Customer Reviews

Porcelain

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had to review this despite usually not bothering. This album needs to get more attention than it has. It's simply a perfect collection of piano music. This sort of thing isn't my usual cup of tea. Classical music just seems too complex and long for me to sit and listen to it for long enough to appreciate it or even give it a chance.

But this is something else, everyone should have a copy in their house. It's the most relaxing and de-stressing experience you could ever ask for from a music album. I thought other easy listening artists were the perfect tonic to today's modern stress filled life but nothing can compare to the beauty of this lady's work.

Helen Jane Long has composed thirteen gems that flow over you and soothe you. I just put the cd on, lie back and relax. The thing that makes this so special is because although I don't doubt Long's skill as a piano player, she has composed tracks that sound (probably deceptively) simple. The music is repetitive and simple but this works a treat, it really helps you relax.
I'm sure many would argue it's too repetitive but this is what makes it relax you, if given a chance, it really does just lift you from the stresses of life.

The tracks may sound simple and repetitive but they also really are great at capturing and conveying emotions, moods or themes.
This really is music to make you think and relax. And if it doesn't do that for you, the very least it offers is some very relaxing background music for you while you're at home.

I'm a huge fan of another great pianist, Ludovico Einaudi, who also creates haunting, memorable and soothing music. I found Porcelain through a link of his albums. I ordered this album from the tiny soundbites that amazon offers and am NOT disappointed. I had outgrown George Winston's piano music years ago; it just began jarring on my nerves. Not so this album: it's fluid, not repetative, or boring. I enjoy listening to this both as background but also purposefully listening to it at night, by candlelight. I only wish she had more albums to buy. Highly recommend.

I heard Long's music first on my local classical music station, and found it haunting, poetic, relaxing, and more. It was unusual for the station, because it struck me as more Windham Hill than classical, but I enjoyed it even more than any Windham Hill recording I have. What a delight!

This piano/violin and cello cd allows you to believe,create and imagine visions within you own mind.
Like recalling a movie scene with a soundtrack, this cd captures how the lights shines on the first day of snow for me when I listen to it driving through Yosemite or sitting on my blanket near the ocean.
Relaxing sounds without being intrusive.

Heklen Jane Long is an outstanding composer and performer. Her music is ethereal without being too spacey. It is very uplifting, making me want to cry it is so beautiful in places. The pieces are arranged well, with nice segues into each other. I also have Einaudi and I would say to compare, she is definitely more "lovely", you can tell the composer is female if you know what I mean, not as heavy handed as Einaudi, but definitely in his league. There are beautiful violin, viola and cello instruments accompanying her piano and so you have a beautiful arrangement altogether, not just piano. I play this music all the time and never tire of it. I highly recommend this CD! You wont be sorry.

I just love this album and am disappointed to learn that Helen has no others to offer.

I am using this to stay focused as I work. It's so beautiful, and calming that I can work for many hours without distress.

I am rested. Thank you, Helen.

There is good piano music, and then there is Helen's hauntingly beautiful work! If you have any interest in piano music at all, this should be on your list of things to purchase. I recommend that you pick up this album, at the very least it's great for concentration, musing, study and romance (heh heh! ;) ).

I just purchased this album about an hour ago, and I eagerly await its arrival in the mail. I'm in grad school, and I listen to a lot of classical style music while I write my papers. I sit at my computer, put on my headphones, grab a cup of tea, and usually just try to get myself in some sort of trance while I write. I use Pandora, and plug in a variety of artists. Lately, I had been listening to "Loreena McKennit" radio. For a change of pace here during finals week, I plugged in "Pachobel Cannon in D" radio. I know it's grossly overplayed in the classical music world, but it is beautiful piano music and I really enjoy listening to it as I write. Anyways, that's how I came upon Helen Jane Long's "Porcelain". A handful of songs came up on Pandora, and I was unusually moved by them. I downloaded two of them and really analyzed them - and I was hooked. They are unexplainably beautiful, yet so simple and light. It's rare that a collection of sounds can be so powerful, but these songs that I've heard are just that. As I read the reviews here on Amazon, I knew that the CD was for me. As I said, I will be checking the mail everyday for the CD, because I can't wait to hear the rest! Whether it's writing a paper, needing to unwind after a long day of work, something to listen to while you're paying the bills - this music serves as a little barrier to that outside world for just a moment, as you find yourself getting lost in the calming rhythm and notes.

I heard many songs from this album on Pandora while at work. Everytime I toggled to my internet screen to see what beautiful song I was listening to, I started to notice that many of the songs were Jane's. The music is simple, not overdone, well-arrainged, and divinely beautiful. I'm a big fan of Yanni and Enya, and while their music tells stories, Jane's music is more emotion/state of mind. You won't be disappointed!

I don't know how to explain how wonderful I think this music is. I have listened to it dozens of times and each time it's like hearing it again for the first time. So soothing to my soul.