Vollenweider, Andreas

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Andreas Vollenweider

Harpist, composer, arranger, producer

Swiss harpist Andreas Vollenweider became a pioneering force in the New Age or New Music movement, achieving fame throughout the world long before the genre became trendy. Prior to the late 1980s New Age artists were usually produced by small, independent labels. Vollenweider's albums simultaneously breached Billboard's pop, jazz, and classical charts in 1986, and the new, experimental style moved out of cultdom and into the mainstream. Billboard created a New Age album chart specifically for the style, and the Grammys added a new category for the emerging form. Vollenweider won the first Grammy Award for New Age Music in 1987.

Often referred to as "audio Valium" or "yuppie elevator music," even by fans of New Age, the form is an improvisational combination of pop, jazz, and classical styles—mostly instrumental, mellow and melodic, and sometimes electronic. While Vollenweider has employed many of the same elements as his peers, he has extended the boundaries of New Age, drawing from world music in addition to jazz and classical, and exploring new musical territory. Moreover, Vollenweider was one of the first New Age artists to carve a significant identity through live performances, and has been known to play up to 250 concerts per year, attracting not only adherents of New Age but fans from the jazz and classical camps as well. Vollenweider continued his genre-bending ways in the early 2000s with large orchestral works that drew on a variety of world music influences.

Although best known for his work on the electro-acoustic harp, a standard harp that Vollenweider modified to produce a wider range of sounds and a more percussive attack, he is adept at a variety of other instruments, including the piano, guitar, modern concert harp, Celtic harp, Chinese harp, Bavarian folk harp, baby koto, Chinese membrane flute, clay double flute, and more.

Born on October 4, 1953, in Zurich, Switzerland, to a musical family, Vollenweider seemed destined for a career in the arts. His father, Hans Vollenweider, ranked as one of the most prominent organists, pianists, and composers in Europe, and exposed his son to classical styles at an early age. "I grew up in a family of musicians and painters and designers," Andreas Vollenweider told the Detroit Free Press. "There was always creativity around me." Vollenweider nevertheless was slow in finding a specific focus for his energies. A Bohemian type who rarely attended school, Vollenweider drove his music teachers crazy because he refused to follow the sheet music they gave him to play. Instead, he gained proficiency through trial and error and was, for the most part, a self-taught musician.

Discovered the Harp

After trying his hand at a variety of different instruments, including guitar, flute, and piano, in 1975 Vol- lenweider discovered the harp. In the process of developing his own technique, he played the instrument for Poetry and Music, a group that mixed mood pieces and poetry recitations. They recorded three albums and toured frequently throughout Europe. During this time Vollenweider also composed music for film, theater, and television productions. By now he had created his own composing style for the harp: soft, spectral, and at times formless, with accompaniment by percussion instruments, from drums and gongs to wind chimes and even tuned salad bowls, as well as guitar and woodwinds. His playing technique was also far removed from the ordinary. He bent and shaped his notes, not by running his fingertips across the strings but by plucking, hammering, or caressing them up and down.

Vollenweider also modified his instrument to suit his needs, constructing a damper to expedite more rhythmic playing and inventing a system that amplified the harp with a small electronic pickup on each string. "The harp has a natural character," he explained to the Detroit Free Press. "To this character I've added mechanical alterations and electronics which enable me to achieve the full range of an orchestra, from the lowest notes to the highest…. Also, I make my own strings…. of silver-wound steel."

Became a Star in Europe and America

Following his 1980 solo recording debut, A Form of Suite in XIII Parts, Vollenweider's spirited funk beats, exotic pan-cultural influences, and colorful harp improvisations swept across Europe. In mid-1981 Andreas Vollenweider & Friends performed their first concert at the Montreux Jazz Festival to great acclaim. In the fall of that year, after securing a major-label record contract with CBS Records, Vollenweider returned with Behind the Gardens—Behind the Wall—Under the Tree, and a new sound began to spread around the world. Caverna Magica (1982) was named as the year's best pop album in Germany by Audio magazine, winning out over Billy Joel's An Innocent Man and Michael Jackson's Thriller. In 1983 Vollenweider spent much of the year producing an independent video documenting his commitment to environmental protection and world peace, and his maxi single "Pace Verde," the theme for Greenpeace's pro-ecology movement, won the prestigious Edison Award in Amsterdam. Both of his first two albums for CBS sold about one million copies each, primarily in Europe.

