CD by Monika Stadler
Available from www.harp.at Price
18 Euros
Or by post from:
M.C. Wilford, 58 High Street, Blisworth, Northampton, NN7 3BJ,
Price £13, including p+p
Review by Hawthorn
Another excellent album from Monika
Stadler, inspired, as she says “by nature, my tour in Scotland in 2006, the
beautiful mystical island of Iona, and finding the
love of my life”. Monika is classically trained and has been influenced by
jazz, but her style is now totally her own, being lyrical and hypnotic. The
sound is not obviously that of a harp, not to my untrained ear, at least.
All of the tracks on this CD are composed
by Monika herself, some being improvisations or “real-time compositions”. She
plays unaccompanied on most tracks, apart from two tracks which also feature a
guitar and vocals. Monika sings herself on several of the tracks – her voice is
high, melodious, almost other-worldly.
Some tracks are dedicated to events in
nature, as in “Winter Solstice Dawn”, and “The Last Light” or echo a pagan
consciousness with titles such as “Lammas Games”, “The Fairies of Spring”, and “Invocation
to Water”. I find the music deeply spiritual, reverent of the powers of nature
and deeply rooted in a love and appreciation of the spiritual richness and
importance of place and of the seasons. Some tracks, such as “The Prayer
Wheel”, inspired by Tibetan water-turned prayer wheels, are especially
meditative in mood. My personal favourite is “Invocation to Water” which is in
two parts – a longer development followed by a shorter reprise towards the end
of the CD.
I’ve listened to this CD over and over and
like it more and more, it’s really a beautiful and magical CD with
extraordinary playing. With nineteen tracks, it’s good value, too!
Sample tracks can be heard on the web-site:
www.harp.at
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