Floating...through the long transition between winter and spring. In times of uncertainty, we hold back, restrain action, and wait. Patience and experience help us endure the time. We relax, observe the signs, quietly mark the changes, remain ready...for what comes next. In music, a suspension is an extended tone connecting one chord with the following chord, often marked by a temporary dissonance. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a floating journey for a time of transition and temporary dissonance called SUSPENSION. Music is by LUDOVICO EINAUDI, RUDY ADRIAN, ROBIN GUTHRIE & HAROLD BUDD, BRUNO SANFILIPPO & MATHIAS GRASSOW, and FRANK VAN BOGAERT. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

The otherworldly sound of Tibetan Buddhist chant: coarse and guttural in tone, yet powerfully calm and focused. For centuries it was a secret sound heard only in remote monasteries high on the Tibetan Plateau. It found its way west in the Tibetan diaspora, after the Chinese invasion and occupation of the mountain kingdom in 1951. Along with the deep vocals came a full complement of unique metal instruments, from 16’ longhorns and powerful crashing cymbals, to resonant bowls, and delicate bells of astonishing clarity. A new genre was created by progressive Tibetan monks and adventurous western musicians like HENRY WOLFF and NANCY HENNINGS, with their groundbreaking 1972 album “TIBETAN BELLS.” On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, we immerse ourselves in authentic Tibetan chant and cross-cultural creative hybrids, on a neo-Tibetan/Himalayan journey called SECRET SOUNDS OF TIBET. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

It's a perfectly complementary musical combination: the tuned metallic bell tones of the vibraphone and the natural wooden resonance of the marimba. They're both members of the family of mallet percussion instruments, but there's quite a difference in age. The marimba hails from sub-Saharan Africa and is centuries old, while the vibraphone—an updated version of the steel marimba—was invented in Indiana in the early 1920s. Mallet instruments have been associated with the post-Classical genre of Minimalism since the beginning. They were part of the standard college curriculum in percussion performance, so the early music of TERRY RILEY and STEVE REICH used mallet ensembles to create the precision rhythm patterns in their music. Today the psychoactive rhythms, consonant harmonies, and simplified elements of Minimalism have influenced many other genres—from post-Classical, Experimental Improvisation, and Contemplative Ambient—to Electronic Dance Music, Techno, and instrumental post-Rock. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we focus on the quiet side of Minimalism, on a program called MINIMAL SERENITY. Music is by the ARX DUO, MAX RICHTER, NICHOLAS CHASE, ADRIÁN DEMOĈ and ENSEMBLE RICERCATA, and the ABEL-STEINBERG-WINANT TRIO plays SOMEI SATO. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

For all the challenges that winter brings, it also offers a time for quiet, solitude, pristine stillness, rebirth, and renewal. This meditative aspect of the season has inspired contemporary post-classical composers to create sparse yet majestic soundscapes. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we bring together the serene melancholy of ambient chamber music, the patiently unfolding cadences of sacred minimalism, and the ethereal lightness of choral harmonies, on a program called A FRAGILE BEAUTY. Music is by LUDOVICO EINAUDI, ELENI KARAINDROU, JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON, MAX RICHTER, and VOCES8. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

WINTER—like “The Dude” in the Coen brothers classic THE BIG LEBOWSKI—abides. Well, maybe endures would be a better way to characterize a season that often overstays its welcome, and is commonly fraught with challenges both natural and human, that test our patience and stretch our resilience. For ambient electronic musicians, winter inspires the creation of vast, frozen soundscapes, with profound dark drones, cold harmonies, sonic mist, fog, and snow. On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, it's another superchilled electronic journey in the virtual north, on a program called WINTERSPACE 2. Music is by ERIK WØLLO, BRIAN ENO, GULAN, CARBON BASED LIFEFORMS, JEFF GREINKE, and ANDREA CALLIGARIS. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

Every winter we return to the superb folk, classical and contemporary music of Scandinavia and the Arctic north. These small but artistically mighty countries create music that's more significant than cultures a hundred times their size. Say what you will about democratic socialism, but their state-supported educational and cultural systems are second to none, and underwrite the development of creative talent in many genres. Nourishing it all is the psychological power of the extraordinary natural environment: the cold North sea and volcanic islands, the dramatic coastal mountains and fjords, the vast boreal forests, the visual magic of fog, mist, and snow, and the otherworldly spectacle of the auroras — the famous Northern lights. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, wintry folk, ambient, and chamber music from Scandinavia and the Arctic north, on a program called NORTHERN LIGHTS 4. Music by ANNBJØRG LIEN, SKÁLD, HAGATHORN, MAIJA KAUHANEN, ARJA KASTINEN, HILDUR GUTHNADÓTTIR, TERJE ISUNGSET, JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON, and ÓLAFUR ARNALDS. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

