Andreas Vollenweider
Book Of Roses

ANDREAS VOLLENWEIDER "Book of Roses"

Here I am to comment on a CD that is very dear to me. "Book of Roses" by Andreas Vollenweider is classified in the New Age genre and was released back in 1991.

Personally, I had the chance to listen to it only at the beginning of 1997. It is strange but to those delicate sounds that Vollenweider is able to create with his harp, a very particular, almost magical part of my life is bound. I don't know if you remember that for several months that year, looking up to the sky, you could see an incredibly beautiful phenomenon: "the Hale-Bopp comet." In short, during that time, the strangest, most beautiful, and incredible things happened in my life... Perhaps also linked to that particular astronomical event...

"Book of Roses" is precisely the soundtrack of that stretch of my existence. But let's return to the artist whom I humbly attempt to comment on. Andreas was born in 1953 in Zurich, being an artist's son, as his father Hans Vollenweider is one of the most capable organists in the world. In 1975, he discovered the harp and made it "his instrument," adapting its sounds to his needs by creating the "electro-acoustic harp." In particular, this album consists of 16 pieces, and some for the first time are sung with the collaboration of the South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, where Joseph Shabalala's voice stands out.
Andreas Vollenweider is not an easy artist, even if the emotions he is able to evoke with his music are immediate; he himself defines himself as a mystic:

"My affinity for mystical themes has always provided different impulses for my musical work. On 'Book of Roses' I tried to connect the earthly elements of world music with symphonic mysticism."

A characteristic of this CD is that the themes are glued to each other without pauses, except for those specially designed almost to create an introduction full of anticipation. I do not find any piece more beautiful than the others because they are all unique. So, I simply list them just in their order:

1. La Strega (Her Journey To The Grand Ball) 2. The Grand Ball Of The Duljas 3. Morning At Boma Park 4. The Five Curtains 5. Book Of Roses 6. In Doga Gamee 7. Passage To Promise 8. In The Woods Of Kroandal 9. Jugglers In Obsidian 10. Chanson De L'Heure Bleue 11. Czippa And The Ursania Girl 12. The Birds Of Tilmun 13. Hirzel 14. Jours D'Amour 15. Manto's Arrow And The Sphinx 16. Letters To A Young Rose

Overall, this entire album creates settings akin to Terry Brooks (author of "The Sword of Shannara"), or even better to J.R.R. Tolkien, the father of modern "high fantasy" or "fictional mythology" literature (among other things, he wrote the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy). In short, listening to it makes it easy for me to become a little "hobbit," ready to fight against dark forces but aided by the good magic of elves, wizards, and fairies. I understand that I am too old for these things, and unfortunately, unlike my five-year-old child who lives in the enchanted world of innocence (where it is possible to find Santa Claus playing cards with Peter Pan), I need things that create the atmosphere for me to enter that realm without barriers.

"Book of Roses" is indeed, in my opinion, a means that helps the spirit to shake off all the stereotypes we are forced to live with: a beautiful cure for the spirit.