CD1: „Transition“ für Piano solo. Fliessende Ostinati-Läufe wechseln mit stillen Passagen. „Mandala“ für präpariertes Klavier, die „lange Version“ (23 min). Stets aufs Neue verblüffend. CD2: „Let It Play“ für Klavier (lange Fassung), „Transpersonal“ für Piano und Apotheosis für Kirchenorgel, PPG wave computer, Synthesizer (1982). Der Pianist Hamel in seinem Element, dem musikalischen Strom.

the project

Peter Michael Hamel's Transition is a masterpiece of extended works for the piano by an artist who has been stretching the boundaries of contemporary Western music for more than two decades. The new double compact disk version of the original 1983 recording is presented in Celestial Harmonies' duobox format, an innovative packaging design that places two compact disks into a standard, single-disk jewel box by means of a modified inner compartment.

On Transition, Hamel presents some of his most beautiful and emotionally arresting music. Like many of his other albums, these compositions are difficult to categorize. They all explore a vast range of influences, moods and techniques. The rhapsodic melodies and rich, harmonic flourishes of selections like Transition and Let It Play are as skillfully executed as they are sublime. These pieces exhibit the grace and compositional prowess of classical music, the spontaneity of jazz, and the hypnotic qualities of Far Eastern music styles.

Mandala, on the other hand, is a piece for prepared piano, which transforms the standard eighty-eight keys into a mini percussion ensemble. Hamel coaxes a wide variety of sounds out of his instrument and at various times during this twenty-five minute piece, the music sounds like everything from an Indonesian gamelan to an African bamboo orchestra. The final work on this richly varied program is an extended exploration for the pipe organ, PPG wave computer, and synthesizer that takes listeners out of the realm of everyday experience.

the artist

Born in 1947, Peter Michael Hamel studied music, psychology and sociology in Munich and Berlin. He continued his education abroad, spending three extensive periods in Asia. His knowledge of Eastern musical traditions had a profound effect not only in his own compositional style, but on his views concerning Western music as a whole.

Hamel shared his unconventional insights into music and its place in society in the influential book Through Music to the Self. First published in 1976, the book discusses the transformational effects of music through the ages and calls for a new approach to composition in twentieth century Western music. The book has since been translated into several languages and has inspired countless composers and musicians worldwide. Hamel's musical philosophy has been articulated on many of his albums, both as a solo artist and with his group Between.

biography

discography

tracklist