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Dream Spiral – Enchanting Harp Music From Hilary Stagg
Dream Spiral (1991)
45 minutes
Hilary Stagg
Dream Spiral reflects the vision of a lucid dream Hilary Stagg experienced, wherein he created “an uplifting musical tapestry.” Through the gentle power of harp, accompanied by violin, keyboards and guitar, Stagg’s vision comes to life on this recording with deep, heart-felt sensitivity.
Hilary Stagg
(1957-1999)
Hilary Stagg (Real Music website)/ Bio (last.fm)
Hilary Stagg was a new age harpist from Sacramento, California. Stagg plays electric harp and sometimes has other instruments accompany him, all instrumental tunes. He was named after Sir Edmund Hillary, who in 1953, along with his Sherpa mountaineer companion, was the first to climb Mount Everest.
In his mid-twenties, Stagg was working as an electrician, but upon hearing renowned new age music harpist Andreas Vollenweider in concert, he was inspired to learn all he could about the electro-acoustic harp. Stagg purchased a small harp – and from that point his career path changed. With a high school band sousaphone background, he used his knowledge as an electrician to amplify the harp to create his soft, dreamy music.
Stagg tried formal harp lessons but quickly decided he would learn to play the harp a different way. Stagg believed in and practiced lucid dreaming, and developed a way of exploring and composing music in his “sleep” that became the core of his compositions. As he experimented, Stagg developed a gentle, yet powerful, melodic style that gave new meaning to soothing and relaxing music. He began performing regularly, refining his technique and gaining confidence. He went on to record his music to make it available to a wider audience. There are seven albums available today.
Stagg died suddenly, in his sleep, at age 42, after a brief illness.
Music by Hilary Stagg:
- Beyond the Horizon (1987)
- Feather Light (1989)
- Dream Spiral (1991)
- The Edge of Forever (1993)
- Winter Magic (Christmas selections) (1995)
- Sweet Return (1997)
- Hilary Stagg ~ A Tribute (2001)
- Hilary Stagg – YouTube Playlist
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Heaven On Earth – from Dream Spiral by Hilary Stagg
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Pleasant Dreams – from Sweet Return by Hilary Stagg
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Timeless Ways – from The Edge of Forever by Hilary Stagg
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Thinking of You – from Sweet Return Hilary Stagg
Gary Reiner