HARC: Inside Chants

Harc

Inside Chants

© 2005 Ana Hernandez & Ruth Cunningham (825346782928)

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Improvised vocal counterpoint over a ground of chants and mantras from many faiths, crafted to move the heart to its innate state of openness, compassion and peace. With piano, medieval harp, tongue drum, flute, guitar and sruti box.

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HARC is "beautiful and nutritious!"

HARC is Ruth Cunningham and Ana Hernandez. Ruth is a founding member of the acclaimed women's vocal quartet Anonymous 4, with whom she's made ten recordings, while Ana, formerly of the vocal duo The Miserable Offenders, is author of the The Sacred Art of Chant: Preparing to Practice, from Skylight Paths Publishing (read all about it at www.anahermusic.com).
Ana and Ruth have been collaborating performers and sound healers since 2001. HARC: Inside Chants is their first recording. Their music makes use of texts from Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, and Jewish sources and combines them with musical traditions as far-flung as the joyous repetition of Indian Kirtan, the simple harmony of Irish folk songs and the pure sound of medieval chant. In addition to newly composed and traditional tunes, they enjoy creating improvised counterpoint. They have facilitated experiences of healing sound and chant at conferences, workshops, and concerts, and are often called upon to create innovative liturgies. They have done workshops and liturgies for the American Guild of Organists and for the Foundation for Universal Sacred Music among other organizations. The work of HARC comes out of their individual practice and experience with chanting and sacred sound, and their desire to share with others the potential of sound and music to transform lives.

Review on Daily Om website, Feb. 2008:

Harc is Ruth Cunningham and Ana Hernandez, two gifted "song healers" whose work with voice and music brought them together for these rich collaborations in vocal counterpoint and improvisational liturgy. Inside Chants is the gorgeous result of this partnership, a mix of Eastern- and Western-influenced spiritual chanting, music, and tradition. Listening, you can hear the reverence and mystery in every bar, note, and passing moment.

A highlight is the elegantly simple call-and-response harmonizing of "Kosi R'Vaya," which finds the two women blending their voices in an achingly perfect folk style that connects the earthy beauty of the Indigo Girls' harmonies and the more ethereal music of Kirtan singers like Deva Premal and Krishna Das. "Om Mani Peme Hung" opens on a softly played Celtic harp, with the title words sung as vaguely Christian-Celtic liturgy. The lead vocal is slowly joined in a haunting harmonic, And their two voices slide together to electrify and heal all who would hear them.

Some of the album's best singing can be heard on the aching English language "Open My Heart," which finds the ladies' voices coming together in such a nakedly loving and graceful way as to melt even the staunchest resistance, as if all the boundaries between folk, pop, rock, secular, spiritual, East, and West were all being broken gently and slowly down in surrender and benevolent celebration. Simply put, no heart can stay closed. Over a quiet piano-accompaniment, their voices fade in and out of each other's frequencies. This is an album for those nonspecific times when the soul needs support, love, and healing but may be afraid to ask for it. Even in the more urgent tracks, like the racing "Om Shanti," there's an element of nurturing calm that no amount of good-time rhythm and energy is going to dispel. What that calm connects to, of course, is the witness, the inner subjectivity of the soul beyond pain, death, desire, joy, despair. As Harc weaves their simple but profound harmonic spell, the sense of complete and perfect stillness that is created is the sound your inner witness will recognize as home at last.


Review in Chronogram Magazine, May 2005:

One God, many names...this is the thread that runs through HARC's ethereal CD, Inside Chants, which reverberates through the air with the vibrations of gossamer wings. Ruth Cunningham and Ana Hernández have woven a serene disc of eclectic music using Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, and Jewish traditional chants set to both traditional and nontraditional arrangements.
Hernandez and Cunningham are both musicians and "sound healers." Their voices are light and lilting, seemingly residing in a higher plane than our earthbound selves. The chants bridge the gap between the mundane and the divine, using exquisite vocal harmonies, as well as piano, medieval harp, tongue drum, flute, and guitar to allow us a little glimpse of heaven.
I found myself chanting the soothing chants as I went throughout my day, even if I didn't understand the words. My favorite is "Om Shanti" (Om, peace) which, while familiar to me from the yoga world, is presented in a unique tapestry of multilayered vocals. - Dina Pearlman (http://www.chronogram.com/issue/2005/05/backbone/earwhacks/cd.php)

Praise: The pure voices of Ruth and Ana, woven in a musical tapestry of simple melodies and spirited flowing harmonies, are so stunning that the listener's heart cannot escape feelings of peace and deep healing. - Pat Moffitt Cook, author of Shaman, Jhankri, & Nele and founder of The Open Ear Center.


