Kryptos [Import]

Track Listings

1. Domus Cordis Fathers Tree The Painted Gate

2. Morgana Palace

3. Hermes Wedding

4. Under The Trees Of Hope

5. Passionata

6. Wanja The Wanderer (Concerto For Harp And Orchestra)

7. Bhambororo

8. Forest Folks

9. Quendel And Rhomas

10. Trigon East Of Time Missa Obscura South Of Time

11. May Green Be The Grass

12. Circulus Finalis Return Of The Heroes The Heroes Telling

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Kryptos, Andreas Vollenweider has stated, is a Greek word meaning "the encoded" or "hidden." Those would be fitting terms to describe the intent behind this ambitious, meandering symphonic production. Not entirely a classical recording, far afield from the Swiss harpist's pop-inclined bestsellers of the 1980s, Kryptos comes across as a culture-hopping soundtrack for a one-world vision that is screening in Vollenweider's imagination. His approach, tinged with numerous Asian flourishes, yields some interesting moments--the vibrant global jam of pennywhistle, harp, voices, and orchestra in "Under the Tree of Hope"; the murmurings of Ladysmith Black Mambazo in "Bhambororo"; the gates-of-heaven mood pieces that open and close the disc; the anthemic, three-part "Trigon," which features saxophonist Michael Brecker and brings to mind the curtain-closing spectacle of Supertramp's "Fool's Overture." Yet the disc also has a few dead spots (go-nowhere pieces such as "Passionata" and "Quendel and Rhomas"), and offers less cohesion than some listeners might prefer. Uneven, but intriguing; worth examining if you're an open-minded Vollenweider fan. --Terry Wood

Product Description
Columbia. 1997.

Kryptos,Andreas Vollenweider,New Age

Kryptos [Import]

Tracks:

Domus Cordis
Morgana Palace
Under the Trees of Hope
Passionata
Wanja the Wanderer
Bhambororo
Forest Folks
Quendal and Rhomas
Trigon
May Green Be the Grass
Circulus Finalis

Customer Reviews:

Worth waiting for.......2006-01-31

I chose to purchase Kryptos from Amazon.com rather than purchase it locally, which meant I had to wait a while. Well, talk about deferred gratification! In no time it arrived, and exceeded my expectations. It was brilliant! Much better than Vox which I had bought a year ago. Andreas Vollenweider really outdoes himself in this album.

A Masterpiece.......2005-09-02

I have most of Vollenweider's CDs and listen to them frequently. Each one is like a glorious, aesthetic trip around the world, and sometimes out of this world. I think Kryptos is his greatest achievement so far. It starts with a beautiful theme for choir and orchestra, and that springboards into a rich musical journey which flows from classical to jazz, Japanese to Celtic, solemnity to exhileration. At the end, the first theme is heard again, this time with choir and harp, and this time, instead of springboarding, it simply and exquisitely resolves.

Average customer rating:

Another very worthwhile release from Andreas Vollenweider
Incredible!
Ill-advised orchestral manoeuvre
Great music with new efforts!!
Vollenweider stumbles again.

Kryptos
Andreas Vollenweider
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Eolian Minstrel
Caverna Magica
Book of Roses
Cosmopoly
Down to the Moon

ASIN: B000009MJG
Release Date: 1998-09-15

Tracks:

Domus Cordis: Father's Tree/The Painted Gate
Morgana Palace
Hermes' Wedding
Under The Trees Of Hope
Passionata
Wanja The Wanderer (Conc)
Bhambororo!
Forest Folks
Quendel And Rhomas
Trigon: East Of Time/Missa Obscura/South Of Time
May Green Be The Grass...
Circulus Finalis: Return Of The Heroes/The Heroes' Telling

Customer Reviews:

Another very worthwhile release from Andreas Vollenweider.......2004-06-08

I've been a big fan of Andreas Vollenweider's music for about 15 years, and I own all of his albums that have been released in the U.S. except the recent "Essential" compilation. My favorites are "Book of Roses," "Eolian Minstrel," "White Winds," and "Caverna Magica."

I resisted buying "Kryptos" for a long time because I had somehow acquired an inaccurate impression of it from some limited sound clips I heard on-line. Finally, on the strength of the positive reviews here, I decided to take a chance on it. I'm now very glad I did. It's just another excellent Andreas Vollenweider album (probably the most like "Book of Roses"), not a major departure from his prior work as I had erroneously believed it to be. There's probably just as much orchestration in general on "Book of Roses" as here, so I disagree with some of the criticisms others have voiced about "over orchestration." In fact, some of the strongest tracks on "Kryptos" (e.g., "Passionata" and "Quendel and Rhomas") are intimate, beautiful duets featuring Andreas on harp along with another solo instrument, similar to what he did later on "Cosmopoly."

