Illuminated Manuscripts CD

Track List:

1. Illuminated Manuscripts
2. Passages
3. Nocturn
4. The Seven Stages
5. Shimmer Valley
6. The Call
7. Early Light
8. Passages Beyond
9. Alchemy
10. Enter the Descent
11. Expansion/Contraction
12. Sanctuary
13. Glow Temple(The Key)
14. Afterlife
15. Nocturn II
16. The Curve
17. Early Light II

Mystical and evocative, “Illuminated Manuscripts” embraces the ancient in a modern context. Pulsating trance grooves, exotic violin lines, and haunting chants are just some of the elements used in this work. Fritz Heede has brought together a blend of electronic synthesis and exotic acoustic instruments creating a rich tapestry of sound.

Conceived as the score to “Illuminated Manuscripts” the video DVD featuring sacred and organic animations by John S. Banks and released by Artek Images

Fusing ancient rhythms to modern sonic textures, Fritz Heede’s stellar soundtrack to the Illuminated Manuscripts DVD stands on its own as a wondrous aural journey. Heede seamlessly blends moods from the tribal to the spiritual with a mixture of Old World instruments, ethnic percussion, haunting vocal chants and electronic ambience stirred into an intoxicating brew.

This deeply spiritual recording allows the listener to escape the world around them and enter a mvstical zone of enlightened thought and serene relaxation. Over an hour of other-worldly magic for your ears, these seventeen tracks will chart the course for a rewarding voyage to inner peace.

The DVD, “Illuminated Manuscripts,” is quite an exotic piece of work; it takes the most beautiful of ancient writings and sets those fabulously artistic stands of stylized lettering to a dazzling make-over with color and music. But what of the CD of only the music? One must wonder, can it stand alone?

It can; it does.

Composer/producer Fritz Heede could have merely turned in another set of accompanying pieces similar to those he created for the equally off-beat and interesting visual experience, “Ritual Path.” It would have been simple to do so, and most members of the public would have been no wiser. But, Heede is a musician first and business man second, apparently.

The seventeen tracks on this album add up to well over an hour of music, each of them distinct. and vet not so to the point where changing from one track to another is in anv way jarring. Still, they each have their own personality, something evoked through the strategic use of layering different sets of instruments. The work is, quite frankly, mystical and evocative, embracing an ancient feel in a modern context.

Combining pulsating trance grooves and exotic violin lines, Heede has created another stunningly involving backdrop which can fit an incredible amount of activities. It is both spell-binding, and yet wonderfully non-intrusive. Part of this is due to Heede’s gifted approach toward blending the haunting chants of his vocal performers with the mood of his musicians. Part of it is due to the composer/producer’s uncanny ear for bringing together the best of the world of electronic music with that of the instruments of the ancient world.

Yes, this soundtrack may have been conceived as the music for the background of the DVD “Illuminated Manuscripts,” but then, the same can be said to the music John Williams wrote for “Star Wars.” And you know, that made a pretty fine album, too.

-C.J. Henderson
Author of “The Encyclopedia Of Science Fiction Movies”