Terry Oldfield presents us with about an hour of instrumental music specifically designed to accompany a yoga class, but equally appropriate for accompanying any holistic therapy or for reflective relaxation. It serves both as background and focus, depending on whether the mind is concentrating on other external stimuli or going where the music takes it, journeying eastward.

There is a calming fusion of Tibetan singing bowls and bells; Indian cymbals, drums and bells; and mellow bamboo and alto flutes that combine and interweave to bring something of China to the senses. The bowls' vibrancy warms the spirit and the flutes sooth, while the keyboards and occasional abstract vocals link the work cohesively into a harmonious, melodious fluency that new age music sometimes lacks.

There is a progression from the opening "Earth & Sky" through "Aum" and "Pilgrimage," "Yoga Healing" to "The Wave," along the "Mountain Path" through "Nothingness," concluding with "The Essence." There are glimpses of vibrant colours, pools of deep green water, half in sunlight, half shaded by tall, dark trees, half perceived cloud-covered snow-capped majestic mountains, and the unfurling of a lotus flower. Oldfield's music is the healthiest addiction I know, and the quickest, most economic mode of transportation across this wondrous globe we call Earth.

by Jenny Ivor
Rambles.NET
10 February 2007