Ralph Vaughan Williams composed The Wasps as incidental music for a Cambridge University production of Aristophanes’ eponymous play in 1909. It stretched to around 100 minutes of music.

Nowadays all we hear is the sparkling and jaunty overture, always a favorite on popular classics radio shows.

In this performance by Manchester’s Halle Orchestra, conductor Mark Elder revives the whole piece. The dialogue has been translated and updated by English National Opera’s David Pountney.

David Mellor believes this to be a worthy revival, but has doubts about Pountney’s dialogue.

Check out the price of this CD: In North America. In the UK.

I love surfing the Internet for good music. Sometimes I find things that everyone in the world knows about but me. Today that is only partially true; Cecilia, an incredibly talented singer is known worldwide, and I believe her fame is only beginning to show itself in the United States.

Listening to Cecilia is reminiscent of Sarah Brightman, but the focus of her songs is different. Cecilia is all about healing people with her music. She hopes, in her words, to “give you hope and inspiration and a healing for your soul.” Her latest album is called, “The Healing Voice.”

Cecilia is a remarkable young woman. She was born in Norway, debuted in Australia and has a wide variety of vocal and musical training.

There are three samples of her latest album on the Web site. Listen and let them heal your soul. Her voice will speak to your soul with the gift of musical healing.

Cecilia - The Healing Voice

New age music reviewer, R.J. Lannan has a great review on Grace Griffith’s new CD, “My Life.” It was released about two weeks ago. The CD is beautiful and I don’t think I have ever read a more well-phrased review.

Grace is fortunate. Her whole life has been filled with music of one type or another from her childhood to her present. Her parents sang as often as the sun rose and Grace made her own music with recorder and voice early in her life. Griffith is a physical therapist who is suffering the initial ravages of Parkinson’s disease of late. It has restricted her physical actions, but never her lustrous performances. Her voice carries strong and pure and as always, from the heart. Please keep singing Grace, and we will go on believing.
R.J. Lannan

Review by R. J. Lannan

Blix Street - Grace Griffith

Believe it or not, Gregorian Chant is considered part of the new age music genre. I found that odd at first, but considering the spirituality of the chant, it makes sense. It is a beautiful chant, that is very meditative and relaxing. Although I prefer Russian chant, Gregorian is a more traditional and well-known chant, and it has become very popular.

Gregorian Chant is named after Pope Gregory I who led the Catholic Church in the sixth century. There are approximately 3000 compositions. It evolved out of Hebrew Chant and became the Catholic Church’s largest contribution to music after the time of Pope Gregory. Although seldom heard in the 1960s and 70s, it has enjoyed a recent popularity within the church and within the new age music genre.

Chant is sung without any instrumental background. The voices themselves create the music and the mood. It has no meter whatsoever, but groups around two or three notes. Musical scales, as we commonly think of them, are not used, but modes are, which is a form of music theory that groups certain notes together for an effect.

Listen to some Gregorian Chant online before making any purchases. Some people love it. Others do not care for it at all. As I said, I prefer Russian chant, but I do enjoy listening to Gregorian from time to time. It has a very unearthly and deep spiritual sound that touches the soul in a very unique manner. It could easily be thought of as the music of the angels.

Gregorian Chant at Princeton

St. Michael’s Abbey

Antiphon — Morning Prayer

The Catholic Encyclopedia - Gregorian Chant

Wikipedia - Gregorian Chant

Gregorian Schola

Although the lyrics are not copyrighted, the recordings are, so if you do download some chant, it is for personal use only!