Winter Solstice

January 12, 2005 5:28 PM

I am looking for an album that I thought was called 'winter solstice'. Google / amazon, etc disagree with me. I have found lots of albums with the title 'winter solstice' in them, but none of them seem to be the one I looking for. (More inside).

I never owned the CD, so I don't even really remember what the cover looked like. (I made a tape copy from someone's CD. Tsk, tsk). I lost my copy of the tape many years ago and I miss it greatly. Can you help me find it?

This album was strictly instrumental. For that matter, it was primarily piano and string instruments. I don't remember the title of any of the songs, but one of the songs was in the movie, 'the pianist'. It was played by the blonde german woman about half way through the movie. Whenever I search for this album online, the results either seem to be of the completely wrong genre or they have vocals.

I realize this is incredibly vague. My best hope is that someone knows what the hell I am talking about. Or at least point me in the right direction. Failing that, does someone know a good source of previewing albums online that isn't amazon or itunes musics store? (Both of those have failed me so far). I am sure if I heard a clip of one of the songs I would be able to say yea or nay quickly. And failing that, do any of you have any good recommendations for this type of music? (That type being non-orchestra classical-ish music. Preferably with lots of piano, that is maybe a little sad, and a lot contemplative).

posted by cayla to Media & Arts (10 answers total)

George Winston?
posted by dmo at 5:33 PM on January 12, 2005

dmo's right, George Winston did some recording on Windham Hill Records and they have a series of albums on the Winter Solstice theme that showcase a variety of their artists. Winston has an album called Winter into Spring that may be what you're looking for.
posted by jessamyn at 5:41 PM on January 12, 2005

This - A Winter's Solstice - is the album I was thinking of.
posted by dmo at 5:44 PM on January 12, 2005

Can't help on the album, but you'd probably like Oregon.
posted by kenko at 5:48 PM on January 12, 2005

I was going to guess Winston or maybe John McCutcheon, but the Internet Movie Database says that the music in The Pianist is either original compostions by Wojciech Kilar or classical pieces by Chopin, Bach, Beethoven and Henry Vars.

In other words, I have no idea.
posted by kongg at 5:49 PM on January 12, 2005

Response by poster: That is totally it dmo. I feel so dense now; thank you so much. Everytime I looked before on google et al, I kept getting results for the successive albums which (IMHO) have a much different, much more new-age feel to them. I was never able to find the original album on my own. I can finally sleep nights again. :) Thank you everyone for your help and suggestions. I appreciate it.
posted by cayla at 6:01 PM on January 12, 2005

Winter Solstice, or Winter Light?
posted by jimfl at 7:06 PM on January 12, 2005

Just FYI, the music from Winston's December (which is the album I believe you're looking for) was used in a really beautiful cartoon called The Snowman. George Winston is a guilty pleasure of mine. I still can't listen to Summer all the way through without feeling deeply nostalgic over a lost love. I. Am. So. Cheese.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:55 AM on January 13, 2005

Try Amazon when it comes to finding music albums. More often than not, it's easy to find there. I used to be a Narada/Windham Hill/Green Linnet addict :)
posted by bkdelong at 7:19 AM on January 13, 2005

Off-Topic: This album is my favourite Winter Solstice. It was recorded on the solstice itself, over a period of several years.
posted by Jairus at 7:35 AM on January 13, 2005