Novus Magnificat
Original 1986 cassette artwork
Studio album by
Constance Demby
Released1986
Recorded1985[1]
GenreNew-age,[2] space music,[2] ambient[2]
Length53:40 (CD)[3]
LabelHearts of Space
ProducerConstance Demby, Anna Turner
Constance Demby chronology
Sacred Space Music
(1982)		 Novus Magnificat
(1986)		 Set Free
(1987)

Novus Magnificat: Through the Stargate[4] is the fourth studio album by American musician and composer Constance Demby, with additional contributions by Michael Stearns. It was co-produced by Demby and Anna Turner and released in 1986 on Hearts of Space Records. In its original form, the album features a single 54-minute piece divided into two parts.

The album is regarded as a classic of the new age and space music genres, and has sold over 200,000 copies worldwide.[5] In 2002, it was named as one of the "25 Most Influential Ambient Albums of All Time".[6] A special 30th anniversary edition was released in 2017 which features previously unreleased live tracks.

Production

Title

The title Novus Magnificat is Latin for "New Magnificat", a reference to the ancient Christian hymn. Inspired by Western classical and sacred music, Novus Magnificat was self-defined as "A Magnificat and Exaltate for digital orchestra, choral voices, and special electronic images"[7][8] and "Dedicated to the Infinite One..."[8]

Recording

The album originated in 1982, shortly after Demby had finished her previous studio album, Sacred Space Music. She recalled music entering her head, sketches of which were recorded using a four-track Portastudio cassette recorder. "I was hearing the most incredible music playing inside my head and had no idea how I would duplicate this other dimension, how I would pull it through and get it onto tape in this dimension. For what I heard inside my head made me think, 'How in God's name am I going to duplicate this?'"[1] In 1985, after setting up her home studio, Demby found the task of recording her new ideas somewhat intimidating as she lacked experience of operating the equipment, using a digital sampling synthesizer, or had composed or performed such a longform orchestral composition. To further matters, Demby was unable to record her ideas as she found herself "alone with the equipment and paralyzed with fear", thus creating a block on her creativity. She found a remedy by playing "silly comedy music" first, after which "the music began pouring through".[1]

Demby recorded the album on a Tascam 16-track recorder and plays just three instruments, her main being the E-mu Emulator II, one of the first digital sampling synthesizers, which combined the sound of real symphonic instruments and choirs into a single keyboard. It was hooked to a Roland Juno 60 to provide arpeggiated effects and enhanced sounds.[1] Demby also plays a Yamaha concert grand piano. Apart from the early ideas recorded on the Portastudio of the orchestration, general direction of the music, and emotions that Demby wanted to present, none of the music was written down or scored in advance.[8] Demby used a sound to represent a specific emotion, such as a cello to signify "the searching, yearning heart", or a bassoon for one's higher self, which she wrote was "a more exalted positioning that no longer required searching or yearning, it simply knew. It's job was to 'answer' the questions the cello was asking, a conversation heard in the opening sections".[1]

Demby recorded the composition in sections which were pieced together in post-production; she only heard the final piece in full after mixing was completed seven months later. After Demby had recorded her parts, the music was further enhanced with electronic textures by composer Michael Stearns and refined with co-producer Anna Turner.[8] Mixing was done by herself, Turner, Stephen Hill, and Warren Dennis; some of it was automated, but much of it required the four operating the mixing console in real time.[1]

Artwork


Release

Novus Magnificat was released by Stephen Hill's Hearts of Space Records, first on cassette in 1986, then on CD in fall 1987,[9] along with a vinyl LP in Japan, licensed to Alfa Records.[10] It was the first of the four Demby albums released or re-released on Hearts of Space Records between 1986 and 1995. The album was also broadcast in full on Hill's syndicated radio show Hearts of Space, in program 105 on June 13, 1986.[11]

In 1987, the last movement of "Novus Magnificat, Part One" (dubbed "My Heart Doth Soar") and the first movement of "Novus Magnificat, Part Two" (dubbed "The Flying Bach") were selected by Demby for her self-released 1978–1986 best-of compilation Light of This World (cassette and CD versions: the vinyl could only fit "The Flying Bach").

