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ID: COR16068
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Subcollection: Folk Music
This disc, which contains live and studio performances, captures differing styles of flamenco through some of the most important names in the genre: Paco Peña, Diego el Cigala (Dieguito), Manolo Domínguez the Losada brothers, and Paco del Gastor. It includes traditional tracks but also shows that flamenco is an ever-developing tradition.
Flamenco is hotly emotional. An art form that has its origins in Arab influenced Andalusian folk music, adopted and adapted by the Gypsies only in the last two hundred years or so, flamenco has deeper roots and connections. It is true world music, partly because so many different peoples, cultures and religions have lived across southern Spain and also because geographically Andalucía is the gateway to the Mediterranean and the Americas across the ocean, and the bridge between Europe and Africa.
Flamenco involves three performing arts - song, guitar and dance. The quality of the voice is directly linked to the historical and social background of the music. There is a certain roughness that encompasses uncompromisingly strong emotions. The flamenco singing is sometimes of the Muslim call to prayer - not surprising as it was once heard all over Andalucía. The guitar provides us with further blending of east and west in its use of melodic lines accompanied by more exotic sound, key and time structures. And the dance embodies the passion, delirium and fire of southern Spain. The mix of the three expresses the soul of the region.
Flamenco, with its roots in love and tragedy, contains a spiritual force which bridges both the secular and religious dimensions of human experience. |
| 18.00 eur Buy |
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ID: COR16065
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Subcollection: Traditional
This is a fascinating disc of music from the rich and ancient culture of Persia. The differing traditions of Classical and folk music are represented here, played on the ney and the sornā, as well as sung. The ney is often described as the world’s oldest instrument, whilst documents exist showing that in the 6th-4th centuries BC the sornā was accompanying dancing in the south-west Iranian region of Lorestān.
As is so often the case, Persian traditional music is the product of many related world strands. Some of the melodies and modes, for example, are related similar systems found in 7th century Turkish, Byzantine and Arabic music, owing to the cross-fertilisation caused by the Arab invasion of the Persian Empire (633-656).
Nevertheless, Persian classical music maintains its own unique characteristics. One of them is the use of rhythmic percussion to accompany instrumental melodies. The highest esteem, however, is reserved for the art of improvisation and free-time singing based on the sung recitation of poetry.
The Revolution of 1979 and the following 30 years have not provided a stable environment for music-making in Iran. Nevertheless there are musicians living and working both in Iran and abroad and, with the rise of commercially available CDs, the music of this region continues to spread and be appreciated.
Celebrated musicians Hossein ‘Omoumi, Shahmirza Moradi and Simâ Binâ who feature on this disc are among the world’s finest innovators of Persian music. |
| 18.00 eur Buy |
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ID: COR16061
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Collection: World Music
Subcollection: Dance Music
This fascinating disc from China is the second release in the new Acoustic World series and presents classical repertoire led by four exponents of different traditions: Lin Youren, Wu Man, Li Jinwen, and Xuan Ke.
Wu Man, the internationally renowned pipa virtuoso, is arguably Chinese classical music’s most famous artist. Now resident in New York she is as active in contemporary music as in the traditional repertoire, pushing the boundaries of Chinese music. Three exquisite pieces from her ensemble appear on this disc.
Master of the qin zither, Lin Youren resists forced modernisation, and gives us a tantalising glimpse into the past. But, in the best traditions of music cross-fertilisation, he gives us a gentle nod to English football fans in his Improvisation for Michael Owen - a piece inspired by the singing in the pub where he was himself watching England play Argentina in the 1998 World Cup!
Xuan Ke and the Dayan Ancient Music Association play music derived from old ritual music festivals by Dongjing religious Associations. They play some instruments not found anywhere else - the reedpipe bobo and the plucked lute suguda.
Li Jinwen leads a group of musicians playing “sheng-guan” music for wind and percussion. Sheng-guan is still popular in folk rituals today as is singing and the vocal setting of “Geese crossing over the southern mansion” is one of the highlights of this compilation. |
| 18.00 eur Buy |
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ID: TSK003
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Subcollection: Pop
Salvatore D'Avino's first EP. A new italian pop songwriter, he sings love in a funny and relaxed way.
The singer-song writer makes his début with his firs EP of unpublished songs proposing a valid alternative in the wide field of the Italian popular music, thanks also to his particular voice. In this work of sound discovery he is supported by excellent artists (Stefano Marazzi, Pietro Casadei, Gianluca Lusi, ..). These songs inject enthusiasm with an extreme freshness and musical honesty. Impossible not to sing them!
