I have listened to "Become Ocean" several times. It is fascinating but it can become too intense -- the horns get too sharp -- maybe those are sharks. There is also a DVD and I was hoping for some wonderful watery imagery. However it's only about 5 still images that morph into each other and repeat over & over. I'm surprised the imagery is not a lot better. The music is impressive overall. Thanks John Luther Adams!

Though performed by an orchestra, this is as close to ambient as a classical composer can get. You might also like Max Richter and listening to nature sounds.

Listen to it as backgroung sound: it's a pretty soundscape. Listen to it closely: it's a complex layering of wave upon wave of contrapuntal detail. Wagnerian in scope but intimate in detail, this is satisfying music that stands up to repeated listening.

Become Ocean is 45 minutes (approx.) of a soundscape. It works well if you're trying to go to sleep, but that is about it. Nothing there of any interest. This is a recording that will sit in your collection and gather dust. This piece sounds like something that would be played as background to an art installation. My advice - don't buy it. Get It from your public library, listen to it, and then return it. You'll be happier that way.

Any hope that the NYPL might have had of getting any monetary donations now or in my will are hereby eliminated by their insufferable practice of taking their holdings out of circulation and keeping them for "in-library use" only. This is completely inexcusable and cruel for anyone who doesn't have the leisure to just sit in the library at will.