Going through the neoclassical, or new age, music genre shows a variety of musicians and styles.  It is common to find chant music in this genre.  Yes - chant music like monks chant in monasteries all over the world. 

I was watching a DVD tonight (no segue, but trust me, it is relevant) - it was one of the episodes of “Babylon 5,” which is a science fiction series.  I won’t go into all the details.  Those don’t matter, but suffice to say, that an alien of much higher development, intelligence, and technology was “training,” a mere human.  The lesson was a, “Moment of Pure Beauty.”

The moment turned out to be a very run down part of a space station.  A robed figure was suddenly joined and the junkheap corner of the spaceship turned into… well, I am having trouble describing it.  It was a moment of pure beauty. 

The subtitles said it was Gregorian chant.  I am not convinced and I can’t find any reference to it anywhere.  I am wondering if you might know.  It is so beautiful - the rest of the music on the show is done by Christopher Franke (of neoclassical Tangerine Dream) and the Berlin Symphonic Film Orchestra and this was definitely not them. 

The name of the episode is “There All The Honor Lies.”  If anyone knows what kind of chant this is, please let me know.  You can email me at adelle (at) syntagmamedia (dot) com.

Neoclassical, or new age music, is usually associated with synthesizers, a solo piano, or guitar.  But any instrument can play neoclassical.  And some unlikely ones are being played by musicians that have found neoclassical to be the perfect outlet for their creativity.

Rhonda Lorence, viola soloist, says, “…I think some melodies just sound better on the viola. Its range is in the midrange to upper-midrange. It creates a much fuller sound than the violin, which I find perfect for melody lines.”  She describes her music as “neoclassical new age fusion.”

Voyages on Viola - From “The Mountain Times” in North Carolina

I discovered something today that I think is really neat.  It is good for the artists and it is good for the listeners.  And it won’t cost you a dime.  The best part, in my opinion, is that you will learn about new artists in the neoclassical, or new age music field, early.  It’s fun to watch follow someone’s career.

Download.com has a whole section of music downloads.  I stumbled into it (quite literally) while I was looking for some software that eventually wasn’t suitable for my computer and kept me offline for a day.  But every cloud has a silver lining and this was a really good one.  I had no idea that these downloads were available.

Visit Music at Download.com and wander around through the neoclassical music.  Listen to samples and then download the artists that you like the best.  You can then rate musicians and build a nice collection of music that you really enjoy listening to - all free.

On the left side of the page, you will see that they call the category New Age Music, which is typical for the industry.  It is then broken down into sub-genres.  Keep in mind that with neoclassical (which they consider to be a sub-genre of new age) is very subjective.  What you might call solo instrumental, they might call contemporary instrumental or meditative, so check out all of the categories to find as much music as possible.

It is an easy site to navigate, and with the opportunities to listen to samples, you will find music that you will enjoy for a long time.  Be sure you have room on your hard drive (I have a separate hard drive for music) and download your favorites.  Then turn on your speakers and enjoy!

Neoclassical Music at Download.com

I did a little exploring tonight into the world of music and the Creative Commons Copyright.  I found a gold mine.  As one of the artists that I have become a #1 fan of said, “the sweetest fruit is not always on the top of the bowl.”

Andy Orozco is a musician that if you must classify him, would fall into the Electronica/Ambient genre.  I would call his music something that arises from the soul.  His music definitely falls into the “Soundtrack of My Life,” category and I don’t let a lot of musicians into that group.

What attracted me to him as I was trying to figure out how this particular Internet music player worked, was the name of one of his songs, “Synchronicity.”  It’s one of my favorite words so I had to hear the song.  I only wish it was one of those pieces of music that went on for hours! 

The next track I listened to was “Forbidden Love.”  A name like that, anyone would listen to!  It too was a wonderful piece of music.  And I still couldn’t believe I was listening to the entire track of this for free!

“An Angel’s Cry,” was the last one I listed tonight.  He describes this work as haunting.  And I would have to agree.  I could close my eyes and visualize the movement of angel’s wings and hear the sorrow in their heart.  I wonder… what do angels have to be sad about and if they are indeed sad, what made them that way?  Was it our fault?  Something people have done to break their hearts?

Please take some time to surf on over to Soundclick.  The player is free and you can set it up for your Internet connection speed.  Then visit Andy Orozco.  Listen to his music.  You can save it on your own personal Soundclick radio station - you won’t lose it.  This is really a neat player - I am impressed and the fact it is free, makes it that much better!

Andy Orozco Official Web Site

SoundClick

Andy Orozco Playlist for Soundclick

I cheated - I listened to one more.  I just had to.  It is called, “Awaken,” and is hard to describe but I enjoyed it.  It is one of those compositions that took over my world while I was listening to it - that is the quality in music I look for and I found it tonight.  I found myself listening to it over and over again and added it to my playlist at Soundclick.  I bet you will too!