I've given this CD four stars instead of five only because I don't think it represents Andreas' strongest work compositionally. There are a few very nice melodies scattered throughout the album, but I think other albums such as "Book of Roses" are a little (but not a lot) stronger musically. Bottom line: I agree with the reviewers who said that true fans of Andreas Vollenweider (especially those who like "Book of Roses") will also enjoy "Kryptos."

Incredible!.......2001-09-21

I have followed the career of Andreas Vollenweider for 20 years now. I see that this "New Age" artist is still going strong. New age music can be so stagnant. But not in the hands of this harpist. There are tracks on this CD that will have dancing on the inside, and others that will have you weeping. Andreas Vollenweider proves that this genre of the 80's can find a home in the 21st century!

Ill-advised orchestral manoeuvre.......2001-06-23

In the course of many a prog-rock career, the artist succumbs to an inexplicable urge to go orchestral. So it was with ELP, Deep Purple, Rick Wakeman and, even as I write, Yes are touring with a large philharmonia. All ventures have met with sticky ends.

Such exploits have been less common in the field of New age, largely because these artists don't sell enough records to afford a 100-piece orchestra. Andreas Vollenweider is the exception, a big seller across the globe. With his label, Sony, unsure how to categorise him, the addition of an orchestra would give him the credibility to be launched onto a classical audience, perhaps opening up a major new market for the Swiss harpist.

But I suspect Vollenweider quickly discovered that working with an orchestra is very different to working with a small band of fellow Swiss musicians you've known for half your life. You have to have the score written up for perhaps eighty musicians -- you cannot keep changing the arrangement, and you cannot keep returning to the studio, day after day on an open-ended basis, because you've had a new idea overnight. No, the music needs to be pretty well settled by the day you first meet the orchestra, and if you haven't written for such a large ensemble before, you're likely to be surprised by how it sounds.

The intimate, almost-live, almost-first-take nature of Vollenweider's follow-up album 'Cosmopoly' is an indication of the success of the orchestral project. There are just two good melodies on this album -- 'Under the Trees of Hope' and 'Trigon', as noted by other Amazon reviewers -- and I feel both are messed up by the orchestration. 'Under the Trees of Hope' starts off so promisingly -- it would have sat comfortably on 1984's 'White Winds' -- but then that wretched choir comes in, and we know the tune is ruined until the choir goes away. Almost exactly the same could be said for 'Trigon', except to say that the excellent Michael Brecker is miscast for this project.

I am a great fan of Vollenweider -- I hope my reviews of his other albums demonstrate that -- but I hope this orchestral experiment will not be repeated.

Great music with new efforts!!.......1999-06-10

With a big curiosity, I listened to this album. This may not be the very best album in his career but still inspiring and absorbing. And I could feel that Andreas definitely made huge efforts to create some different style of music as he used to do. Particularly, track #2 is very impressive and exiting but is quite familiar with me because of its oriental rhythm. At first, I thought it sounded like JANG-GO, a Korean traditional percussion but realized later it was a Japanese one after reading the liner notes. In many ways, there are commonness in culture among Korea, China and Japan. I think traditional instruments of the three countries basically have that commonness also but all of them differ from one another in sound, color and tone. So... I'd like to advise Andreas to visit Korea to learn about Korean instruments, and of course he should listen to SAMUL-NORI, which is an extremely exciting rendition played by only four traditional percussions. I'm really sure that if he studies Korean instruments, his music will be far more enriched.

Vollenweider stumbles again........1999-05-18

I used to think Andreas Vollenweider could do no wrong-- I told my friends all his work was of the highest order. Unfortunately, with Eolian Minstrel (his vocal album,) and now Kryptos (his orchestral album,) I find only flashes of the sense of wonder, otherworldliness, and innovative instrumentation that makes his other work so special to me. If you're new to Vollenweider's music, get the Trilogy, Down to the Moon, Dancing with the Lion, or Book of Roses.

Average customer rating:

An interesting combination of world influences
Wonderfully outstanding!
You can't listen to this music, you must...
One of my favorites. Very exploratory.
A particular Vollenweider in... Japan!!

