''Novus Magnificat: Through the Stargate'' is the fourth studio album by American musician and composer Constance Demby, with additional contributions by

Michael Stearns Michael Stearns (born October 16, 1948) is an American musician and composer of ambient music. He is also known as a film composer, sound designer and soundtrack producer for large format films, theatrical films, documentaries, commercials, and ...

. It was co-produced by Demby and Anna Turner and released in 1986 on

Hearts of Space Records Hearts of Space Records is a record label owned by Valley Entertainment. The label represents several sublabels, including Hearts of Space, Hearts O'Space, Fathom, RGB, and World Class. History Hearts of Space Records was founded in 1984 as an ...

. 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 New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

and

space music Space music, also called spacemusic or space ambient, is a subgenre of ambient music and is described as "tranquil, hypnotic and moving". It is derived from new-age music and is associated with lounge music, easy listening, and elevator music ...

genres, and has sold over 200,000 copies worldwide.Phoenix, Robert (2007)
"Constance Demby: Heavy Metal Thunder"
January 23, 2007 at eMusic.com via

Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including websites, software applic ...

In 2002, it was named as one of the "25 Most Influential Ambient Albums of All Time". A special 30th anniversary edition was released in 2017 which features previously unreleased live tracks.

Production

Title

The title ''Novus Magnificat'' is

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "New

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for "y soulmagnifies he Lord) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary or Canticle of Mary, and in the Byzantine Rite as the Ode of the Theotokos (). Its Western name derives from the incipit of its Latin text. This ...

", a reference to the ancient Christian hymn. Inspired by Western classical and

sacred music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as a ritual. Reli ...

, ''Novus Magnificat'' was self-defined as "A Magnificat and Exaltate for digital orchestra, choral voices, and special electronic images" HOS
"Novus Magnificat" (cassette liner notes)
San Francisco:

, 1986, SKU HS003, UPC 025041100342 HOS. "Novus Magnificat" (compact liner notes), San Francisco:

, 1987, SKU HS11003-2,

EAN Ean may refer to: People * Ean Campbell (1856–1921), Scottish Anglican cleric, bishop of Glasgow and Galloway * Ean Elliot Clevenger, American multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter * Ean Evans (1960–2009), bassist for Lynyrd Skynyr ...

0025041100328 ( UPC 025041100328) and "Dedicated to the Infinite One..."

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 Portastudio refers to a series of Multitrack recording, multitrack recorders produced by TASCAM beginning in 1979 with the introduction of the TEAC Corporation, TEAC 144, the first four-track compact cassette-based recorder. A TASCAM trademark, "p ...

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?'" Demby, Constance (2007). at ConstanceDemby.com via

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". Demby recorded the album on a Tascam 16-track recorder and plays just three instruments, her main being the

E-mu Emulator II The Emulator is a series of digital sampling synthesizers using floppy-disk storage that was manufactured by E-mu Systems from 1981 until 2002. Although it was not the first commercial sampler, the Emulator was innovative in its integration ...

, 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 The Roland Juno-60 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the Roland Corporation between 1982 and 1984. It followed the Juno-6, an almost identical synthesizer released months earlier. The Juno synthesizers introduced Roland's digitally controll ...

to provide arpeggiated effects and enhanced sounds. 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. 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". 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

and refined with co-producer Anna Turner. 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.

Artwork

Release

''Novus Magnificat'' was released by Stephen Hill's

, first on

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette (format) (or ''cassette tape''), a format that contains magnetic tape for audio, video, and data storage and playback * Compact Cassette, a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ...

in 1986, then on CD in fall 1987,Digital Audio (1988). , ''Digital Audio & Compact Disc Review'', byline "LK", February 1988 along with a

vinyl LP The LP (from long playing or long play) is an analog sound storage medium, specifically a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specificati ...

in Japan, licensed to

Alfa Records , originally a publisher known as Alfa Music Ltd. and later succeeded by record company Alfa Music Inc., was established in 1969 by composer and record producer Kunihiko Murai. It was formed into an independent record label known as Alfa Recor ...

. HOS
"Novus Magnificat" (vinyl liner notes)
San Francisco:

licensed to Tokyo, Japan:

, 1987, SKU ALI-28071 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 ''Hearts of Space'' is an American weekly syndicated public radio show featuring music of a contemplative nature"When you listen to space and ambient music you are connecting with a tradition of contemplative sound experience whose roots are an ...

, in program 105 on June 13, 1986. 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 Valley Entertainment is an American independent record label and music distributor based in New York City, United States. The company was founded in 1994 by Barney Cohen and Jon Birge. In 2001, it acquired the prestigious back catalogue of space, ...