Salvatore D'Avino: vocals;
Roberto Ugolini: guitars in 1, 2, 3;
Giorgio Lovecchio: guitars in 2, 3, 4;
Pietro Casadei: bass in 1, 2, 3, 4;
Stefano Marazzi: drums in 1, 2, 3, 4;
Davide Belcastro: percussion in 1;
Domenico Sanna: el. Piano in 1, 2; organ in 3;
Gianluca Lusi: sax in 1, 2, 4;
Chiara Calderale, Valeria Svizzeri, Miriam Longo: background vocals in 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| 18.00 eur Buy |
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ID: COR16063
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Collection: World Music
Subcollection: Traditional
This album presents Irish music at its best, featuring some of the most respected musicians in their field playing fiddle, flute, pipes, uillean pipes, piano accordion, button accordion, melodeon, and concertina.
Irish traditional music has flourished in the last few years, and oftentimes the impetus for change has come from outside the Emerald Isle, giving us perhaps a more accurate definition to the expression ‘world music’. These influences are in some ways not surprising given that there are Irish communities in many parts of the world.
This disc captures the essence of Irish traditional music from America, Cape Breton Island, England and Ireland itself. The performances show how tradition and innovation sit comfortably together. There are two notable features: first, that none of the instruments has to be plugged in or amplified; and second, that these are live performances. Without an audience enjoying and encouraging the musicians these jigs and reels just wouldn’t take off.
The richness of the music comes from the individual musician’s treatment of it (and there are some 43 musicians featured on this disc), because although the tunes and harmonies are relatively simple, the stylistic differences between players in different geographic areas is remarkable. Enjoy the party!
Various artists |
| 18.00 eur Buy |
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ID: COR16058
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Collection: World Music
Globalisation, ease of travel, Acoustic World and 24-hour media showing the Earth’s remotest corners has proved that the world is indeed small. In some way it has also made us protective of our local heritage, drawing the culture of one’s home country into sharper focus. This world music series shows the musical side of the phenomenon. This exciting set of discs, featuring some of
the best musicians in the world, contains carefully chosen music in compilations possessing a natural musical flow. None of the musicians play electric instruments, giving the music a fabulous authentic feel, and many performances are live, allowing the local atmosphere to come sparkling through.
The Acoustic World series represents a new strand in CORO’s catalogue which already features artists such as The Hilliard Ensemble and Sarah Connolly as well as a ‘Live’ series and young artists focus. The series epitomizes CORO’s values of excellence of performance, authentic instruments, brilliance of sound and world class musicians.
Brazil
The disc presents music from the nineteenth century up to the end of the twentieth, none of which requires instruments to be ‘plugged in’. It shows the inventiveness and vibrancy of musicians and composers in absorbing styles from overseas before incorporating them into something now instantly recognisable as Brazilian. |
| 18.00 eur Buy |
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ID: ACDBH047-2
CDs: 1
Type: SACD
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Collection: World Music
Early Music
In order to illustrate their borderless talents, Fortuna follows Ciconia and Dufay on this recording on their journey through the Flemish and Italian musical landscape of the late medieval times: Early Music in Context.
Chansons
Just as Dutch painters in the Golden Age were attracted by the Italian light and went to work in Rome, many composers from the Low Countries also made their way over the Alps in search of inspiration. This Italian dream resulted in the creation of brilliant music by two such pioneers, Johannes Ciconia and Guillaume Dufay. Their ability to seemingly effortlessly meld the achievements of Flemish, French, English and Italian music into a new style created a new musical language whose sound crossed over many geographic borders.
Ciconia was educated in Luik, which had a rich musical culture in the late Middle Ages; and he worked in Padua from around 1402 until his death. By that time, he had become a real Italian composer, despite his Northern roots and education: in his elegant ballade Gli atti col dançar, one can hear clearly how Ciconia had mastered the melodic souplesse of the Italian Trecento composers such as Landini. His dramatic Ligiadra donna - with a contratenor line composed by his colleague composer Matteo da Perugia - is written in the typical Northern Italian style of the giustiniana. But nowhere in his work does Ciconia merely follow stylistic trends; on the contrary, his unique and characteristic style inspired a generation of composers who followed him - among them Dufay.
