Deutsche Wertarbeit (German Quality or German Craftsmanship) вЂ“ the recording name of Dorothea Raukes вЂ“ issued a single, eponymous album on the Sky label in 1981. While best not to spoil the surprises, Deutsche WertarbeitвЂ™s pulsing вЂњDer Grosse AtemвЂќ stands out. The fact that this is a unified yet varied listen reflects another aspect of the care taken in the track selection. This is an issue endemic to any multi-artist, style-specific compilation and only bubbles up as this is the first time this has been done with this particular music.ДЄs for the music: itвЂ™s astounding. A slight disquiet with tracks perhaps being shoehorned-in to define something akin to a genre does lurk while The Microcosm unfolds. It is one aspect of the particular artist. In seeking to define a strand of music by plucking single tracks from potentially huge back catalogues there is an ever-present danger that whatвЂ™s heard is not representative of, say, Vangelis overall. It is well annotated and made even more special by its use of wonderful artworks by the earlier but simpatico painters Aleksandra Ionowa (Finland: 1899 вЂ“1980) and Г‰tienne Trouvelot (French-born, but America-dwelling from 1852: 1827вЂ“95). Manifestly, the painstakingly compiled The Microcosm is a labour of love. Bernard XolotlвЂ™s ( pictured below left) вЂњCemetary Wailing (Night Plateau)вЂќ wasnвЂ™t even released as such: it is drawn from a hand-annotated, self-compiled, shop-bought TDK cassette. Most tracks were originally issued on vinyl, but four were cassette-only: like much new age music. Nothing from Britain is included and Eno is mentioned in passing. Germany has most representatives but this is not a compilation of what could be called Krautrock, though it could pass for one of music made in its currents or slipstream. The less familiar include Lundsten, Robert Julian Horky (from Austria), Ariel Kalma (France), Francesco Messina (Italy) and Enno Velthuys (The Netherlands). The Microcosm exists in a less cut-and-dried world, circumstances made all-too clear in the booklet's introductory essay which notes вЂњat least one artist on this collection made it known they would not take part in any project describing their music as вЂNew AgeвЂ™.вЂќ The text goes on to discuss musics tagged as ambient, cosmic, Neuzeit (modern time) or visionary and states вЂњthe hope here is to unify the streams.вЂќДЄsh Ra Tempel, Popul Vuh, Rodelius and Vangelis are the (again, relatively) everyday names collected. That, though, largely began as an American phenomenon and had a path which could be (relatively) easily delineated. The Microcosm is the follow-up to 2013вЂ™s I am the Center, the benchmark exercise in defining and tracking new age music.

Crucially, 1982 saw Lundsten release an album titled The New Age. The synthesisers sound like distant wind chimes, flutes and the glass harmonica. True to the collectionвЂ™s title, it's a drifting, meditative mood piece eschewing overt melody and rhythm.

LundstenвЂ™s вЂњBГ¶n 5 вЂ“ вЂњFГ¶rlГҐt oss vГҐra skulderвЂќ (Prayer 5 вЂ“ Forgive us our Debts) from the 1972 album FadervГҐr (Our Father) features on the new 16-track compilation The Microcosm: Visionary Music of Continental Europe 1970вЂ“1986.

Lundsten (born 1936) began making music for soundtracks in the 1950s and has issued at least 38 albums.

Microcosm music