Kryptos
Andreas Vollenweider
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | International | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Styles | Music

Adult Alternative | Pop | Styles | Music

New Age | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000007VNJ
Release Date: 1997-11-05

Tracks:

Domus Cordis: Father's Tree/The Painted Gate
Morgana Palace
Hermes' Wedding
Under the Trees of Hope
Passionata
Wanja the Wanderer (Concerto for Harp and Orchestra)
Bhambororo!
Forest Folks
Quendel and Rhomas
Trigon: East of Time/Missa Obscura/South of Time
May Green Be the Grass
Circulus Finalis: Return of the Heroes/The Heroes' Telling

Amazon.com

Kryptos, Andreas Vollenweider has stated, is a Greek word meaning "the encoded" or "hidden." Those would be fitting terms to describe the intent behind this ambitious, meandering symphonic production. Not entirely a classical recording, far afield from the Swiss harpist's pop-inclined bestsellers of the 1980s, Kryptos comes across as a culture-hopping soundtrack for a one-world vision that is screening in Vollenweider's imagination. His approach, tinged with numerous Asian flourishes, yields some interesting moments--the vibrant global jam of pennywhistle, harp, voices, and orchestra in "Under the Tree of Hope"; the murmurings of Ladysmith Black Mambazo in "Bhambororo"; the gates-of-heaven mood pieces that open and close the disc; the anthemic, three-part "Trigon," which features saxophonist Michael Brecker and brings to mind the curtain-closing spectacle of Supertramp's "Fool's Overture." Yet the disc also has a few dead spots (go-nowhere pieces such as "Passionata" and "Quendel and Rhomas"), and offers less cohesion than some listeners might prefer. Uneven, but intriguing; worth examining if you're an open-minded Vollenweider fan. --Terry Wood

Album Description

Columbia. 1997.

Customer Reviews:

An interesting combination of world influences.......2003-12-31

Andreas Vollenweider continues to jazz up his electro-accoustic harp compositions, this time with even more variations in style and flavor drawn from musical traditions the world over. The liberal addition of choirs and symphony orchestras, along with bandoneon, shakuhachi, daiko drums, congas, and Chinese and Indonesian percussion, make for interesting, energetic music that is billed as "A Soundtrack for the Imagination". Retained from his previous work are Vollenweider's trademark harping and whimsical style, but in these large, sweeping, brooding compositions the sense of intimacy and magic present in his earlier releases is often lost. I have to admit that I miss it. If you want to sample even more divergent compositional styles of this talented and ever-evolving artist, try his 1993 collaboration with singer Eliza Gilkyson, "Eolian Minstrel", or his 1999 release, "Cosmopoly", which features many guest artists. For the best example of Vollenweider's early style, try "Trilogy" or any of its separate components.

Wonderfully outstanding!.......1999-11-17

I have been a fan of Andreas Vollenweider's for over 10 years. Everytime I pick up another CD of his I know I will be thoroughly amazed and awed at his genius. "KRYPTOS" is a perfect example of his limitless imagination and abilities. He his not alone. By no means can we dismiss wonderfully talented folks who choose to be part of his music.

You can't listen to this music, you must..........1999-10-31

experience it. What a CD! What a collection of music! Wow! Calling Andreas Vollenweider a musician would be like calling Michaelangelo a "painter". This is truly a work of art. Buy it, play it and make sure you listen in "surround sound". Wow.

One of my favorites. Very exploratory........1999-10-28

This is no longer a US import (it should be readily available in the US after having not been released here until I think almost a year after it had been in Europe).

I'm forever an Andreas fan, but this disc just re-affirms my belief that he's one of the most creative (and TALENTED) musicians around today. A lot of people dismiss his music as "new age tinkling" but those people are pre-disposed to hate it by virtue that they don't get it, so I don't give it a lot of thought. A wide variety of pieces on this disc, from a harp/acordian duet that compells me to binge on italian food, to a real orient-flavored Cheng/harp piece that starts off the disc.

Anyway, two thumbs up (and two big toes). I think a lot of people would be or are closet Andreas fans but have a hard time admitting it to their friends because they don't think a guy that plays the harp "sounds cool". So order online so you don't have to wonder what the 16 year old CD store clerk thinks of you!

- A proud "out" fan..

A particular Vollenweider in... Japan!!.......1999-03-31

after Eolian Minstrel VollenWeider go back to his previous (sans lyric) style. This time it's the search for new instruments that gives you something particular. Voices became again just "another instruments" in the tune and the style somehow remind me of a lost medieval Japan world.

Average customer rating:

Kryptos
Andreas Vollenweider
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | International | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Styles | Music

Adult Alternative | Pop | Styles | Music

New Age | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000BBRDDK
Release Date: 2006-06-06

Tracks:

Domus Cordis: Father's Tree/The Painted Gate
Morgana Palace
Under the Trees of Hope
Passionata
Wanja the Wanderer
Bhambororo!
Forest Folks
Quendel and Rhomas
Trigon: East of Time/Missa Obscura/South of Time - Michael Brecker, Andreas Vollenweider
May Green Be the Grass
Circulus Finalis: Return of the Heroes/The Heroes' Telling
Light Dance [#][*]
Hey You! Yes, You... [*]
Introducing Kryptos [CD-ROM Track][*]
Introducing Vox [CD-ROM Track][*]