Although by now a superstar in Europe, Vollenweider was also gaining a following in the United States, due in part to a stepped-up promotional campaign initiated by his record label and an increase in press coverage. In 1984, with the release of White Winds, he appeared on the American charts for the first time and received a rousing reception during his first American tour the following year, selling out performances at such major auditoriums as Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles. The tour continued in Europe with equal success. In 1986 Vollenweider released Down to the Moon on Sony Classics, touring with his regular band in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, and Australia in support of the album. In 1987 he became the first Swiss musician to win a Grammy Award, and the first artist in Grammy history to earn an honor for New Age Music, which he received for Down to the Moon.

For the Record …

Born on October 4, 1953, in Zurich, Switzerland; son of Hans Vollenweider (an organist, pianist and composer); married Beata (a kindergarten teacher), 1971.

Member of musical group Poetry and Music, and composer of film and television scores, late 1970s; released solo debut, A Form of Suite in XIII Parts, 1980; released Caverna Magica, 1982; White Winds, 1984; Down to the Moon, 1986; Book of Roses, 1991; Eolian Minstrel, 1992; performed at Pavarotti International Show in Modena, Italy, 1994; released Kryptos, 1997; released world music album Cosmopoly, 1999; performed in Bali, 2001; composed "symphonic novel" Kira Kutan, premiered 2001; signed to Kin Kou label, acquired control of earlier Sony label music, 2004; released The Magic Harp, 2005; toured U.S., released DVD The Magical Journeys, 2006; released double CD Andreas Vollenweider & Friends, 2007.

Awards: Audio magazine, Pop Album of the Year award, for Caverna Magica, 1982; Grammy Award for Down to the Moon, 1987.

Addresses: Record company—Kin Kou Music, Savoy Record company Group, 429 Santa Monica Blvd., Ste. 330, Santa Monica, CA 90405. Management—Impact Music Inc., Zollikerstrasse 144, 8008 Zürich, Switzerland. Website—Andreas Vollenweider Official Website: http://www.vollenweider.com.

Maintained Artistic Integrity

In the wake of rising commercial success, Vollenweider managed to maintain his artistic integrity and vision.

After the 1989 release of Dancing with the Lion, the harpist returned in 1990 with Trilogy, a double album that united Behind the Gardens, Caverna Magica, White Winds, most of A Form of Suite in XIII Parts, and "Pace Verde." Also that year in Switzerland, the harpist released Dream Garden or Taumgarten, an album recorded with his father bearing the subtitle "Father and Son Improvise." The harpist's 1991 album Book of Roses, recorded with musicians from around the world, presented Vollenweider for the first time as a multi-instrumentalist, expanding his scope as a composer and musician while keeping his trademark sound intact.

In 1992 Vollenweider performed an outdoor concert in Moscow's Red Square to benefit children who were victims of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, and later that year he received a World Music Award in Monaco. With 1993's Eolian Minstrel, the New Age harpist presented his first recording with songs in English. Blending Vollenweider's own voice and harp playing with that of American singer Eliza Gilkyson, the album featured a number of guest musicians, among them singer-songwriter Carly Simon. In November of that year, Vollenweider and several of his collaborators from Eolian Minstrel embarked on a tour of eastern and western Europe, then traveled to the United States early in 1994.

In September of 1994 Vollenweider accepted an invitation from tenor Luciano Pavarotti to perform at the Pavarotti International Show in Modena, Italy, broadcast live on RAI UNO and followed by the Pavarotti & Friends 2 live album in May of 1995. In October of that year Vollenweider released the double album Andreas Vollenweider & Friends—Live 1982-1994, featuring live performances from the harpist's early music all the way up through Eolian Minstrel.

Meanwhile, Vollenweider had assimilated a new group to specialize in improvisation. Beginning in 1995 the ensemble initiated a series of tours and open air concerts throughout Europe. Vollenweider and his group also traveled to New York City, where they played at the legendary Blue Note Club. They then performed for the first time ever in several Latin American countries. In February of 1996 the group performed with the RAI Orchestra at the San Remo Festival in Italy, broadcast live to millions of viewers throughout Europe, and a few months later Vollenweider performed his first concert with a symphony orchestra at Zurich's Tonhalle.

