Ahhh, the fullness of Spring! It arrives when we're not looking, concealed by fresh winds, bright clouds, and unpredictable weather. Beneath the superficial chaos beats a steady rhythm, as the natural world acclimates to more light and heat. The flora bloom and change, while the fauna increase their activity after the restrictions of winter. It's a time for production, and reproduction. On this transmission of Hearts of Space we sound the fullness of spring, on a program called WINDS OF CHANGE. Music is by ERIK WØLLO, ATOMIC SKUNK, ISHQ, FORREST SMITHSON, DAN POUND, YUNOMI, ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT, and LEMONGRASS. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

The creators of cosmic electronic music are a dedicated group. They spend years honing their craft, a kind of sonic alchemy designed to transport the listener to "strange new worlds." Their sound is inspired by the cosmic panorama: endless star fields and infinite galaxies; formless regions of interstellar dust and gas; and hypergravity, supermassive black holes. They travel across time and space on the steady rhythms of electronic sequencers—the engines of extended flight—and paint on a cosmic canvas, creating sonic images of the vast universe we observe. Created in the 1970s by the first generation of electronic space musicians, the genre quietly continues to evolve, fueled by new technologies and a new generation of artists. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, the classic sound of electronic spacemusic, on a program called XPANSE. With SVERRE KNUT JOHANSEN & DAVID HELPLING, TELOMERE, DAVE LUXTON, MICHAEL NEIL, RADIANT MIND & STEVE ROACH, CHRONOTOPE PROJECT, ASC, and MICHAEL STEARNS. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

Every year at the threshold of spring, we return to the joy and heartache of Celtic music. 
We celebrate a culture whose roots go back to Iron Age Europe, that became one of the foundations of western European folk music, and by virtue of waves of Irish and Scottish immigration, a major element in American folk music as well. During the last 20 years we had a bit of a boom in Celtic music. These days things have quieted down, but the genre is still abundant with talented musicians and superb recordings. On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE it's a timely journey in the Celtic soundscape called THE TURNING TIDE. Music is by JEFF JOHNSON & BRIAN DUNNING, singers MAEVE McKINNON, KAREN MATHESON and CATRIONA WATT, fiddler ATHENA TERGIS, Celtic harpist AINE MINOGUE, and the bands ALTAN and SOLAS. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

For an instrument that's been around for over three hundred years, the piano continues to surprise. Ever since the arrival of popular electronic instruments, ambient musicians have been busy reinventing the sound and the setting of the piano. Musically, the 19th century Romantic Classical composers who perfected the piano concerto inspired VANGELIS (and thousands of new age pianists) to create personal, "high affect," emotionally-centered music—while the gentle, ironic French proto-ambient composer ERIK SATIE inspired others to create quiet, unpretentious miniatures. Still others have taken the instrument into cosmic space, where it chimes and sings across the starfields. In the 21st century, the piano is (almost) everywhere. On this transmission of Hearts of Space...(with appreciation to MICHAEL BROOK, creator of the Infinite Guitar) the evolving sound of THE INFINITE PIANO. Music is by VANGELIS, CHAD LAWSON, TOM EATON, BILL DOUGLAS, BEN LUKAS BOYSEN, and NILS FRAHM. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

Early electronic music had a reputation for being cold, austere, and technical. That was good if that's the feeling you were trying to express, but even in those early days some electronic musicians wanted to create something altogether warmer and more "organic"—a "humanized" electronic music if you will—inspired by the beauty and complexity of the natural world, including acoustic instruments and nature sounds, but with the new and almost limitless creative possibilities of electronic sound design. I met one of those artists in the early 1980s when he was a 19 year old student at CCRMA—(they called it KARMA) Stanford University's famous Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics. In those days ROBERT RICH was building his own electronic instruments and studying lucid dreaming. His early work helped define and expand the scope and quality of ambient, dark-ambient, tribal and trance music. For forty years and over 40 albums, he's pursued his vision of an organic electro-acoustic music, and become a core artist for Hearts of Space. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we focus on Robert Rich's 2019 double album TACTILE GROUND. He calls it "an exploration of the synesthesia of sound on skin"—on a program called SENTIENT TOUCH. Music is by ROBERT RICH, LORENZO MONTANA, FORREST FANG, and JEFF GREINKE. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

Flying...and Floating. As a literal description of the experience, it goes back to the early days of popular electronic music and the early days of Hearts of Space. Over the years we've done programs called Floating Whispers, Floating Worlds, Floating Gardens, Floating Reveries, Floating Waves, Floating Winds, and yes, Flying and Floating 1, 2, and 3. Back then I said "flying music is rhythm-powered and moves through space, heading for worlds beyond; floating music is goal-free—ethereal, static, and timeless." You know, I can't really add anything to that. We still enjoy expanding into unlimited virtual spaces, and yearn for the quiet pleasure of weightless suspension in time. On this transmission of Hearts of Space...another journey in our electronic touring series, on a program called ELECTRON TRAVELER 4. Music is by ASCENDANT, KEVIN KELLER, ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT, DWIGHT LOOP, MASSERGY, and ERIK WØLLO. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

