For those of us with a taste for quiet reflection.
We breathe in the fragrant delight that lives within this gloriously full moment.
And we are inspired by the sacred space that opens up within us. Welcome.

Passions And Fantasies is a deliciously subtle sensory feast of enchanting solo piano harmonies, in a flowing neo-classical new-age style. This music inspires us with inner peace and delight, and even helps manifest our sacred space within. Inspired by the elegant neo-classic fantasy miniatures of Chopin, Satie, Faure, and Debussy, Joel's sound world awakens and delicately nurtures the rich space of timeless beauty that exists within our soul. We discover delicious atmospheric delights flowing as a musical stream within our heart - a rippling breeze that gently awakens and liberates the scent in the flower fields of our mind.

When we let the harmonies gently activate those rare, yet subtle essences within us that have been forgotten amidst the chaos of daily modern life, we breathe a sigh of relief. This music lets time expand in a curiously wonderful way, as the spiritual gift of each song resonates within our heart and soul. This music frees us to embrace the infinite sacred space that truly exists within each enchanted moment in time.

We tend to think of passion as being extravagant or ungrounded, but passion has a centered and balanced expression as well... Ancient mystic sages have said that passion, joined to spiritual awareness, becomes a unifying mystical experience. We discover this by gently breathing into the richness of this moment, enjoying it, and feeling our heart and mind savor the taste of this subtle experience. As we become gently focused and centered in each wonderful musical moment, this reveals the sacred divine space within us. Our sacred space within includes our living individual self, and also includes the infinite universe... a paradox that brings a smile to our heart.

When the 19th century neo-romantics and impressionists were expressing their flights of musical fantasy, they were gently extending the musical language from the structured classical musical principles that came before them. They were revealing how freely flowing fantasy can be passionately expressed within a stabilizing - yet flowing and evolving - musical structure. This shows us how passions and fantasies can flourish within the balanced presence of mindfulness and harmony. These are not contradictions, but give us hope that we can learn to be peacefully centered and passionately alive to our highest ideals in each moment.

And so it is that we can unite the neo-classic ideals of balance with the loftily expansive impulses of the new age. Just as the yin-yang symbol expresses the unity of polarities, so too can neo-classical new-age music be its own living yin-yang symbol that heals us with its unifying and expansive harmonies.

May we let our passions find delightful expression within the sacred space of each mindful breath we take. And may we discover that our fantasies for a peaceful and enlightened world are more than fantasies, because they are the true impulses of our soul, seeking to express the timeless realities and infinite possibilities of peace, happiness, and harmony in this world.

1. Alcazar Passions
2. Story of the Crystal Pendant
3. Just As I Remember You
4. Precious Golden Memory
5. O My Beautiful One
6. I Weave While I Wait For You
7. I Wander I Wonder
8. Peacock in Stained Glass
9. Your Dreaming Eyes
10. Secret Lovers in A Spanish Castle
11. Sparkling Icicle Morning
12. Memories In Your Beautiful Sad Eyes
13. Mermaid Queen Is Dreaming

Listen to: the entire album.

Release date: 3/22/2011
Joel Bruce Wallach lives in California USA

Tagged as: Classical, New Age, Neoclassical, Impressionism, Instrumental Classical, Classical Piano, Daydreaming

1. Music of Fernando Sor by Daniel Estrem: colorful classical guitar
2. Ambiencellist Part II by Claire Fitch: ambient cellist
3. Star Of The Sea by Stellamara: original Balkan-Near Eastern-Medieval-Ambient-World.
4. Long Ride Home by John Williams: bluesy and jazzy guitar
5. What We Whisper by Jeffrey Luck Lucas: darkly gorgeous, cinematic folk
6. Celocity by Claire Fitch: ambient cellist
7. A Celebration of Robert Burns by Shira Kammen: early folk and celtic music.
8. The Castle of the Holly King by Shira Kammen: early folk and celtic music.
9. Sophomore Jinx by Rob Costlow: melodic piano pieces
10. Eastern Expressions 3 - Asahi by Ruben van Rompaey: passionate Eastern percussion
11. Horizon by Eyot: the Nirvana of European Jazz
12. Mellowdrama by Joey Fehrenbach: gorgeously sculpted, uber-melodic downtempo
13. Touch by Falling You: haunting, ethereal pop ambient
14. Nothing Seems Right by Firehead Jerry: a catchy blend of pop/folk/electro
15. The Story of What Happened by Jasmine Brunch: a secret garden of lucid musical dreams
16. Animal Powers by Michelle Bellerose: art-rock songstress delivers fresh sounds
17. Singles by Thirty Day Notice: Somewhere Between Pleasantly Hypnotic and Slightly Disturbing
18. When the Fall by Thursday Next: interesting techno made by skinny boys
19. Magnificent Obsession vol 3 - Beethoven Sonatas by Sebastian Forster: exquisitely performed Beethoven piano sonatas
20. Elizabeth's Lutes by Alex McCartney: Reflective, historically-informed performance on the lute

• MP3: High quality MP3 variable-bit-rate files. Most people download these: they are audiophile files that play everywhere.
• ALAC: Perfect quality Apple Lossless format files. If you use iTunes or an iPod, get these. They're an exact audio copy of the original CD, and include the CD artwork and artist info. This is the same format as High Definition audio provided by the iTunes store.
• AAC: High quality Apple Audio Codec files. If you use iTunes or an iPod, these files sound great and include CD art and artist info. This is the standard format provided by the iTunes music store.
• WAV: Perfect quality WAV files. This format works everywhere, and is an exact audio copy of the original CD. It sounds fantastic. Album art and artist info is unfortunately not possible with this format.
• FLAC Perfect quality open source FLAC files. This is an open source audio format. It is an exact copy of the original CD, and includes CD artwork and artist info. Works great on Linux, VLC and many audio players based on open source.
• OGG: High quality open source OGG files. This is an open source audio format. It is a compressed (smaller file size) version of the original CD, and includes CD artwork and artist info. Works great on Linux, VLC and many audio players based on open source.
• 128k: Medium quality 128K MP3 files. These are medium audio quality MP3 files that will work on every device. The audio quality is good enough for most uses. These files are intended for cases where you want to conserve disk space.