Helped Popularize World Music

Kryptos, released in 1997 in Europe and in 1998 in the United States, featured contributions from Japanese percussionists Kodo and Leonard Eto, African vocal ensemble Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Argentine bandoneon player Daniel Binelli, jazz saxophonist Michael Brecker, and symphony orchestras. Amid various tours in support of the album, Vollenweider found time to compose music for Wolkenstein, a symphonic mind movie first performed in 1998 at the Fraumünster Church in Zurich.

In late 1999 and early 2000 in the United States, Vollenweider released Cosmopoly, a collaborative global endeavor that explored the music of various cultures. Cosmopoly earned a warm reception from critics and fans alike, appealing to musical genres from world music to instrumental pop to classical music and jazz, and featuring Vollenweider performing on a variety of instruments. Cosmopoly also featured an eclectic mix of guest artists, including vocalists Bobby McFerrin and Carly Simon, trombonist Ray Anderson, fiddler Mindy Jostyn, Brazilian singer-songwriter Milton Nascimento, South African jazz pianist Abdulah Ibrahim, and many others.

In the early 2000s Vollenweider continued to expand the scope of his music. He appeared in 2001 on the Indonesian island of Bali with Balinese musicians, and later that year Tales of Kira Kutan, which he called a symphonic novel, was premiered at the Warsaw (Poland) Film Music Festival. The year 2001 also saw the premiere of Socrates: Dawn of Civilization, a large multimedia work that was performed in Athens, Greece, at the Olympic stadium. Vollenweider brought together some of the musicians from the Cosmopoly album to form the new Andreas Vollenweider & Friends orchestra that toured Europe and South Africa in 2002 and 2003.

Vollenweider and his label Sony parted ways during this period, and Vollenweider obtained the rights to the masters of all his Sony recordings. In 2005 he signed with Kin Kou, a new world music imprint of the Savoy Music Group (in Europe, his new recordings appeared on the Edel, Phonag, and Universal labels). Savoy president Steve Vining faulted major labels for ignoring the development of offbeat artists like Vollenweider, and suggested that there was an opportunity for smaller labels like Savoy. "The approach is, you kind of figure out which way the water is running and swim against it," SLG president Steve Vining said. "These are areas where larger companies aren't functioning anymore," he told Billboard.

Vollenweider proceeded in two directions creatively. He tried to sum up his previous activities with two collections, The Magic Harp and The Magical Journeys of Andreas Vollenweider, in combined CD/DVD releases. He also released Vox (2005) in Europe on the Universal label, the first Vollenweider release to feature his own singing. Vollenweider toured the United States in 2006, and The Magical Journeys of Andreas Vollenweider earned a Grammy nomination in the spring of 2007. Later that year he released a new album, Live at the Conservatorio Milano, in download form on his own website.

Selected discography

A Form of Suite in XIII Parts, Audion, 1980.

Behind the Gardens—Behind the Wall—Under the Tree, CBS, 1981.

Caverna Magica, CBS, 1982.

White Winds, CBS, 1984; reissued Sony/Columbia, 1987.

Down to the Moon, Sony Classics, 1986.

Dancing with the Lion, Sony/Columbia, 1989.

The Trilogy, Sony/Columbia, 1990.

Book of Roses, Sony/Columbia, 1991.

Eolian Minstrel, EMD/Capitol, 1993.

Andreas Vollenweider & Friends—Live 1982-1994, 1995.

Kryptos, Sony Classical, 1997.

Cosmopoly, Sony Classical, 1999.

The Magic Harp, (CD/DVD), Kin Kou, 2005.

Vox, Universal, 2005.

The Magical Journeys of Andreas Vollenweider (CD/DVD), Kin Kou, 2006.

Live at the Conservatorio Milano (downloadable album), 2007.

Sources

Books

The Complete Marquis Who's Who, Marquis Who's Who, 1999.

Periodicals

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 16, 1998.

Billboard, April 6, 1996; March 14, 1998; September 12, 1998; December 25, 1999/January 1, 2000; February 26, 2000; April 1, 2000; March 26, 2005, p. 11.

Boston Globe, October 9, 1998; October 14, 1998.

Detroit Free Press, October 24, 1984.

Detroit News, May 23, 1985.

USA Today, January 12, 1990.

Wall Street Journal, April 1, 1987.

Washington Post, October 9, 1998.