In your hand you hold a beam from the heart of a kindred soul, revealing at once a landscape both human and fey. A noble work of compassion and wonder, this circle of ten instrumental pieces by Gary Stadler emerges now from its three years crafting. "O you who listen by candlelight, you who whisper questions into the dark hollows of trees, you who follow the Gypsy Moon, here at last is the solace that you seek." - R. Merlin
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Track Title |
Time |
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1. Sometimes
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4:38
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2. DreamSpell
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3:39
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3. Ring of Magic
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5:30
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4. Awakening
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5:00
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5. Fairy of the Woods
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6:17
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6. Breath of Love
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4:47
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7. Moonflight
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2:54
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8. Forest Dark'n
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4:47
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9. Pool of Light
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4:14
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10. Wings at Rest
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4:26
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Release date: June 18, 1996
Published Reviews
New Age Retailer
Imagine a forest primeval, dark and mysterious until the moon rises and floods the trees with rays of soft, silver light. Then imagine the faintest brush of fairies' wings as these little ones fly past you in the moonlight, their tiny whispers of laughter floating like dandelion sees on the night wind. Do you see it? This vision will give you some idea of the ethereal beauty of Stadler's compositions and the tapestries of magical melodies he delicately weaves with keyboards and synthesizers.
Stadler artfully uses many orchestral sounds, including piano, strings, and harpsichord, to texture his compositions with the most elegant, soft as rose petals passages. Each track melts into the next with an innocence and grace that almost melts your heart. My particular favorites include "Sometimes", which opens with chirping crickets calling in the night, then flows into a lovely tribute to the secret wonders of the imagination, "Awakening", with angelic choruses soaring toward the light of the One; "Breath of Love,- with acoustic guitar and keyboards flowing gently into limpid streams of fairy-dusted waters; and the sweetly powerful "Pool of Light," which evokes purity into which one yearns to plunge.
Awareness Magazinew
Have you ever had the experience when first meeting someone that they immediately felt like an old friend? That's how I would describe the CD album Fairy of the Woods by Gary Stadler. Even on first listening, this music has a faintly familiar "old friend" feel to it, yet all of the ten songs are very much original compositions and there are no traditional harps or pipes on this album. It is more an artistic interpretation of the magic of the Celtic traditions. The second track which is titled "Dream Spell" and the third track titled "Ring of Magic" capture some of that magic as their own. Seemingly, just at dusk, dainty bells of flickering fairy lights lead us deep into a primal virgin forest to play. This is the music for dreamers who want to reclaim their own sense of magic. Gary's music resonates with the heart and feels like an innocent child who knows the truth of allowing and trusting.
— Lee Stone
Aquarius
Gary Stadler uses piano and keyboards to create a soft set of melodies on Fairy of the Woods. Stadler notes that for most of his life he let business dominate and kept his music as a diversion until someone invited him to write a couple of songs for a play about a fairy. Pleased and encouraged with the results, he kept exploring he theme with his piano. Fairies and other devas could well be drawn to you as this music soothes your nerves and evokes romantic moods in your home or work space.
— Dan Liss
MoonRise
Fairy of the Woods is a collection of ten instrumental pieces by Gary Stadler. He has created music that can soothe away the stress and strain that is felt after a hard day when nothing seems to have gone right. Fairy of the Woods is an invitation to step into the magical realm inhabited by the fairies - not the cruel teasing ones - but those who try to make our life a little brighter with their sweet music. For myself the music soothed a headache I had after a tying day.
I recommend it to anyone who wants to relax with a selection of original instrumental compositions at the end of the day.
All Music Guide
Strong and compelling melodies and lovely synth orchestral settings make Gary Stadler's Fairy of the Woods a magical charmer. Much of the album enchants with variations on three-quarter time: the romantic "Sometimes" which carries the heart like an anniversary waltz, the crystalline music box of "Dreamspell," "Ring of Magic", which piroquettes over cloud tops, the almost comic lumbering of "Awakening", and the stately progression of "Moonlight." Stadler's melodies and arrangements are classically structured, but his orchestrations offer a colorful imagination the opportunity to inhabit the auld Celtic realms of fairies and wizards, glens and caves, fireflies and stardust. "Wings at Rest" ends the album with a kingly nobility, a courtly procession of fellowship and good will.
Real to Reel News
Gary Stadler has always been fascinated with Celtic legends, so it is appropriate that his debut, Fairy of the Woods should be loosely inspired by tales of goblins and fairy folk. While not a Celtic music album in any strict sense, Fairy of the Woods does usher us into a nighttime fantasy world that envelops us all the way from the crickets and synthesized harp of the opening track "Sometimes" to the tender oboe and harpsichord of the serene closer "Wings at Rest". Stadler uses electronic keyboards to cast his musical spells, with the sound of piano, strings, reeds, acoustic guitar and ethereal voices conjuring up images of moon-dappled forest glades and dancing fairy circles. Standouts include "Dreamspell", with its glistening chimes and evocative strings; the subtle power of the classically tinged "Awakening", and the shimmering "Pool of Light". The first artist ever to appear on Sequoia Records other than label founders David and Steve Gordon, Gray Stadler has produced an album of innocent charm and dreamy beauty that showers you with sonic fairy dust and bathes you in its magic glow.
Daily OM
As if conjured up from some dark but fragrant corner of the universal mind comes the music of Gary Stadler. An electronics engineer who started the album originally as a present for his girlfriend, Stadler was just playing around in his spare time. Friends with the independant label, Sequoia Records heard it and urged him to keep going and make something for the label, which he did for three years. The result is Fairy in the Woods, an album with so much heart and simplicity that you will want to drop your worldly concerns and possessions and just dive into the beauty, perhaps never to return.
The music speaks for itself and works in a gorgeous, unpretentious way. A dash of prime Enya floats over it, but in general this is simply gorgeous background music, ideal for taking a nap or driving through a beautiful countryside. The album opens with the sound of a glade at nightfall, with crickets and then a softly gliding piano line, which gradually expands out like ripples along a still pond, waking the fairies to their dance. The title track is a dreamy sea of overlapping and intertwining keyboard melodies, a wash of glowing synthesizer over alternating, simple piano melodies with soft chime and string touches.
"Pool of Light" brings you into the fairy chamber at last. Cascades of harpsichord add a sense of courtly propriety and decorum, signaling perhaps that the dreaming and waking part of your fairyland slumber has come to a close and that it is time to meet the queen herself. There's no need to worry or hastily straighten your cap and tie, though. Here there is nothing but gentleness, magic, and the essence of undemanding love. If you let it, the music can take you far away so fast that you may never want to return. It can give your spirit wings and make the tired old world of mortal strife fade like ants and anthills as you embrace the fluffy clouds of Celtic majesty. But all things fade, even the eternal castles of the fairies must vanish with the coming sun. At album's end, Stadler strikes a melancholy note of sadness, the inevitable follow-up to so much tranquil and rewarding joy. Just as mortals must shuffle off to bed at the call of night, so must the fairies in your hear! t and mind shuffle off at the dawn's first rays. Fear not, sad-eyed reveler, this album is not going anywhere, except maybe in your special case of favorites.
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