INFINITY
my debut-album
May I present my new CD?
INFINITY
A charismatic voice in an endless soundscape
The voice of Stephanie Maria takes us to a seemingly endless expanse of sound and space. Her voice encompasses the spectrum from warm archaic alto to delicate soprano and surpasses the boundaries of language. Accompanied by the characteristic arrangements and dreamlike sounds of Frank Steiner jr., a musical jewel filled with grace and charisma emerges.
Where to get this CD
You can order the CD “INFINITY” here, see right. The CD is also available at Amacon.de
You won’t be able to download or stream INFINITY because of the loss of sound quality due to compression into the Mp3 format.
INFINITY is a complete work of art and can not to be compared to mainstream productions. Almost two years of love, passion and attention to detail went into this project, which was funded solely on my own. For this reason, I ask you to listen to and appreciate the project only by purchasing and giving the original CD exclusively.
Inspiration
The idea for this CD came from my deep heartfelt wish to sing and chant in this heart-warming and free way. (The chant I have known since my childhood.) It took me quite a lot of time and courage to create this CD. I am extremely grateful to have met Frank Steiner jr., an exceptionally gifted musician and music producer who gave wings to my idea.
Dedicated to the rarity and versatility of the voice
The focus of this CD is the voice itself with all its possibilities: breath, whispers, and humming without adding any other voices. Even the silence/reduction to the voice is intentional, in order to give the listener room to experience the sound.
What kind of singing is this?
My singing doesn't need words; I sing in a free language of sounds. On this CD it is mostly without the typical musical meter or harmony. I compare my singing to the art term „Chant Chárisma“ derived from: Chant (Fr./Eng.: ‚procession singing’, voice, melody, song) combined with Chárisma (Gr. gift of grace, talent receiving inspiration).
Description of the CD
I structured INFINITY in such a way that the first two titles „Kyrie“ and „The Cathedral Within“ open an infinite soundscape which is reduced more and more and leads to the pure „Dream Experience“ (Kalimba & humming).
The listener can experience long sounds with spaces of silence -- soundless sounds -- in between. This is comparable to a brief journey into the inner well of sound, the silence from which it is derived.
Alongside the spectacular, voluminous but also extremely delicate and elegant synthesizer of Frank Steiner jr., the cedarwood flute („Endless Horizon“ & „Vast Country“), the Tibetan bell with bowl striker („The Cathedral Within“) and the Wah Wah Pipe („Mermaid’s Song“) were used as natural overtone instruments. The title „Ancestor Worship“ is a „Chant Chárisma” and was recorded outside the studio in the sacred environment of the parish church St. Agatha in Mettingen (Westphalia) to honour my ancestors. The breathing in the final title „Windjammer“ leads into the infinite space of sound.
You only hear well with your heart
The information and explanations given above should provide you with some clarification for this unusual type of music. To experience – and hopefully enjoy – the music from my album INFINITY free from any thoughts and patterns of behaviour, I recommend following the words from the Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry), but with a minor twist of the original text in relation to sensory perception:
You only hear well with your heart
Stephanie Maria, Winter 2017/18
Echoes
I hope that his unique work of art will stimulate, relax, delight, invigorate and inspire you. If you like, I would be happy to receive feedback at my email address: info@stephanie-maria.de
You will find a selection of various reactions to my work here. HIER