks, including her infinitely subtle music for Norwegian director JOACHIM TRIER’S film “Sentimental Value”—winner of the 2025 Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE…an atmospheric classical journey to the quiet heart of winter, on a program called “FROZEN TIME 3.”  Big Thanks to listeners DAVID S. FAY, FRED STRILEY, and BILL G. from Atlanta for their tactful reminders, and we’re finally on to HANIA RANI six years late—with a great supporting cast including MAX RICHTER, EYEDÍS EVENSEN, ÓLAFUR ARNALDS & TALOS, ELDBJØRG HEMSING, HILDUR GOdNADÓTTIR, GABRIEL ÓLAFS, FEDERICO ALBANESE, and LUDOVICO EINAUDI.

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