Harmonic Meditations: Music from the Heart of the Cosmos [Audiobook, CD] [Audio CD]

David Hykes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2005

A quarter-million listeners made Hearing Solar Winds a classic; now comes David Hykes' Harmonic Meditations, his first 21st century release. Hykes is the legendary composer and musician who, besides introducing Western audiences to the "throat singing" of Tuva, Tibet, and Mongolia, has created a world of universal sacred music, the Harmonic Chant. Here are eight profound compositions that open the listener to incredible states of expanded consciousness aligned with the vibrational frequencies of the cosmos itself. Includes "The Silent Ground," which the Harmonic Choir premiered in New York for NPR's WNYC-FM re-inauguration of the Winter Garden opposite Ground Zero.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Composer, singer, music teacher, workshop and retreat leader, lecturer and writer. Founder of the Choir of the Harmonic Chant in 1975. David has toured the world since 1982. Artist-in-Residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, NYC, 1985, 1986; first-ever joint concerts and symposia with the Gyuoto and Gyume Tibetan monks, and with the Dalai Lama (Cathedral of St. John the Divine, NYC, 1985, 1986; East West Foundation, Los Angeles, 1989). Grants and Awards: Rockefeller Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, UNESCO, New York State Council on the Arts, Threshold Fondation, ZBS Foundation, Asian Cultural Council, French Ministry of Culture. Founded the Choeur Harmonique in Paris in 1987.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Sounds True, Incorporated (April 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591792533
• ISBN-13: 978-1591792536
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,381,444 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unique Overtone Chanting, April 2, 2006

By 

William Bagley (Ashland, Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Harmonic Meditations (Audio CD)

I have a number of CDs from David Hykes. He has evolved his own overtone chanting. Unlike Tibetan overtoning, he uses pure vowel sound and pure toning of primordial sounds, rather than specific mantras and seed syllables. He chooses, if possible, like this CD, a resonant natural environment that deepens the overtone harmonics. This latest creation shows a maturing and deepening of his work, though it is very similar to all his other creations. They are more of a sonic meditation than "music". It is less structured and free form. It is meant to be chanted with, especially with overtoning. I give this CD, and all his CDs four stars rather than five because the recording quality and presenting quality could use some engineering and refining. The tones push many speakers over their capacity. The sounds will often vibrate things in the room and more than one speaker grille. I do not know if this can be avoided, but I have had some trouble finding a speaker system that ideally supports the kind of tones he creates. Lowering the volume always helps and sometimes putting some foam under the speakers. I have had similar challenges with Tibetan chanting, but even more so with his. All in all, I have used his CDs often for meditation and chant along with them. It invokes a potent silence and a natural release from "thinking".

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars beautiful and profoundly rich, January 16, 2006

By 

J. Gomez (Oregon USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Harmonic Meditations: Music from the Heart of the Cosmos (Audio CD)

The recordings on David Hykes's CD Harmonic Meditations capture some incredible performances of improvised vocal music in acoustically rich spaces including a cistern in Seattle and the atrium of the World Financial Center in New York. The vocal trio pieces are stunningly beautiful and harmonically rich, and the larger group ensemble pieces incorporating sparse middle-eastern instrumentation express a searching, yearning or longing that characterises the very best in art.

Great stuff.

5.0 out of 5 stars aura cleansing, July 1, 2011

By 

disappointed - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Harmonic Meditations (Audio CD)

Having read about Harmonic choirs I was intrigued by what they actually sound like. This CD felt like I was being gently washed with love and having my auras cleansed. The music gently wraps itself around you without penetrating your physical body. I have never experienced anything like this before. It was a wonderful experience. Even my daughter liked the CD and we don't often like the same music.