The Plateaux of Mirror - Definition and Overview

Ambient 2/The Plateaux of Mirror (1980) is an album by ambient musicians Harold Budd and Brian Eno. This is the second installment of Eno’s Ambient series which began in 1978 with Music for Airports.

The main bulk of the instrumentation is Harold Budd on acoustic piano with treatments by Brian Eno. “The Plateaux of Mirror” and “Wind in Lonely Fences” are performed on electric piano. Budd composed “Not Yet Remembered” in California with a melodic line intended for vocals and mailed the composition to Eno in New York. Eno then reversed the melodic phrase, recorded it and played it to Budd for the first time over the telephone.

This album has a tranquil and slightly melancholy atmosphere.

Track listing

1. ”First Light” - 6:59
2. ”Steal Away” - 1:29
3. ”The Plateaux of Mirror” - 4:10
4. ”Above Chiangmia” - 2:49
5. ”An Arc of Doves” - 6:22
6. ”Not Yet Remembered” - 3:50
7. ”The Chill Air” - 2:13
8. ”Among Fields of Crystal” - 3:24
9. ”Wind in Lonely Fences” - 3:57
10. ”Failing Light” - 4:17

See also

• Harold Budd
• Brian Eno
• Ambient 1/Music for Airports
• Ambient 3/Day of Radiance
• Ambient 4/On Land
• Ambient music
• Electronic music