Caverna Magica

Amazon.com New age nomenclature was still a trial balloon when Swiss "electro-harpist" Andreas Vollenweider's fanciful, seductive instrumental recordings began casting their spell in the early '80s, and if the music's title imagery often suggested veiled allusions to medieval magic or Tolkien on acid, the music itself remains hard to denigrate. Vollenweider's plangent, warmly intoned leads serve as the armature for the lush textures and percussive filigree of his ensembles, and if the compositions are modest, the execution remains charming. The diminutive harpist's impact on subsequent, more solemn new age and instrumental pop has proven outsized, too. --Sam Sutherland ISBN13:B0000025QC...