Search - Andreas Vollenweider :: Trilogy

The way to get the essence of Andreas Vollenweider

derrotista | Cadiz, Spain | 08/31/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In the beginning of the 80's artists like Will Ackerman, George Winston, Tomita and some other soloists and groups like Shadowfax started to make some kind of different music. Some years later this kind of music began to be called "New Age" and then, the decline and fall was immediate.



All among those, Andreas Vollenweider was making a mixture of jazz, ethnical, meditation, landscape and electroacustic melodies based on his electric harp, syhthesizer and drums (rhythmanatomic acousticolours). From 1981 to 1984 he made three astonishing albums: "Behind the Gardens, Behind the Wall, Under the Tree", "Caverna Magica" and "White Winds".



Among these three, my personal favourite is the last, because of three key themes: "Flight Feet & Root Hands", "Hall of the Stairs / Hall of the Mosaics" and "The Woman and the Stone", but sure it has to be completed with very good compositions of the remaining two, like "Belladona", "Angoh!" and "Schajah Saretosh" from "Caverna Magica" and "Skin and Skin", "Pyramid / In the Wood / In the Bright Light" and the main title of "Behind the Gardens, Behind the Wall, Under the Tree".



But in no way am I recommending to get the "Essential" compilation. All of these titles have to be listened in its context. Vollenweider makes a suite in every album and peak moments are what I have mentioned. But it is more recommendable to listen to each part in their original album. So, this "Trilogy" is the way to get the really best of Andreas Vollenweider and the way to understand his "all-apart-from-anyone" music.



I have always considered some other artists like Ray Lynch or Suzanne Ciani (and of course Enya) to be the peak of "New Age", but Andreas Vollenweider came first. And this is a degree."

Seminal, singular and breathtakingly magical!

Brianna Neal | USA | 11/30/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For me, this early work of Andreas Vollenweider defined New Age music. Artful, complex, imaginative and ever-changing, three of his releases have been gathered together in "The Trilogy" so that they can be heard as they should be--all of a piece. The recordings in question are "...Behind the Gardens--Behind the Wall--Under the Tree...", "Caverna Magica" and "White Winds", along with the maxi-single "Pace Verde" and selections from "Eine Art Suite". All are complimentary, featuring Vollenweider's signature sound of dreamy, jazzy electroacoustic pedal harp and cheng, accompanied by voice, synthesizer, a wide range of gentle percussion, and occasional contributions from other instruments. This is true music at its finest--playful, intricate compositions that are soulfully performed and ingeniously constructed, flowing one into another through an ever evolving succession of moods. Vollenweider has this to say about his art: "The making of music, dancing, painting--creativity--all of this has so much to do with the ongoing process of `finding oneself', or better, of searching for the things that give us such an individual, complex, and miraculous depth of emotions...ideas...dreams..." He calls his endeavors "wonderful adventures" and "seeker's journeys", and relishes "making this music and bringing it to its listening friends." And indeed, Vollenweider and his fellow musicians have found riches within and many friends without. In an era where the dumbing down of the New Age genre has resulted in a plethora of mindless dronings of ambient whitenoise, this compilation stands as a reminder of what meditative electroacoustic music can truly be. If you like "The Trilogy", you'll want to follow Vollenweider's continuing evolution as an artist. Try the next albums he recorded: "Down from the Moon" and "Dancing with the Lion"."