ALPHA
 

Frank Lorentzen says the following about “Alpha”:
The music on “Alpha” was composed in the period from autumn 1995 to spring 1996.
These compositions are special because they are built around seven different crystal singing
bowls, as well as Tibetan cymbals, nature sounds and synthesizer. Six months prior to the
publication of “Alpha” a colleague, John Virkmann, and I had bought seven crystal singing
bowls from an American/Czech woman (Sister Pukka), who was just then transiting Aarhus City.

During the six months prior to the recording of “Alpha”, we had been experimenting with the
crystal singing bowls on our own body and soul and parallel to this we had worked with and
found colors for each crystal singing bowl. Thus we had united sound and color which was
naturally expressed in a series of compositions ending with “Alpha”.

The first 27 minute long piece, Improvising, comprises seven smaller pieces of music each composed
with the sound of one or more crystal singing bowls. The other composition, Harmonizing, is about
22 minutes long and here the crystal singing bowls have a more dominating role.

As an artist and composer I am quite proud of the compositions on “Alpha” and I think of it as a bit of
an art master piece. Art is an artificial word, meaning different things to different people. To me it
signifies a specific subtle feeling and the closest comparison is to that of nature. If you have been in nature
non stop for several days with no other impressions than from nature, it will inevitably make a positive
impact on body and mind. Therefore it is art to me to be able to hit this higher subtle atmosphere through
music. You cannot calculate or think it, it comes spontaneously with the right circumstances. In music this
is described by the phrase “it's swinging” and this is exactly how I feel about the music on “Alpha” even
though it has nothing to do with swing music. It cannot be explained, it must be experienced!