Oracle of Delphi

New Music Alert

‘Oracle Of Delphi’ Album Review–A Spiritual Retreat In Music

Vivek Kumar 

For more than two hundred years between the sixth and fourth century BCE, masses thronged Delphi to hear Pythia’s prophecies and solutions to their problems. As a famed pilgrim spot, Delphi has been giving solace to millions. Before that, the two eagles flown by Zeus in opposite directions met at Delphi, declaring the spot as the center of the world. Delphi’s significance as a sacred spot ensues from several references and historic anecdotes. Rusty Crutcher has always enjoyed a special spiritual connection with Delphi, evident in his naming of this album.

Delphi was a seat of learning, a spiritual retreat, a classical theater, and a center for spiritual gatherings and sports. Explaining his allegiance to this sacred spot, Rusty Crutcher writes how Delphi had been inspiring his music and spiritual quest too, “One’s imagination is easily stimulated on the hills of Mt. Parnassus. Each day, I would walk and sit among the ruins, notating a melody, recording environmental sounds, or sketching out how a piece of music would progress. It is really just opening oneself to the place. Delphi has a lot to say to me.”

“Oracle Of Delphi” is themed as a spiritual voyage. Through his brilliant musical composition, Rusty Crutcher takes his audience on a virtual tour to sacred sites scattered across Greece. His inspired musical ideas are painted on nature’s stillness and serenity. He has made skilled use of the environmental sounds like how the 19th-century Barbizon painters had done. The soundscapes figuring in the album give a feel of Delphi. If you had already visited Delphi, you are bound to find your experience re-stimulated.

This is one of the most exceptional compositions I had a rare chance to listen to. The entire duration of the album for nearly about an hour transported me to unseen worlds of ecstasy and jubilance. I felt Crutcher’s music is liberating in the sense it breaks the barriers to language, geographies, and genres and connects the audience with the spirit that has inspired the composer. The effect the album left in me was highly soothing and the inspired moments did last for so long.

Rusty Crutcher is the mastermind that has composed, produced, engineered, and mixed this album. A distinguished work in the Sacred Sites Series, “Oracle Of Delphi” is produced by Emerald Green Sound Production. This musical work is mastered at AlgoRhythms by Michael MacDonald. The graphics art for the album has been accomplished by Saul Fineman at Fineman Communications

Though Crutcher has set his album on a classic spiritual theme, his composition in this album is unconventionally unique, putting it on a note endowed with a serious purpose. The artist has indeed achieved a masterpiece by synthesizing a wide range of interesting instruments like pan pipes, kithara, bells, drums, choirs, synthesizers, duduk, and sampling.

Final Word

For the total duration of the album lasting 51:23 minutes, the composer keeps the audience spellbound in his captivity, while the heart travels with the music to discover the highest spiritual truth through the quest and virtual voyage.

Retreats are of different kinds and musical retreat is one such. To qualify as a retreat, a composition must be able to accomplish a deep work in the audience, relieving them from the stress of the mundane world and transporting them to an illumined and inspired plane. In this regard, Rusty Crutcher’s “Oracle of Delphi” has every characteristic to be labeled as a SPIRITUAL RETREAT that is truly liberating and inspiring. To get the best from this musical work, escape into solitude, close your eyes and open up your hearts. Being with yourself completely can let Crutcher’s music work deeply within.

New Age Notes Radio – Dyan Garris.

Beautiful, provocative, and soulsoothing music that speaks directly to our inner consciousness and connects
us back to our true essence.

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Delphi is located in central Greece and was home to the Oracle of Delphi, otherwise known as the high priestess, Phythia. In ancient Greece, it was believed that the Oracle of Delphi brought forth prophesies and spoke the exact words of the god Apollo from the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. This “Sacred Sites Series” CD – #7 in the series – from the talented multi-instrumentalist, Rusty Crutcher, was 10 years in the making, and is a captivating combination of ambiance that transports us
quite easily back to ancient times. It’s so effective, it’s as if we really are there. The soothing, emotionally evocative music is perfect for relaxation, deep contemplation, or meditation. The instrumentation on the album is a colorful, transfixing mix of synth, duduk (an Armenian oboe made from apricot wood, which gives the instrument a warm, soft timbre), pan pipes, various flutes, etheric choirs, kithara, (an ancient Greek, stringed, musical instrument, somewhat similar to a guitar. As well, here we also have the sounds of moving water, a variety of bell sounds, and what are known as “field recordings.” On his trip to Delphi in 2012, Rusty would sit among the ruins each day, tune into the ancient wisdom, and record environmental sounds, which he incorporated into the music “Oracle of Delphi” is 10 tracks and just over 51 minutes of beautiful, provocative, and soul-soothing music that speaks directly to our inner consciousness and brings us into deep connection with ourselves and the very ancient mysteries. There is so much to love here and so many intricate details to delve into on every track, but I have some personal favorites. “Itea Bound” is lovely, and through the music, we feel almost magically transported there. For those that do not know, Itea is a small town situated on the north coast of the Gulf of Iteas, near the Gulf of Corinth (where my own ancestors are originally from), and about 5 miles from Delphi. It’s a “mountains meet the sea” kind of place, and the lush, expansive beauty of the landscape translates quite nicely here.

Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck-New Age Music Reviews Founder

Rusty Crutcher’s recent release The Oracle of Delphi (from the sacred site series) does an excellent job of catching your eye and igniting your imagination with the cover art. Once you hear the music, you will understand how the art matches.

Music such as this can ignite an inner flame that was barely flickering into an intense and consistent fire for the curious mind. I am naturally curious and love to learn every day if the opportunity arises. Certain sounds and vibrations in music can change our brain waves and mindset entirely. That is a scientific fact, and I believe it happens to me quite frequently. I do feel a strong sense of gratitude to artists like Rusty Crutcher. 

Ancient Greek mythology is often a subject matter and driving factor to recordings. It is a fascination for many of us. It makes you wonder how much of it is true. Where do the stories originate? Did they suddenly appear in someone’s mind and then take on a life all their own? Or were the ancient god’s beings from another planet sent here to watch over us and guide us? The music can take you to many places. Perhaps the entire idea of this recording, besides letting you relax, is to engage your thought process to think about the possibilities of what each track title prompts you to ponder.

The Oracle of Delphi offers each listener beautiful music to let the day wash away and clear your mind. It is a soundtrack to the past with music for now and in the future. However, if you are anything like me, you find quite a bit to think about once you look at the artwork, the titles, and take in all the music that brings all of those aural sensations to you and invite you to another plane of existence gently. 

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Notes from Rusty about Oracle of Delphi Any Changes?