03-17-2007, 12:44 PM
Ensemble De Organographia released new extended edition of their CD "Music of the Ancient Sumerians, Egyptians and Greeks".
I like this CD for two reasons. Firstly, Philip Neuman and Gayle Stuwe Neuman are performing music of Ancient Greeks or Hurrians as if they just returned from ethnographic expedition and now - they are playing the music of still living ethnos. Secondly - this CD gives possibility to hear the music in very wide chronological range - from the oldest notated music in the history of humankind (circa 1225 BC - music from Mediterranean city Ugarit, which was destroyed by "the Sea People" - but the roots of this music are more deep in the soil of history) to music of the Greeks from epoch of Roman Empire (3-4 centuries AD).
I'm constantly listening to my favourite Ancient Greek anonymous fragments from Oxyrhynchus - tracks 2 (Lament), 3 (Fragment 1), 4 (Paean), 8 (Musical Excerpt). They sounds quite catchy. Track 6 presents different versions of performance of the short piece from the comedy by Menander.
There are no such tracks on CDs by Gregorio Paniagua or Annie Belis.
Hurrian music (with Babylonian notation) seems less developed but the masterpiece - "A zaluzi to gods" (hymn to goddes Nikkal) - sounds poetic and impressive (track 11 - 3:49). By the way, it is music from epoch of Troyan war
Egyptian pieces are re-created according to works by modern researcher Hans Hickman and to ancient sources - descriptions by Plutarch and Apuleus.
Truely there are two new tracks on this CD.
Dynamic Greek "Fragment 3" (track 10) presented with re-recorded bagpipes party.
Completely new record - "Theban banquet scene" (circa 14 BC), re-created from a tomb painting in Thebes. It starts as melancholic harp melody, then rhythm changes and drums with flute are leading the melody.
Melody is beautiful but short (1:33) - still it as an opening, pleasant surprise for us.
Information about CD and soundclips you could check out here:
www.northpacificmusic.com
I like this CD for two reasons. Firstly, Philip Neuman and Gayle Stuwe Neuman are performing music of Ancient Greeks or Hurrians as if they just returned from ethnographic expedition and now - they are playing the music of still living ethnos. Secondly - this CD gives possibility to hear the music in very wide chronological range - from the oldest notated music in the history of humankind (circa 1225 BC - music from Mediterranean city Ugarit, which was destroyed by "the Sea People" - but the roots of this music are more deep in the soil of history) to music of the Greeks from epoch of Roman Empire (3-4 centuries AD).
I'm constantly listening to my favourite Ancient Greek anonymous fragments from Oxyrhynchus - tracks 2 (Lament), 3 (Fragment 1), 4 (Paean), 8 (Musical Excerpt). They sounds quite catchy. Track 6 presents different versions of performance of the short piece from the comedy by Menander.
There are no such tracks on CDs by Gregorio Paniagua or Annie Belis.
Hurrian music (with Babylonian notation) seems less developed but the masterpiece - "A zaluzi to gods" (hymn to goddes Nikkal) - sounds poetic and impressive (track 11 - 3:49). By the way, it is music from epoch of Troyan war
Egyptian pieces are re-created according to works by modern researcher Hans Hickman and to ancient sources - descriptions by Plutarch and Apuleus.
Truely there are two new tracks on this CD.
Dynamic Greek "Fragment 3" (track 10) presented with re-recorded bagpipes party.
Completely new record - "Theban banquet scene" (circa 14 BC), re-created from a tomb painting in Thebes. It starts as melancholic harp melody, then rhythm changes and drums with flute are leading the melody.
Melody is beautiful but short (1:33) - still it as an opening, pleasant surprise for us.
Information about CD and soundclips you could check out here:
www.northpacificmusic.com
