Hearts of Space Promo Podcast Stephen Hill

If you've driven an electric car, you've experienced the feeling of smooth, silent power that conveys you almost effortlessly to your destination. Something similar happened to the venerable Spanish guitar when it got an electronic upgrade in the 20th century. In just a few years, a charming but limited folk instrument became a powerhouse — a vehicle for everything from heroic flights to subtle meditations. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we ride our favorite six string transporter to ethereal realms, on a program called 'TRANSLUCENT GUITARS 2' Music is by ERIK WØLLO, DAVID HELPLING, HAMMOCK, JOHN GREGORIUS, JEFF PEARCE, CLIVE WRIGHT & HAROLD BUDD, CHUCK JOHNSON, and TOM CAUFIELD. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

It's being called the "astronomical event of the decade." If you live in the middle third or the northeastern quarter of the United States—on a line from Texas to Maine—there's a good chance that a total solar eclipse of the sun will be visible on the afternoon of April 8th, 2024. Depending on the exact location, the darkening and cooling within the moon's shadow or "umbra" only lasts from two to seven and a half minutes, because the umbra moves across the earth's surface at over 1100 miles per hour. Surprisingly, solar eclipses are not that rare. There are at least two, and up to five, somewhere on earth each year. For millennia, solar eclipses were attributed to supernatural causes or regarded as evil omens. Modern astronomers have taken most of the mystery and superstition—but not the strangeness and thrill—out of eclipses. They can now be accurately predicted hundreds of years into the future, but they still have a cosmic appeal that attracts millions of viewers and a worldwide community of "umbraphiles." On this transmission of Hearts of Space, music for a total eclipse of the sun, on a program called TOTALITY. Music is by CHRONOTOPE PROJECT, SUBDREAM, STELLARIUM, LONEWARD, ZENON MARKO, ROBERT RICH, and STEVE ROACH. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

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 by 19th 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. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

Ahhh, the advent of spring. It arrives in fits and starts... a few warm days punctuated by brisk winds and unpredictable storms. In March, we pass the spring equinox and have a bright new season. The trees bud and blossom, and the natural world stirs and awakes. After the constriction and enclosure of winter, it's a time to stretch, breathe deep, and expand. The Ambient soundscapes of the season are brighter, bolder, larger, with a sense of possibility, even hope. The long winter is past, the joy of spring and the blissful days of summer are at hand. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a journey in the vernal soundscape, on a program called EXPANSION. Music is by DAVID HELPLING & JON JENKINS, PATRICK O'HEARN, JOHN LYELL, ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT, PHILLIP WILKERSON, HAR, and HAROLD BUDD. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

The Vibraphone is an instrument in the metallophone family with a colorful history of American invention and competition. Metallophones evolved from the wooden marimba. The predecessor of the vibraphone called the steel marimba, was invented by the J.C. DEAGAN company in Chicago around 1916. The first "vibraphone" was introduced in 1924 by LEEDY Manufacturing in Indianapolis. It was based on the Deagan steel marimba, and featured a vibrato effect created by a motor-driven fan inside the resonator tubes below each note. Not to be outdone, three years later the Deagan Company introduced an improved vibraphone, with better sounding tuned aluminum bars, and a damper mechanism operated by a foot pedal. It was an immediate success and became the model for all subsequent vibraphones. By the 1930's the instrument was well-established in the burgeoning jazz scene at the hands of virtuoso players like Lionel Hampton. In addition to jazz, the vibraphone became part of the standard classical orchestra percussion section, and the standard college-level percussion performance curriculum. In the 1970's this led to use of vibraphones and marimbas in contemporary Minimalist music by Philip Glass and Steve Reich, and later in New Classical and Ambient. That's where we're going on this transmission of Hearts of Space, called VIBRAPHONICS. Music is by GARY BURTON & CHICK COREA, PETER GARLAND, JASPON TREUTING, HANG MASSIVE, MICHAEL JON FINK, OLIVIÉR ALARY, OCEAN MOON, and GARY BURTON & PAUL BLEY. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

The heavenly spectacle is never more brilliant than during the cold winter months. On those glorious crystal clear nights, the chilled fog, freezing rain and snow is forgotten, and we look out to the stars and look back into time itself. It's a vision that can truly be said to have a timeless fascination: if not for its beauty, then for its mystery. The starry night is the subject of a powerful song by DON McLEAN, which is not about stars and planets at all, but the life — and death — of Vincent Van Gogh: They could not love you, But still your love was true. And when no hope was left in sight On that starry, starry night, You took your life, as lovers often do. But I could have told you, Vincent, This world was never meant for one As beautiful as you. On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, acoustic and electronic music inspired by the night sky and the quiet melancholy of the winter atmosphere, on a program called STARRY NIGHT. Music is by MURIEL ANDERSON & JOHN DOAN, CAROL TATUM, CECILIA CHAILLY, JEFF GREINKE, and TIM STORY. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]