The ones I listen to... #9
I’m by no means a chauvinist, but I must openly admit to being well acquainted with the work of only a few ladies in the field of contemporary instrumental music. Here, I refer to those who are not only vocalists or instrumentalists but also authors. One well-known Croatian chef said that she can almost always tell the difference between meals prepared by a woman or a man, and that women tend to cook for others while sharing love, while men tend to create art through cooking. Is this also applicable to music?
The first artist I will mention here is Suzanne Cianni. She is an American musician and composer of Italian descent. Born in 1946, Cianni was educated in both music and technology. In the early 1970s, she met Don Buchla, one of the pioneers of synthesizer invention, and fell in love with electronic music. Her dream at the time was to own a Buchla synthesizer, so much so that she even worked for his company for a while, trying to earn enough money.
In later years, Cianni found success in producing music and sounds for various advertisements and TV programs. Using synthesizers in this area was considered a pioneering endeavor back then, which has certainly helped Cianni to break through to a great degree. I remembered watching an excerpt from some '70s American TV show, showing Cianni in action on synthesizers. This must have felt like watching a wizard at work in those days. If only things were like that today…
In the early 1980s, Cianni started composing new age music. One of her first and most notable efforts is the synthesizer-based album, “The Velocity of Love”. This mostly features lyrical and romantic melodies that contrast surprisingly well with the somewhat “cold” nature of synthesizers from the era. Of course, if you know music by Vangelis and Kitaro, you will know better. In fact, Vangelis has actually performed on some tracks featured on the mentioned album by Cianni. This fact alone attests to her talent. Cianni is also an excellent pianist, and she recorded a series of piano albums called “Pianissimo”. These mostly feature simple and lyrical melodies, some of which came from her electronic works. She also made some albums accompanied by an intimate band, including “Meditations” and “Silver Ship”, which are my personal highlights.
The next lady is Constance Demby, an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, and sculptor born in 1939. I found out about her work at Allmusic.com. She was often called the mother of “space and meditative music”. From what I read about her, Demby was a deeply spiritual and talented person. She was mostly inspired by nature and faraway places. In the late 1970s, she went on a pilgrimage to India, which greatly influenced her art.
Demby used various acoustic instruments from all around the world in her music. She also constructed a few unique instruments on her own. Later, she embraced synthesizers and samplers and began to compose ambient, “space”, and new age music. Her 1986 album, “Novus Magnificat”, is a fine example of early virtual orchestration - replicating the orchestral sounds with the synthesizers. This was quite a feat back then, when sample libraries we know today were still very far away. Her later efforts, “Sanctum Sanctorum”, “Aeterna”, and particularly “Set Free”, created with more modern equipment, showed the full potential of Demby’s music. Sadly, she passed away in 2021, but I’m happy to have discovered her work.
Finally, I must mention the queen of Celtic and new age music. This is, of course, Enya. She became one of the biggest-selling authors in this genre, which is why I have somewhat mixed opinions about her work.
Enya was born in 1961 in a small town in Ireland. From an early age, she was surrounded by music, and she started performing with her family band. Later on, she began composing her own music using her voice as an instrument and also various synthesizers. In 1988, she released the legendary album “Watermark,” which led to her worldwide fame. This work and its sequel, “Shepherd Moons”, contain all the magic ingredients of Enya’s sound. This includes her angelic voice, lush synthesizer textures, Celtic influences, a few romantic songs with lyrics, as well as fine performances of traditional songs sung in Irish. The standouts are definitely mega hits, “Orinoco Flow” and “Storms in Africa”, which have rich and gorgeous arrangements.
Despite her fame and beauty, Enya is supposedly a very private and modest person who prefers peace and solitude. Although her later works are perhaps too commercial-sounding for my taste, I would wholeheartedly recommend her earlier efforts to any music lover.