Archive for the ‘New Age Music Books’ Category

Sadly there aren’t many books about new age music, but below are my reviews of the books I have found about this topic. Two books are about the genre itself, while there are three artist autobiographies.

The international guide to new age music (1998)

The book called The international guide to new age music by Henk N. Werkhoven is the most ambitious work about this genre. The book came out 10 years ago, and no new editions have so far been released. But it is still a nice resource for everyone who is into new age music. It contains a heartfelt foreword by Henk N. Werkhoven, and then a nice introduction to the genre by Steven Halpern. I don’t agree with the selection of artists though. Major artists like Enya, Enigma, Tangerine Dream or Mike Oldfield are not even mentioned here, and they were just as important 10 years ago. It is almost like creating a guide to classical music and not mentioning Mozart or Bach… But I understand Werkhoven’s focus on dedicated new age music artists and labels, as a contrast to major pop artists. And that’s ok. It is still a good guide, because the artists here are indeed some of the finest.

In this book you will find biographies and discographies to artists like William Ackerman and Suzanne Doucet. The parts about record labels and radio programming are also interesting (but a little outdated of course). The included CD, with music by Cusco, Deuter and others, is very good.

Since The international guide to new age music is 10 years old, you can get the book and CD for a few dollars. A good buy indeed. Available through Amazon.

There is also a book released in 1989 called The New Age Music Guide: Profiles and Recordings of 500 Top New Age Musicians by Patti Jean Birosik. On Amazon is a presentation of it (scroll down). I haven’t read that one yet (but I will!) 

Changeling (2007)

Mike Oldfield released his autobiography in 2007 on Virgin Books entitled Changeling. Here Mike tells about his childhood with an alcoholic mother and his social difficulties. But also about how he discovered music and became a guitarist (and bassist) in various bands from a young age. He also played together with his talented siblings, Terry and Sally.

The most interesting part of the book is when Mike writes about the creation of Tubular Bells (no big surprises there). Richard Branson was the only one who believed in this long and unusual album, and he gave Mike studio time. The incredible success of Tubular Bells was the beginning of Virgin Music.

Mike also tells about his psychological problems and the backside of fame and money. The book is not very detailed when it comes to Mike’s creative side, but you get a feeling that this is an artist with a big passion for his work. For Oldfield’s many fans, this book is a great read.

Here is the book on Amazon.

Yanni In Words (2003)

Yanni’s autobiography from 2003 is called Yanni In Words. Here the Greek maestro tells his story, about how he was as a young boy, as a student and later as a musician. Success is never easy, and this was also the case for Yanni. The famous shows at Taj Mahal and Acropolis demanded a lot of work. It is also interesting to read about how he works with music, and it is obvious that he is a hard working musician.

Yanni has never been happy with his New Age Piano Player image, and I agree with him; he is almost like a classical composer. To label his music as New Age stuff is perhaps wrong. But anyway, Yanni In Words is a great read!

That’s it! Do you know about any other books about new age music? Write a comment about it.