In 2001, Hearts of Space Records' trademark and catalogue were sold to Valley Entertainment, which was still distributing the album as of 2009. In 2008, the CD version was complemented with Novus Magnificat (Alternate Version), a downloadable digital album (MP3 files, 256 kbit/s, released June 6, 2008) with the same music cut in a new track list of eleven movements.[12]

Genre

Following Demby's previous studio album Sacred Space Music (1984), Novus Magnificat was tagged "Sacred Space II"[7] (later "Sacred Space Series, vol. II"[8]). Considered part of the new-age music scene,[2] the album is described as "Contemporary classical Spacemusic" in its liner notes,[7][8] or "symphonic space music" by Allmusic.[2] Its subtitle "Through the Stargate" is complemented with a space-themed cover reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey (whose novel version featured a "Star Gate").

The album is often categorised among ambient music albums;[2] Demby has replied that, "[t]hough we are honoured, Novus Magnificat is not really 'ambient'".[13]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]

USA Today wrote, "There is no other recording in the electronic genre rooted in the harmonies of Bach and the romantics that is so heartfelt",[13] while Pulse! magazine noted its "Bach-like organs crescendos, its Vivaldi-like string passages".[8]

Though it was not nominated at the newly created "New Age" category of the Grammy Awards,[14] the album sold over 200,000 copies worldwide, making Demby one of the most successful New Age artists of the time, and helped build the reputation of Hearts of Space Records.[5][15]

In 2002 it was voted #24 of "The 25 Most Influential Ambient Albums of All Time" for New Age Voice.[6]

Track listing

All music by Constance Demby.[8]

1986 cassette

  1. "Novus Magnificat, Side One" – 26:18[7]
  2. "Novus Magnificat, Side Two" – 28:22[7]

1987 vinyl

  1. "Novus Magnificat, Part One" – 26:15[10]
  2. "Novus Magnificat, Part Two" – 28:05[10]

1987 CD

  1. "Novus Magnificat, Part One" – 26:24[3]
  2. "Novus Magnificat, Part Two" – 27:14[3]

2008 digital album

  1. "Soul's Journey" – 6:51 ["Novus Pt. 1" – 26:34][12]
  2. "Ascent" – 5:12
  3. "Tears for Terra" – 4:26
  4. "Exultate" – 6:06
  5. "My Heart Doth Soar" – 3:59
  6. "The Flying Bach" – 6:06 ["Novus Pt. 2" – 27:40]
  7. "Trust" – 4:56
  8. "Bridging Dimensions" – 3:15
  9. "Through the Stargate" – 4:45
  10. "Magnificat" – 3:58
  11. "Cosmic Carousel" – 4:40

2017 30th Anniversary Edition

Disc 1

  1. "Soul's Journey" – 6:51 ["Novus Pt. 1" – 26:34][12]
  2. "Ascent" – 5:12
  3. "Tears for Terra" – 4:26
  4. "Exultate" – 6:06
  5. "My Heart Doth Soar" – 3:59
  6. "The Flying Bach" – 6:06 ["Novus Pt. 2" – 27:40]
  7. "Trust" – 4:56
  8. "Bridging Dimensions" – 3:15
  9. "Through the Stargate" – 4:45
  10. "Magnificat" – 3:58
  11. "Cosmic Carousel" – 4:40

Disc 2

  1. "Novus Magnificat Live: Baktun 1 (December 21, 2012)" – 12:28
  2. "Novus Magnificat Live: Spring Equinox (December 21, 2012)" – 12:07
  3. "Novus Magnificat Live: Full Moon Eclipse (March 19, 2011)" – 14:24
  4. "Novus Magnificat Live: Baktun 2 (June 26, 2010)" – 12:35
  5. "Space Bass: Live Baktun 3 (December 21, 2012)" – 5:44

Two of these movements had already been named in 1987 for the best-of compilation Light of This World. Four more were named (some with a different title) as free MP3 samples provided on Demby's website since at least 2001:[16] this partial track list had "Ascent", "Choral Climax" (now "Exultate"), "My Heart Doth Soar", "The Flying Bach", "Certainty" (now "Trust"), and "Stargate" (now "Through the Stargate").

