The Whole Music Experience

The Gurdjieff Folk Instrument Ensemble Led by Levon Eskenian Music of Georges I.   Gurdjieff ECM Many of you reading this review probably have never heard Armenian folk music, though you have heard most of the instruments on Levon Eskenian and The Gurdjieff Folk Instrument Ensemble's recording Music of Georges I. Gurdjieff  if you have listened to traditional music of Iran, Kurdistan, Turkey, and India.   This folk ensemble features the traditional Armenian reed instrument duduk which both Real World Records and World Village have featured on several recordings.   Other instruments that might sound familiar to your ears are the Iranian spiked fiddle (kamancha), the Turkish saz (long-neck lute), the Arabic tombak (drum) and oud, as well as, the dohl drum and santur from India.   To say that Music of Georges I. Gurdjieff falls into exotic territory is an understatement, but the Gurdjieff who studied many spiritual paths, also compose...

Paul Hillier National Chamber Choir of Ireland Stewart French Tarik O’Regan Acallam na Senórach: An Irish Colloquy Harmonia Mundi Sung in Middle Irish and English, the medieval frame-tale of the meeting of Saint Patrick and associates of Finn mac Cumaill comes to life on Paul Hillier’s latest recording, Tarik O’Regan Acallam na Senórach: An Irish Colloquy .   And what a splendid recording this is, with soprano vocals that sail through the glass ceiling and blend seamlessly with a mixed choir’s polyphony.   Opening with bodhrán the choral work takes on a mysterious quality.   The drumbeats prepare listeners to enter the realm of enchantment and to take a journey to Ireland’s medieval past.   And the story portrayed on the recording represents the meeting of pagan and Christian cultures, and communication from spiritual realms. Besides the ethereal polyphonic vocals, we are treated to Stewart French’s classical guitar such as on Guitar ...

Marilyn Mazur Celestial Circle ECM Records Reminiscent of her label mate, Susanne Abbuehl, percussionist-composer Marilyn Mazur’s Celestial Circle features moody jazz with sedate vocals.   I’ve enjoyed listening to Mazur’s unobtrusive compositions performed by the artist’s ECM band, (John Taylor-piano, Josefine Cronholm-vocals, and Anders Jormin-double bass), while I work.   The beautiful textures created by this quartet doesn’t qualify as background music (too intriguing), but while I listen to the pure tones of this particular recording, I’m able to get the best of both worlds—listening to music and editing my work.   I’d imagine that this music would go well with a cup of chamomile tea at bedtime too. The songs fall on the melancholy side, alternately feel contemplative with warm tones and exotic percussive brushstrokes. The players seem to have an intuitive connection with each other, almost breathing in sync with the bass, piano, and percussio...

Jean-Guihen Queyras Akademie Für Alte Musik Berlin Vivaldi Cello Concertos Harmonia Mundi I’ve never been a huge fan of the Venetian composer Antonio Vivaldi’s repertoire.   I heard it grace several music soundtracks growing up, heard The Four Seasons at weddings, on street corners, farmer’s markets and cafes, mostly in passing.   I only own one other Vivaldi recording, featuring a Norwegian girl’s choir singing sacred works on Kirkelig Kulturverksted.   But Vivaldi’s cello concertos have the power to win me over and to transform the cello’s melancholic reputation.   Many of us are familiar with the expressive cello as portrayed in Bach’s (a baroque contemporary of Vivaldi) cello suites, but during the baroque era, the cello’s role was to contribute a continuous bass along with bassoon and other low-end instruments.   This means that innovative Vivaldi went against the musical protocol of his time, when he transformed the cello into a lead pl...

Anonymous 4 Secret Voices Chant & Polyphony from the Las Huelgas Codex Harmonia Mundi I’m pleased to receive a new recording by the all-woman vocal ensemble Anonymous 4.   While I’m not a Christian, I enjoy Christian music from medieval and renaissance eras.   I find the polyphony and Gregorian chants relaxing, as do many music fans.   In fact, there is a craze out there for this type of music that goes underground at times only to resurface later.  Many of the fans of early sacred music aren’t religious, but looking for peaceful and contemplative music. I lose track of the number of albums recorded by Anonymous 4, but each album features provocative music programs.   We are usually treated to music sung by ancient women or composed by women as in the case of Hildegard von Bingen, which Anonymous 4 covered.   However, on the latest recording, Secret Voices , we are privy to medieval music from the cloisters of Las Huelgas, in Cas...