Every year at Easter, we take the opportunity to catch up on the finest sounds in sacred choral music. There's something mysterious and majestic in the sound of voices in harmony. As often in the past, we turned to guest producer ELLEN HOLMES of Adagio Recordings, who brought us a bouquet of sublime pieces from the repertoire. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, our common theme is QUIET PRAYERS. Not only Easter sacred music — but sacred music that sounds right at Easter. It comes from many countries and spans several centuries: from medieval hymns to 21st century art songs. QUIET PRAYERS...a sacred choral collection for Easter, on this edition...of Hearts of Space. Music is by DOBRI CHRISTOV (Sophia Orthodox Choir), JEAN RICHAFORT (Huelgas Ensemble), G.POPESCU-BRANESTI and PAUL CONSTANINESCU (Kontakion Choir), RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (Bulgarian Voices Angelite), ANONYMOUS (Trio Medieval), JOHN TAVENER (Anonymous 4), MORTEN LAURIDSEN (Nordic Chamber Choir), NIKOLAI KEDROV SR.(Kitka), ALEXANDER SHEREMETIEV (Academy Chorus), JOSEF KETCHAKHMADZE (St. Petersburg Chamber Choir), TOMAS LUIS de VICTORIA (Voices of Ascension), PEROTIN (Choeur Gregorien de Paris-Voix de Femmes), GUILLAUME BOUZIGNAC (Les Arts Florissants), MAURICE DURUFLÉ (Corydon Singers), ARVO PÄRT (Hilliard Ensemble and Christoph Maria Moosmann). [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

The story of English singer/songwriter MARK HOLLIS is an inspiration to serious musicians and listeners everywhere — a lesson in 'following the muse' to a place of true creativity. Born in London in 1955, Hollis came of age in the 1970s and embarked on the mythic road to fame and fortune by starting a rock band. After a few false starts it worked, and the group TALK TALK began a short, brilliant pop music career that included several gold records in England and Europe in the 1980s. But Mark Hollis' artistic yearnings pulled him off the beaten track and into a subtle, moving and deeply contemplative space — influenced by jazz, blues, ambient and chamber music, yet sounding unlike anyone else, before or since. The two final TALK TALK albums—SPIRIT OF EDEN from 1988 and LAUGHING STOCK from 1991—plus a 1998 solo album titled simply MARK HOLLIS, are all quiet masterpieces and timeless works of art, graced by profoundly poetic lyrics and vocals from powerfully emotional...to evanescent. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a MARK HOLLIS Retrospective called INSIDE LOOKING OUT. Mark Hollis hung up his guitar for the last time in February 2019, aged 64. This program is dedicated to his music and his memory. Info: http://users.cybercity.dk/~bcc11425 (fan site) SPIRIT OF EDEN Lyrics LAUGHING STOCK Lyrics MARK HOLLIS (solo album) Lyrics [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

The contemporary classical genre called Minimalism arrived in the middle of the 20th century as a reaction against the rigid avant-garde theories of Serialism, which threw out the tonal center and harmonic systems of a thousand years of European music. Serialism was intellectually brilliant—unfortunately, the music was ugly, tedious, and unpopular. In the 1960s, a number of American composers including LA MONTE YOUNG, TERRY RILEY, STEVE REICH, and PHILIP GLASS found their way back to tonality, with a style based on "minimal" elements: consonant harmony, static drones or a steady pulse, and slowly changing thematic motifs. Minimalism looked back and forward at the same time. Unlike Serialism, it was appealing and popular, and was eventually adopted by a number of European composers who've been featured on Hearts of Space, including MICHAEL NYMAN, GAVIN BRYARS, JOHN TAVENER, HENRYK GÓRECKI, and ARVO PÄRT. One that we missed—who must be the best-kept secret in European minimalism—is the late Dutch composer SIMEON TEN HOLT, who died in 2012. After experimenting with complex chromaticism and serialism early in his career, Ten Holt arrived at his own style of "humanized" minimalism: infused with traditional musical values, rhythmically rigorous, wonderfully melodic, and flexible in performance. His most famous piece, composed in 1976, is called CANTO OSTINATO, which in Italian means "obstinate song," a reference to its continuous, repeating quintuplet rhythm base. Its structure is based on 106 "cells" of a few phrases each which allow great latitude for repeats and interpretation by the performers. The piece can take from two hours to more than a day, and there are dozens of versions for 1, 2, 3, and 4 pianos, pianos plus organ, harp, or marimba, pipe organ, strings, and synthesizer. The piece has been a phenomenon in the Netherlands for 40 years and hundreds of sold out...

The "progressive" label is growing, and it has nothing to do with politics. In music, the term has a history that goes back to Progressive Folk in the 1930s. After that came Progressive Jazz from the 1940s to the 1970s, Progressive Rock, Pop, and Bluegrass in the 1960s, Progressive Country in the 1970s, Progressive Metal in the 1980s, and Progressive Electronic and Progressive House in the 1990s. Progressive is what happens when a genre has matured, and there's an abundance of highly skilled musicians who want to stay creatively challenged. On this transmission of Hearts of Space...if the progressive label means expanding stylistic and conceptual boundaries and synthesizing cultural influences—then I'm gonna say we're overdue for a genre—and a program—called PROGRESSIVE AMBIENT. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]