Human unity through Hui Ward’s music

Home > Andrea Guy, Reviews > SATCHITANANDA” and “SAT (EXISTENCE)
SATCHITANANDA” and “SAT (EXISTENCE) August 7th, 2009

Hui Ward takes us to a new level of consciousness with both music and spoken word with the albums Satchitnanda and Sat (existence). Perhaps to fully appreciate the beauty of this recording would be to understand the journey that Hui Ward took to create this beautiful work. This journey led here to Auroville where she discovered Matrimandir, which is a city that was created by Sri Aurobindo Ashram that is “a universal town where men and women are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity.”

The soundscapes of Satchitananda correspond to the levels of consciousness that are embodied in the design of the 12 gardens in Auroville. Does that sound too hard to comprehend? Perhaps so, but you can achieve human unity through music, and Hui Ward’s music on these two albums should inspire you to explore that higher level of consciousness that has fascinated many over the years.

The three twelve minute soundscapes on Satchitananda are Existence, Consciousness and Bliss and the other three on Sat (Existence) are Light, Life and Power, fittingly those are the first six of the twelve gardens. Its very easy to lose yourself in the music, so beautiful are the sounds of the violin and bansuri and Hui’s voice that is often like Bjork’s but with less of an edge that sometimes make’s the later difficult to listen to for long periods of time.

The spoken word portions of both discs may alienate the listener, especially if they are of the casual variety and not quite open to understanding Hui’s journey and how she’s sharing it. If you fall into that category, step back and listen to the music a few times. Let the bansuri take your spirit in its flight, as it seems to be like the instrumental equivalent of a bird, singing its sweet song for all to hear. Listen to Hui’s voice and let it fill your mind. That’s what the music should do. Fill your mind and your soul. Listen to the six musical tracks in a row and I guarantee that your outlook will be much improved, your body more relaxed and your mind more open.

Its likely that not all of the listeners will be able to achieve the human unity that Hui is trying to create with her Om Creation series, but certainly everyone that gives these two discs a listen will take away with them a better understanding of one person and her music. The mixture of Northern and Southern Indian music is very pleasing to the ear and when combined with the vocal is a unique listening experience that one should savor.

Again these albums aren’t for just anyone, but if you seek to find even just a small piece of enlightenment, these albums are as good a place as any to start. The music is ethereal, soothing and uplifting. Truly a delight to the ears and possibly a path to paradise even if you can only stay there as long as the album plays. Reviewed By Andrea Guy http://community.livejournal.com/mossip/