Sacred Spirits Native

Named for the traditional Navajo song "Shi Ni Sha," I Am Walking collects the best of contemporary Native American music, blending the airy beauty of flutists Andrew Vasquez, Joseph Fire Crow, Gary Stroutsos, and R. Carlos Nakai with notable singers Joanne Shenandoah and the Coolidge family of Walela. The result is rich with the spiritual beauty of ancient Navajo, Hopi, Oneida, and other Native cultures. Too many bright spots dominate this collection to list them all, but among the most special goodies are Walela's "Wash Your Spirit Clean"–floating with angelic voices, sparkling guitar, and crisp percussion and drums–and "Oweegon" from Jim Wilson's Little Wolf Band, which sends Priscilla Coolidge's vocals and Native chant flowing over spicy electronic rhythms like cold water through river rocks. A majestic collection for kind hearts.

Claus Zundel (aka "The Brave") is a German composer, songwriter, producer and pianist. He has created several worldwide successful musical projects, most notable Sacred Spirit and B-Tribe (sold 20 million. copies combined), as well as more Indie projects such as "Moroccan Spirit", "Classical Spirit", "Divine Works", Ancient Spirit and his latest project "Tango Jointz". His music style is usually called as "The Brave Sound" as it considers a large number of music styles mixed in his special way. He often collaborates with musicians and singers from around the world and creates "The Brave Sound" projects with them.

This is a gem of a CD. It's a well-chosen, well-performed and well-presented anthology of mid-Baroque German sacred cantatas. Bass Peter Kooij and the seven-person L'Armonia Sonora are directed by gambist Mieneke Van der Velden. They have a close and warm affinity not only with one another, but also for the music; it's music as varied as it's beautiful. Its rich, sustained sonorities will stay with you long after you have finished the uplifting experience of listening to the CD. Released on the enterprising Ramée label De profundis clamavi comprises seven sumptuous examples of the music written in the north German Länder in the period after the Thirty Years War. It's music which not so much 'reflects' that profound conflict, as is 'affected' by it – weighed down with detached regret and unselfconscious resignation.

Yanni, Enigma, Dead Can Dance, Moby, Vanessa-Mae, Tangerine Dream, Brian Eno and many more.

The Amsterdam-based duo Wanderwelle return to Silent Season with their second album. Gathering of the Ancient Spirits is inspired by the last years of the life of Paul Gauguin, which he spent on the islands of French Polynesia. The album tells the alternative history of his search for a land that is untouched by modern society and whose inhabitants were still dependent on the gifts of nature and connected to their ancestors. During his stay, the painter encounters forgotten rituals and the primordial beings which haunt the islands since the dawn of time. In 2018, it’s exactly 115 years ago that Paul Gauguin passed away. This album is an ode to one of the greatest artists that ever lived.

Led by Christopher Hogwood, the Academy of Ancient Music has made many renowned recordings of Handel's music-particularly the oratorios. The beloved Messiah heads up this 8-CD set, followed by Esther; La Resurezzione , and, making its return to the international catalog after an absence of several years, the 1985 recording of Athalia -with none other than Joan Sutherland in the title role! Recorded in London, 1979-85.

This is the third English Oratorio by Handel, composed in 1733 for the graduation ceremony at Oxford. It is in 3 acts to a libretto by Samuel Humphreys after the stage drama Athalie by Jean Racine. Incidentally, this was Racine's last tragedy penned in 1691. This biblical account taken from Kings 2, centres on the theme of the triumph of God through the revenge performed by his followers on those who blaspheme and oppose him.

This is the sixth set in this comprehensive and excellent Handel edition from Warner. This volume deals with an important oratorio in the shape of "Saul" as well as the "Utrecht Te Deum" and the famous "Ode for St. Cecilia's Day" and "Alexander's Feast", another splendid cantata. The recordings date from the early 1970's to 1990 and come from the prolific Teldec stable under the indefatigable Nikolaus Harnoncourt who conducts in his exemplary no nonsense fashion. "Saul' is a fine interpretation although I still feel that John Eliot Gardiner comes to the core of the work better. "Ode for St. Cecilia's Day' is also given a pomp and circumstance treatment whilst the Utrecht Te Deum is winningly done. The team of soloists is also very good and the recordings are fine and well balanced in proper Teldec tradition.

Handel's Saul is an operatic oratorio with ever intensifying action and increasingly drastic scenes. Handel seems to have been especially moved by this particular text. He gives each of the five main soloists a distinctive profile. Even the vocal supporting roles are unique and intentionally individual. In none of his other oratorios does Handel call for a more differentiated orchestra. Alongside the strings, he uses oboes, recorders, bassoons, trumpets, timpani and trombones. For me, Saul is one of the great high points of Handel's works. All of the performers on this recording thoroughly enjoyed taking on the challenges brought forth by this music.

In light of Handel’s own connections with Oxford University in the early 1730s and the ensuing performance tradition of his works that was quickly established there, it is ironic that Cambridge have possessed the more vibrant Handelian tradition in subsequent generations (it also boasts the superior collection of Handel musical sources thanks to the Fitzwilliam Museum). Indeed, Cambridge has been central to the promotion of Handel’s oratorios as great drama: the great Handel scholar Winton Dean was converted to the cause during his participation in a staging of Saul while an undergraduate there. More latterly Cambridge has also played a valuable part in the revival of Handel’s operas, has been the foremost academic hothouse for producing the finest English freelance choral singers and soloists, and has played a crucial role in the development in the period instrument movement (The latter-day Academy of Ancient Music is still based in the town).