In the depths of winter, movement slows and time expands. Below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, flowing water becomes static crystals, locked and silent. At absolute zero, motion stops. The sound of winter is low and slow: thick drones punctuated by dark bells and metallic overtones. The chilled air is heavy with water vapor, damping sounds and creating a hushed atmosphere. And when the storms come, the keening of the cold night wind creates an eerie wail. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, far north winter electronics, on a program called ICE NIGHT. Music is by BIOSPHERE, SIMON LOMAX. DEEP CHILL NETWORK, HAROLD BUDD, CSILLAGKOD, BRAIN LAUGHTER, ALTUS, and JANNE HANHISUANTO. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

BERLIN, 1970: Out of the new creative territory opened up by electronics and mind-expanding chemistry comes a modest, hardworking electric guitarist named MANUEL GÖTTSCHING. He would go on to pioneer the sound of the electronic space guitar, help define popular instrumental spacemusic, and even influence the rhythmic foundation of techno and electronic dance music. Riding the creative ferment of the 1970s, he founded the band ASH RA TEMPEL—later just ASHRA—then continued solo as MANUEL GÖTTSCHING. He was tireless in helping define the original German Kozmik Musik scene, along with KLAUS SCHULZE and legendary groups like TANGERINE DREAM, AGITATION FREE, KRAFTWERK, and CAN. While others got bogged down in theoretical or technical complexity, he concentrated on creating enjoyable music! MANUEL GÖTTSCHING ascended to the cosmic soundscapes he created in December 2022 at age 70. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a MANUEL GÖTTSCHING posthumous retrospective, on a program called ESSENTIAL ASHRA. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

NILS FRAHM emerged out of the third generation of post-electronic German musicians. Trained in classical piano, he moved to Berlin in his mid-20's, where he absorbed the artistic influence and technical orientation of the Berlin school of popular electronic music. He had a talent for memorable melodies, and the flexibility to shine in multiple genres—from solo piano, to electronic ambient, to film music. With a string of solo piano albums and collaborations to his credit, in the last decade Frahm became an innovative live performer, combining several acoustic and electronic pianos with a battery of electronic instruments and processors into powerful solo performances. When COVID-19 effectively put a temporary end to live music, Frahm expanded his personal studio and began working on a series of extended contemplative ambient pieces that reflected the atmosphere of solitude and isolation of the pandemic. Free from conventional notions of musical form or pace, Frahm compared them to watching a great waterfall that was both constantly changing and always the same. What emerged after two years of work was a 3+ hour long triple album of immersive fractal rhythms and extended ambient tone color meditations, mysteriously titled MUSIC FOR ANIMALS. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, our selection of Frahm's elegant, ethereal, transcendent electronic and acoustic ambient from "MUSIC FOR ANIMALS," on a program called "NILS FRAHM: LONG, SLOW, and DEEP." [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

1983…the year before the infamous 1984. Seems lifetimes ago, doesn’t it? But that was the year that a syndicated music program called Hearts of Space began to appear on public radio stations around the U.S. And that means that 2023 is the 40th anniversary of the national program! I'm STEPHEN HILL, producer of Hearts of Space, and I was taught that if something was worth doing, not only was it worth doing well, it was worth doing for a long time. That, and the support of my colleagues, hundreds of stations, thousands of artists, and millions of listeners like you—has kept us going all this time. To mark our 40th year, we’re rebroadcasting program number One, 'FIRST FLIGHT' from January 1983. It’s a perfect example of the open-minded, multi-genre, multi-cultural sonic integration of contemporary Ambient, Space, and Contemplative music. On our premiere program we featured music by a group of artists who became familiar names in the Hearts of Space pantheon of composers: KITARO, VANGELIS & IRENE PAPPAS, THOMAS DE HARTMANN, MICHAEL STEARNS, DEUTER, PAUL LLOYD WARNER & STEVEN KINDLER, CHARLES LLOYD, and DAVID DARLING. It's a journey across time...and space. FIRST FLIGHT...on this hour...of HEARTS OF SPACE. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]