This album is the first international release of this special musical document. So far, Traumgarten was only relased in Switzerland as a much shorter version. Andreas Vollenweider has revisied the work and has extended it with additional music.
The recordings for TRAUMGARTEN were made over several years and are a unique document of a very special relationship – the one between father and son – an encounter on the bridge that is music.
“I had the privilege of growing up in a very inspiring environment. Quite early in life, I became aware of music’s potential and of the fact that it cannot be reduced to its mere entertaining aspects; that it is not just acoustic decoration, but rather a very powerful means of communication.
Working on this second release of ‘Traumgarten’ was a very special experience for me, all the more so because my parents both passed away some years ago. I strongly realized that through my music, they are both very present in my life still. Therefore, it is only natural for me to dedicate this album to my mother and father.
My father lived almost entirely in the world of music. As wonderful as this may have been for his art, it wasn't always so easy for the people around him. I used to hope so much he would take me on a bicycle tour or go fishing with me in order to connect to my world one way or another, but he just couldn’t.
Still, I was totally fascinated by this tall, charismatic man with his wild hairstyle whom everybody treated so respectfully. And I really wanted to get to know him. So, over time, I found ways to communicate with him: quite simply by playing music together, sometimes improvising for hours, just the two of us. I think we probably got much closer to each other than we would ever have if there hadn’t been the music.
Besides being very musical, the people in my family were great storytellers by tradition. It was mainly my mother Margaretha who introduced me to the art of creating imaginary worlds. As a result, I began to associate a hidden story with all my compositions. It was this combination that gave my music a particularly visualizing and narrative dimension.
In 1978, after several years in which my father and I hadn’t played together, these recordings continued the tradition of our musical dialogues. I can’t imagine where my own work would be today or whether I would ever have embarked on my musical voyage if it hadn’t been for these many uninhibited hours of making music together – from my earliest childhood. This experience also taught me that improvised music is a great gift which enables us to get in contact with our innermost self. And once we’ve opened to this process, something wonderful happens: the instrument begins to play almost ‘of its own accord’, and a mystical plane may even begin to resonate, leading us from an intellectual, technical, stylistic and constructed interpretation to the music of the heart.”
Hans Vollenweider, composer, organist, was born 1918 He died 1993.
Personnel:
Andreas Vollenweider
Hans Vollenweider (organ)
Tracklist:
01. Jakobs Traum (A.Vollenweider/H.Vollenweider) 2.10
02. Der Mond und die Wolkenreiter (A.Vollenweider/H.Vollenweider) 2.07
03. Die Vogelpredigt (A.Vollenweider/H.Vollenweider) 1.50
04. Der Fischer und seine Frau auf dem gelben Fluss (A.Vollenweider/H.Vollenweider) 2.26
05. Elegie (A.Vollenweider/H.Vollenweider) 2.25
06. Phoenix (A.Vollenweider/H.Vollenweider) 1.36
07. The Metaphors (A.Vollenweider/H.Vollenweider) 8.51
08. Tanz der Wesen auf den glernen Lichtbergen (A.Vollenweider/H.Vollenweider) 2.33
09. Farbenspiele (A.Vollenweider/H.Vollenweider) 3.34
10. Ein Liebeslied (A.Vollenweider/H.Vollenweider) 2.46
11. Das Geheimnis und die Lampe (A.Vollenweider/H.Vollenweider) 2.43
12. Abschied am grossen Tor (A.Vollenweider/H.Vollenweider) 3.25
ARMU 2184
ARMU 2184 (shareplace)