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Behind the Gardens is a 1981 studio album by New Age artist Andreas Vollenweider, released in 1981. It is almost entirely instrumental, and centers around Vollenweider on harp.

While not literally Vollenweider's first album, "Behind the Gardens" is widely regarded as such because it was his breakthrough album, gaining him wide recognition. The earlier and more obscure "Eine Art Suite in XIII Teilen", 1979, remains available chiefly online, while "Behind the Gardens" can still be readily found in music stores worldwide.

The contemplative and moving second track, "Pyramid," is a favorite of fans and has become a concert staple, always garnering applause when the first harp notes are played.

While the album originally stood on its own, in 1990 it and the two following albums (Caverna Magica and White Winds) were re-released as a two-CD set entitled "Trilogy," suggesting they collectively constituted a single musical entity.

The full titles of the first two albums lend creedance to the suggestion that the three albums are thematically connected. The full title of the first album is "Behind the Gardens-Behind the Wall-Under the Tree..." The elipsis at the end suggests a continuation. The full title of the next album is "Caverna Magica (...Under the Tree - In the Cave...)" The first elipsis, followed by the repetition of "Under the Tree" from the first album title, clearly indicates a continuation. The second elipsis suggests another continuation, which would turn out to be "White Winds (Seeker's Journey)."

The title of the first album "is like giving someone directions: "You will find us behind The Garden, behind The Wall, under The Tree...", Vollenweider is quoted as saying on his official web site, http://www.vollenweider.com.

The title of the second album apparently indicates a continuation of those directions: Under the tree you'll find a magic cavern. This magic cavern could be a metaphor for the recording site. This is borne out by the rest of the Vollenweider quote: "Recording this album we worked completely cut off from the world, in the cellars of the Sinus Studios in Bern (capital of Vollenweider's native Switzerland), which are more than 300 years old. In the shelter of this creative "womb", it was easy to lose track of time and space."

Sinus "was a small, underground studio," stated an article in the April 2003 edition of Mojo magazine, quoted at http://www.higgs1.demon.co.uk/barritt/mojo.htm. "It was entered by wooden shutters in the pavement above, which gave the impression of entering a crypt."

Tracks on the original 1981 vinyl (pre-CD era) release: 1. Behind the Gardens - Behind the Wall - Under the Tree 2. Pyramid - In the Woods - In the Bright Light 3. Micro-Macro 4. Skin and Skin 5. Moonlight - Lion and Sheep 6. Sunday 7. Afternoon 8. Hands and Clouds

A 2005 CD re-issue added these bonus tracks: 9. Vergeletto - Live 1982 10. XIII Thirteen - (From "Eine Art Suite in XIII Teilen", 1979) 11. The Letter (From "Eine Art Suite in XIII Teilen", 1979) 12. Little Boy and the Mirror (From "Eine Art Suite in XIII Teilen", 1979) 13. Hey You! Yes, You... (From VOX, 2005)

Personnel on the original "Behind the Gardens":
 * Andreas Vollenweider - Harp, Guitars, Saxophone, Synthesizers
 * Walter Keiser - Drums
 * Jon Otis, Pedro Haldemann - Percussion