Between Earth, Sea and Sky

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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