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New Age music is a term applied to the works
of various composers and musicians who strive to create soothing
audio environments rather than follow song structures. Born
of an interest in spirituality and healing in the late 1970s,
it is often used as an aid in meditation.
The defining features of New Age music are harmonic consonance,
contemplative melodies, nonlinear song forms, and uplifting
themes. New Age performers may use traditional ethnic, acoustic,
electric, or electronic instruments, or even sounds from nature.
Early proponents of New Age music included some former members
of '60s progressive rock bands, who turned an open ear to
the musics of many cultures, especially Eastern ones. Currently,
some New Age musicians mix ethnic music with elements of jazz,
folk, and classical; some perform in a more purely traditional
idiom. New Age music is very much an international phenomenon:
while most of the people packaging it and listening to it
as New Age are Americans, musicians playing in what are construed
as New Age styles are found worldwide.
Prominent New Age musicians include electronic-music pioneer
Brian Eno, known for his "ambient" recordings; multiinstrumentalist
Kitaro; solo-piano artist George Winston, the most commercially
successful New Age musician; vocalist Liz Story; harpist Andreas
VOLLENWEIDER; and electric violinist Jean-Luc Ponty.
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