eMusic

Start Your Trial

Raphael

Raphael

Rate it!

Avg: 5.0 (6 ratings)

  • Years Active: 1980s, 1990s

Biography

Raised by Benedictine nuns in Tulsa, OK, Raphael learned classical music and Gregorian chants during his solitary childhood. From the age of 13, he felt a strong connection to baroque music, particularly the works of Antonio Vivaldi, the 18th-century violinist and composer who was himself a Catholic monk. In reaction to his strict upbringing, however, Raphael plunged wholeheartedly into the late-'60s San Francisco scene. Yet even as he explored rock & roll and tribal music, he never lost his love of his classical roots and occasionally admitted to feeling like a reincarnation of Vivaldi. After a period playing gypsy violin on the streets of the city, dressed like a European count, Raphael completed piano and composition studies at the San Francisco Conservatory. A 12-year stint as staff musician at the Esalen Institute at Big Sur helped him consolidate his ideas on the role of music in healing and relaxation. His two resonant albums of neo-romantic music make perfect sense considering his background. Sweeping grand piano, ethereal violin solos, sparkling synthesizer textures, and floating chorals sound like Rachmaninoff and Paganini reeling through space with a chorus of liberated nuns (conducted from the great beyond, no doubt, by Vivaldi himself). It's an irresistible formula -- Raphael's music has attracted a broad following of enthusiastic fans.
— Linda Kohanov , All Music Guide

Related Artists Ancestors, Peers and Acolytes

Similar Artists:

Julio Jaramillo, Azúcar Moreno, Jose Luis Perales

Playlists If you like Raphael, check out these member playlists

Explore music recommended by Raphael fans

“ The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.”


Rolling Stone
Start Your Trial

Recently Viewed

Back
Forward

© 1998-2009 eMusic.com Inc. eMusic and the eMusic logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks in the USA or other countries. All rights reserved.

All Music Guide © 1992 - 2009 All Media Guide, LLC
Portions of content provided by All Music Guide, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC

Facebook®, YouTube, Flickr™ and Wikipedia® are registered trademarks of their respective owners, Facebook Inc., Google, Inc., Yahoo! Inc. and Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Neither Facebook Inc., Google, Inc., Yahoo! Inc. nor Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. are partners or sponsors of eMusic. eMusic uses the Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia API but is not endorsed or certified by Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia. eMusic does not pre-screen, monitor, endorse nor assume any liability for websites, contents, products, services or claims made by Facebook, YouTube, Flickr™ and Wikipedia®.

Legal or copyright question regarding Facebook, YouTube, Flickr or Wikipedia content on eMusic? Please email us.