Personnel

Musical[8]

with

Technical[8]

  • Recording: Constance Demby
  • Additional engineering and track re-mastering: Warren Dennis (at The Banquet Studio, Santa Rosa, CA) "who made significant technical and musical contributions throughout the project"[8]
  • Mixing: Stephen Hill, Warren Dennis (at The Banquet Studio, on Thiel CS-3 and Spica TC-50 monitors)
  • Production: Constance Demby, Anna Turner

Graphical[8]

  • Original cover painting: Geoffrey Chandler (Visionary Publishing, Inc.)
  • Art direction: Nelson & Toews Design

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Demby, Constance (2007). "The creation of Novus Magnificat" at ConstanceDemby.com via Archive.org
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Wright, Carol. "Novus Magnificat" at Allmusic
  3. 1 2 3 The CD lengths are "26:24 / 27:14" (disc total 53:40 with gaps) as reported identically by Allmusic and from physically checking one disc in a CD player. The physical disc is printed with the almost identical values "26:25 / 27:14". (The CD case's backcover is erroneously printed with "26:18 / 28:22", the durations printed on the original cassette.)
  4. ↑ Also seen incorrectly spelled "Novus Magnificat: Thru the Stargate".
  5. 1 2 Phoenix, Robert (2007). "Constance Demby: Heavy Metal Thunder", January 23, 2007 at eMusic.com via Archive.org
  6. 1 2 Towne, Jeff & Manzi, Peter (2002). "The 25 Most Influential Ambient Albums of All Time", New Age Voice, October 2002 issue, reprinted at NewAgeVoice.com via Archive.org (also reproduced with a free audio list at Echoes.org via Archive.org)
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 HOS. "Novus Magnificat" (cassette liner notes), San Francisco: Hearts of Space Records, 1986, SKU HS003, UPC 025041100342
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 HOS. "Novus Magnificat" (compact liner notes), San Francisco: Hearts of Space Records, 1987, SKU HS11003-2, EAN 0025041100328 (UPC 025041100328)
  9. ↑ Digital Audio (1988). "Constance Demby: Novus Magnificat" Archived 2012-02-24 at the Wayback Machine, Digital Audio & Compact Disc Review, byline "LK", February 1988
  10. 1 2 3 HOS. "Novus Magnificat" (vinyl liner notes), San Francisco: Hearts of Space Records licensed to Tokyo, Japan: Alfa Records, 1987, SKU ALI-28071
  11. ↑ HOS. "PGM 105 : Novus Magnificat", Hearts of Space at HOS.com
  12. 1 2 3 "Novus Magnificat (Alternate Version)" (with date and track list) at Amazon
  13. 1 2 Demby, Constance (2007). "Novus Magnificat" at ConstanceDemby.com via Archive.org
  14. ↑ Novus Magnificat was released in 1986 and eligible for the 1987 Grammy Awards (alias "Grammy Awards for 1986"), where a "New Age" category appeared that year for the first time. Neither the album nor Demby appears on the MetroLyrics list of 1987 Grammy nominations, including the two compilations from Germany's Windham Hill Records, "various artists - Windham Hill Records Sampler '86" and "various artists - A Winter's Solstice". (Same for 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989.) No other source checked in June 2009 (including Google News Archive and Google Book Search) could list the album among Grammy nominations. The "Grammy nominated" claim found on Demby's website since at least 2001 (and in some interviews) may have been a confusion between the album being "nominated" by its record label to the Grammy academy (as is the regular process) and the actual official list of five Grammy nominees (the one called "Grammy nominated").
  15. ↑ HOS. "Hearts of Space - Company", Hearts of Space at HOS.com: "Early releases on Hearts of Space were critically applauded and sold well in the instrumental music market by then swept into the burgeoning New Age category. Constance Demby's Novus Magnificat (1986) was an early hit, listed on annual Top Albums lists in Pulse! and Jazziz."
  16. ↑ Demby's Novus page from 2001 to 2007 via Archive.org had this partial track list. The original six MP3 files are still the same on the 2009 website's complete track list (including keeping their old filenames).
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