Elements Series: Earth

Peter Kater | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 30, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Real Music
• ASIN: B000ALZHS4
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #110,361 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Earth is another in pianist Peter Kater's introspective four-disc series of ambient chamber works, The Elements Series, also incorporating Water, Fire, and Air. Of the four, Earth is the most organic and folkloric, with Richard Hardy playing bamboo and Native American flutes on several tracks. But the disc also employs synthesizers and the only programmed rhythms of the series with gentle shakers and hand percussion. Earth evokes a pastoral landscape with song titles based on the seasons, making it a concept album within a concept album. "Summer" is light and airy and "Autumn" is shaded in romantic colors. "Spring" is almost country, while "Winter" takes on a darker hue with synthesizer ambiences calling up a chilled landscape. Guitarist Mike Hamilton dominates much of this album, picking out melodies on overdubbed acoustic guitar. While the other CDs in the series have a contemplative tone, Earth almost gets heroic on tracks like "Celestine." As a pianist and composer, Peter Kater can lapse into lounge-jazz and romantic piano idioms, and he kisses that terrain at times on Earth, but there is a new austerity heard in this series that serves him well, putting him on the right side of the sentimental/sublime divide. --John Diliberto

Bridget Eldridge, American Spa Magazine, January 2006

The bass clarinet, flute, piano, and soprano saxophone form a symphony of elements to help you become calm and relaxed.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars from MainlyPiano.com, October 4, 2005

By 

Kathy Parsons (Florence, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Elements Series: Earth (Audio CD)

"Earth" is one of four CDs in Peter Kater's "Elements Series," and features Kater on piano and keyboards, Mike Hamilton on guitars, and Richard Hardy on flutes and saxophone. The music is ambient and ethereal, and the piano plays a much smaller part on this CD than on "Water," which is also part of this series. Hamilton's beautiful guitar work comes to the front of several of the tracks, with Kater layering other sounds with synths and sequencers to create a peaceful, serene atmosphere. Hardy's various bamboo and Native American flutes are warm, "earthy," and reminiscent of some of Kater's previous collaborations with Native American artists. The combination of flute, guitar, and piano is fairly unusual and is very effective. The synth washes add subtle colors and contribute to the sense of open space and vastness. The mood throughout the CD is peaceful and calming - truly an understatement!

The CD opens appropriately enough with "Sunrise," a quietly haunting flute solo that melts into "Celestine," which adds the guitar, synth, and piano - a gorgeous piece that all but floats on a cloud. The next eight tracks are a prelude and then a full piece for each of the four seasons, beginning with "Summer." All are stunning in their simplicity and beauty. The closing track is "Sunset," which, like "Sunrise," features the flute, but this time has synth behind it - a peaceful close to an outstanding album.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful.................., September 20, 2007

By 

Tanis "Tanis Yvonne Somerville" (Seahurst, Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elements Series: Earth (Audio CD)

In "Earth", Peter Kater has carried out a work full of symphonism and beauty. The album, which can be labelled as New Instrumental Music, also has Classical traits and some light touches of Latin Folk. The music is, on the whole, melodic, soft, and with clear romantic traits. Sometimes it becomes festive, and at other times melancholy. This is an excellent release that will surely be liked by a wide range of listeners.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Earth Moved ... in Peace, March 20, 2007

By 

M. Wagemakers "Ella Wagemakers" (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Elements Series: Earth (Audio CD)

A truly relaxing CD. Lovely as background music, but it doesn't hurt to actually listen to it and be aware of the soothing progression of chords and melody shades. The moods of the seasons are graphically described, and the arrangements flow one into the other. What I also especially appreciate is the fact that the selections follow each other without much of a pause in between. Even a 3-second pause between numbers would have been too noticeable and therefore disruptive. That is not the case with this CD, as with the other CDs in the Elements series. Beautifully crafted, with a depth of feeling without being overly sentimental or romantic. A relief to listen to, a source of quiet excitement.