To give a concise answer to the question “What is history?” is hard, or even impossible. Sometimes a piece of art, like a painting or a song, can describe how life was in the past way better than any scholarly text. Karen Biehl’s new single “As It Was, Ages Hence” connects us with the past on many levels, it is almost like time travel. Sample Biehl’s new song and experience something truly extraordinary!
Karen Biehl has studied with former Metropolitan Opera star Thomas Hayward before completing her master’s degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She is also classically trained in piano and violin. She is the creator of the “Journey to True Love“, “Journey to True Health” and “Journey to True Purpose” guided meditation series. For “Starlight Dreams“, released in November 2018, the readers and listeners here on Newagemusic.guide awarded Biehl the Best Solo Piano 2018 award. She just released a new guided meditation single called “Portal to Peace“, which is also highly recommended.
“As It Was, Ages Hence” is the first song on the latest New Age Stars episode:
A True Love
I’m impressed with the opening; Biehl uses a very effective in medias res effects. Suddenly we are there, “ages hence”, and something important is unfolding right before our eyes. Exactly what is up to your imagination. All we know is that it is the naked truth, “as it was.”
The melody has the gentle flow of Romantic-era composers such as Frederic Chopin and Franz Liszt. The whole setting is romantic, but it is more than a love story. Indeed, I’m tempted to say that the song has the atmosphere of classic novels such as Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” or Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights”. It tells several stories, all in less than 5 minutes. In short; masterful storytelling!
There’s a story behind this song that deserves to be told. Karen wrote the piece during a time of intense yearning for her True Love, a man she felt she remembered from long ago. The inspiration behind the piece came from a vision Karen had of a magical land from long ago where she and her True Love were one. In this mystical land, the colors of nature were unusually vibrant and the trees would sway, sigh and sing with the wind. She wrote the following poem about this memory.
“In a land where the trees are sighing,
To the tones of a melody
I can hear on a wing my love singing,
I can hear my True Love’s call.
In that land where the trees are enchanting
To the tones of a melody,
I can hear my True Love call me
To the land where we are one.” – Karen Biehl
A glimpse of life and romance
“As It Was, Ages Hence” is not strictly solo piano. If you listen carefully around 1 minute and 20 seconds and onwards, you’ll hear a light cello and pan flute accompaniment. I think it is a tasteful mix. I also enjoy how well the song plays on repeat; it has a very well-made fade-out. I can put it on replay for hours and not get tired of it. It makes the single especially suited for deep focus work and creative thinking. The song was mastered by Nick Zampiello (New Alliance East).
I must not forget to mention the song’s masterful build-up. There are several stages, one leading into the other effortlessly – much like the changes of scenery in a movie or chapters in a book. There’s also a pleasant hint of melancholy. It makes you ask; it this a happy song, or is it sad? It is hard to pinpoint. Such ambiguity makes music interesting. Pushing the replay button is the only reasonable thing to do.
In conclusion: A scholarly text may contain many mistakes about how life was in the past. A song, on the other hand, contains no errors. “As It Was, Ages Hence” by Karen Biehl takes us way back and give us a fascinating glimpse of life, romance, and intrigues, all in less than five minutes. It is time travel, no less. That is a major accomplishment!
You may purchase the song on Amazon.