There is something about the way your two voices interact that is so beautifully complete. The arrangements for the chants presents each one true to its essence (I don't know this, I just feel it), and in a way, they all strike me as musical mandalas - the circularity of the chant brings forth an energy in the improvisation that creates a world of its own. - Peter Sykes, Keyboard Artist

reviews

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  • Harc Inside Chants
    author: Malcolm Hunt

    Totally etherial!! These exquisite voices take me to another plane and soothe the jaggered nerves.

  • Harc Inside Chants
    author: Cherry Bennett

    This is a wonderful album. The music is serene, even mesmerizing at times. Well worth listening to if you need harmony in your life. I was very glad to locate a copy at CD Baby.

  • Harc
    author: Joy Peterson

    Sublime, energizing and soothing music all at the same time.

  • Lovely, transporting chant
    author: Elizabeth

    Gorgeous chants from many different religious paths (Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Sikh). Uplifting and transporting. I play it a lot; I find it is especially effective if I play it before sleeping.

  • Beautiful harmonies-- "How can I keep from singing"
    author: Elisabeth Grace

    I was introduced to this CD during a massage session-- I found myself singing along. Immediately came home and ordered three copies, one for me, two for gifts. It doesn't matter that I don't get all the words-- the sentiment comes through. One of the loveliest blends of voices I have ever heard.

  • Exquisite Harmony, Delicious Vocals, Simple yet refined instrumental backup.
    author: Judy Royster, Sacred Spaces, Southborough, MA

    An exquisite harmony of 2 women's voices in simple chant. I loved my copy so much, I bought one for a friend and one for my mother for Mother's Day. I gave it to her early and she loves it too. THe instrumentals are simple and yet very well done. Really refined. Delicious to the ears, heart and soul.

  • Love the harmonies!
    author: Rebecca

    I really enjoy listening to this CD while relaxing in the evening at home after work. It really soothes the soul.

  • An easeful, contemplative way to start the day
    author: Bill from New York

    We play this cd in the morning while the light is still dim. What a soothing, centering way to greet the day. When I listen to it, I feel much better equipped to enter the busy, fast pace of city life. Thank you Ana and Ruth!

  • My favorite cd for yoga and meditation
    author: Christine

    This is my favorite music to accompany my yoga and meditation practice. It is some of the most beautiful vocal music I have heard and the chants are ones that I can keep in my head and heart to sing when I need them. I have given this music as a gift many times and the recipients have all loved it too.

  • Deeply nurturing and peaceful
    author: Vic Horvath

    Buy this CD now! Ana and Ruth do not so much sing these chants, as allow them to be chanted through them -- bringing them to life in a way that is deeply nurturing. I attended a chant workshop with Ana, and missed the chance to buy this CD there -- what a loss to me, and what a blessing to find it on CD Baby.

  • Perfect for meditation and relaxation
    author: Jen Fife-Adams

    I bought this CD after hearing it in a yoga class. It was perfect in that class, and it is wonderful to use in my childbirth education classes where I have stressed out people trying to relax and prepare for the upcoming big day. If you need to relax or to help others to relax, meditate or unwind, this would be a great CD to purchase.

  • Healing and consoling
    author: Kate

    Ruth Cunningham is best known for her work with the stunning early music ensemble Anonymous 4, specializing in medieval song and chant. This album of chant with Ana Hernandez is equally extraordinary, but of a different quality. It is deeply spritual music: healing, consoling, food for the spirit. Highly recommended.

  • Extraordinarily beautiful, rich and serene
    author: Molly Wolf

    Sometimes I fall in love with a CD and play it to death. This extraordinarily beautiful, rich, serene collection of chants is different: I find myself sipping slowly, savoring the music a little at a time, wanting to stay with each piece forever.

  • This is the only chant selection I've found that includes a Chinese song!
    author: visualpurple

    What a beautiful collection of peaceful, heartful songs! It is very rare to find Chinese music in such a collection, and it is especially lovely! I am delighted with the quality of this music!

  • Beuatiful harmonies and instrumentals to begin or end the day with.
    author: Donna Ingraham

    This Cd has some of the most beautiful harmonies between two female vocalists I have ever heard. My favorite is Kosi R'vaya, taken from the 23rd psalm; my cup runneth over. It's a wonderful piece to wake up to or end the day with.

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