, which was still distributing the album . In 2008, the CD version was complemented with ''Novus Magnificat (Alternate Version)'', a downloadable digital album (

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...

files, 256 kbit/s, released June 6, 2008) with the same music cut in a new track list of eleven movements."Novus Magnificat (Alternate Version)"
(with date and track list) at

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

Genre

Following Demby's previous studio album '' Sacred Space Music'' (1984), ''Novus Magnificat'' was tagged "Sacred Space II" (later "Sacred Space Series, vol. II"). Considered part of the

new-age music New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecstasy rather tha ...

scene, the album is described as " Contemporary classical Spacemusic" in its liner notes, or "symphonic space music" by

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

.Wright, Carol. "Novus Magnificat"at

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 Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes Musical tone, tone and atmosphere over traditional Musical form, musical structure or rhythm. Often "peaceful" sounding and lacking Musical composition, composition, beat, and/or structured melod ...

albums; Demby has replied that, " ough we are honoured, Novus Magnificat is not really 'ambient'".

Reception

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' wrote, "There is no other recording in the electronic genre rooted in the harmonies of Bach and the romantics that is so heartfelt", Demby, Constance (2007). at ConstanceDemby.com via

while '' Pulse!'' magazine noted its "Bach-like organs crescendos, its Vivaldi-like string passages". Though it was not nominated at the newly created "New Age" category of the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

s, 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. In 2002 it was voted #24 of "The 25 Most Influential Ambient Albums of All Time" for ''New Age Voice''. 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

(als
reproduced with a free audio list
at Echoes.org via

)

Track listing

All music by Constance Demby.

1986 cassette

# "Novus Magnificat, Side One" – 26:18 # "Novus Magnificat, Side Two" – 28:22

1987 vinyl

# "Novus Magnificat, Part One" – 26:15 # "Novus Magnificat, Part Two" – 28:05

1987 CD

# "Novus Magnificat, Part One" – 26:24The 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.) # "Novus Magnificat, Part Two" – 27:14

2008 digital album

# "Soul's Journey" – 6:51 Novus Pt. 1" – 26:34ref name=digital/> # "Ascent" – 5:12 # "Tears for Terra" – 4:26 # "Exultate" – 6:06 # "My Heart Doth Soar" – 3:59 # "The Flying Bach" – 6:06 Novus Pt. 2" – 27:40# "Trust" – 4:56 # "Bridging Dimensions" – 3:15 # "Through the Stargate" – 4:45 # "Magnificat" – 3:58 # "Cosmic Carousel" – 4:40

2017 30th Anniversary Edition

Disc 1 # "Soul's Journey" – 6:51 Novus Pt. 1" – 26:34ref name=digital/> # "Ascent" – 5:12 # "Tears for Terra" – 4:26 # "Exultate" – 6:06 # "My Heart Doth Soar" – 3:59 # "The Flying Bach" – 6:06 ">Novus Pt. 2" – 27:40# "Trust" – 4:56 # "Bridging Dimensions" – 3:15 # "Through the Stargate" – 4:45 # "Magnificat" – 3:58 # "Cosmic Carousel" – 4:40 Disc 2 # "Novus Magnificat Live: Baktun 1 (December 21, 2012)" – 12:28 # "Novus Magnificat Live: Spring Equinox (December 21, 2012)" – 12:07 # "Novus Magnificat Live: Full Moon Eclipse (March 19, 2011)" – 14:24 # "Novus Magnificat Live: Baktun 2 (June 26, 2010)" – 12:35 # "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:Demby's ''Novus'' page from 2001 to 2007 via

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). 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 * Constance Demby – emulated "violas, violins, cello, bassoon, harp, piano, organ, French horn, bells, electronic effects, tympani and chorus" on synthesizers (

Emulator II The Emulator is a series of digital sampling synthesizers using floppy-disk storage that was manufactured by E-mu Systems from 1981 until 2002. Although it was not the first commercial sampler, the Emulator was innovative in its integration ...

digital sampling,

), piano (

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: People * Torakusu Yamaha, a Japanese businessman and founder of the Yamaha Corporation Companies * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturer ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organi ...

C-9 Concert Grand) : ''with'' *

– "additional electronic images and textures" on synthesizers ( Serge Modular,

Yamaha DX-7 The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units. In the early 1980s, th ...

Oberheim OB-8 The Oberheim OB-8 is a subtractive analog synthesizer launched by Oberheim in early 1983 and discontinued in 1985. As the fourth product in the OB-series of polyphonic compact synthesizers, the OB-8 was the successor to the OB-Xa. About 3,000 ...

) and " The Beam" (custom 24-string acoustic instrument) Technical * 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" * Mixing: Stephen Hill, Warren Dennis (at The Banquet Studio, on Thiel CS-3 and Spica TC-50 monitors) * Production: Constance Demby, Anna Turner Graphical * Original cover painting: Geoffrey Chandler (Visionary Publishing, Inc.) * Art direction: Nelson & Toews Design

References

External links

*
''Novus Magnificat''
at

''Novus Magnificat''
at

{{Authority control Constance Demby albums Ambient albums by American artists Space music albums by American artists Hearts of Space Records albums 1986 albums