No single 15th Century composer has left such an extensive and varied oeuvre as Guillaume Dufay, who was considered to be the greatest composer of his time, even in his own lifetime. He was educated in Kamerijk (Cambrai). While he was still young, he began travelling extensively for his work, to the Council of Constance for example, and he began working for various Italian patrons. These facts give Dufay's career and work a decidedly "international" allure, but the musical influences of his birthplace are still very recognizable in some of his works. The typically Northern drinking and New Year's songs such as Cheulz qui volent from MS Leiden 2720 or Die mey so lieflic by Thomas Fabri, clearly inspired Dufay to create rondeaux such as Adieu ces bons vins en Ce jour de l'an. While the original songs don't aspire to be much more than a drinking song or a round dance, Dufay manages with his songs to lift the genre to a much higher artistic level, without losing the playfulness and spontaneity of the original forms. His unorthodox application of existing material and traditional compositional techniques make him one of the most inventive composers of the 15th Century - Dufay wrote music that his contemporaries wouldn't have dared to dream of. |
| 18.00 eur Buy |
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ID: SIGCD057
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Collection: Instrumental
Signum Classics are proud to release Daniella Ganeva's debut disc on Signum Classics - Time for Marimba.
The marimba has its origins in Africa and by way of South America, it has developed into the modern western instrument we know today. Since the second world war it has developed a certain pre-eminence amongst the percussion resources from which contemporary composers can draw. Milhaud’s 1947 Concerto for Marimba and Vibraphone, one of the first works to demand of the player the now familiar four hammer technique, is a pivotal work in this respect.
Japan has a strong drumming tradition but other indigenous percussion instruments are limited to bells, cymbals and rattles of various sorts. The 1868 establishment of constitutional monarchy under the Meiji restoration opened up the country to the outside world, including that of western art music. Yet in the very post-war period which has seen the marimba’s ascendance, Japanese composers have tended to look away from the west and towards their traditional music and its instruments for their inspiration and means of expression.
This disc explores the 20th century Japanese repertoire for marimba including music by five pre-eminent post-war composers.
Additional percussion: Gary Kettel, Graham Instrall, Graham Cole, Gillian McDonagh; Simon Haram |
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ID: SIGCD065
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Subcollection: Voices and Orchestra
Signum Classics are proud to release the King's Singers fifth disc on Signum; Sacred Bridges.
For thousands of years, the biblical Psalter has been the liturgical “heart” of the three main book religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The Psalms announce the word of God and, simultaneously, contain the full range of human experience.
Jews, Christians and Muslims sing and listen to the same songs of lament and joy, confessions of sin, hymns of praise and adoration. In this project of the King’s Singers and Sarband, psalm settings by composers from three religions give an example of how psalms can be a source of spirituality, a political instrument, a link between tradition and modernity and, above all, a bridge connecting human beings.
Programme Idea and development - Dr. Vladimir Ivanoff
Sarband performs this program with different choirs and vocal ensembles, until now: King's Singers, RIAS Chamber Choir, Innovantiqua Ensemble, Chorakademie Dortmund.
The group’s name Sarband stems from the Persian and Arabic languages, and means an improvised connection of two parts within a musical suite. Vladimir Ivanoff founded the ensemble in 1986 and has been pursuing an archaeology of complex connections ever since: Above all, ‘Sarband’ endeavours to explore and demonstrate connections between the music-cultures of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Both sensitively and intensely Sarband celebrates the symbiotic relationship between Orient and Occident.
The continuous musical collaboration within the Ensemble ensures that a dialogue on equal terms is maintained. It is the exchange of practical musical experience between musicians from different cultures that make the performances of Sarband gripping, lively and utmost authentic.
Sarband’s unique repertoire has won them wide acclaim internationally. In the past two decades, the ensemble has performed at numerous international festivals and recorded 15 CDs.
Sarband’s musicians do not see their work as something sporadic but as a part of being and living. Just as religious, economic, cultural and political differences between Orient and Occident play a predominant role in today’s society, Sarband’s music endeavours to show that music has always served as communication in which people found reciprocal respect for each other and could easily contribute in the process of relating in the same way today. Uniting people around the world, offering mutual recognition towards each other, in other words: music as an example for peace. |
| 18.00 eur Buy |
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ID: TSK001
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Collection: World Music
Tosky Records (Italian Indipendent Label) is proud to release his first album dedicated to music for movies: Music for Feature Films. It sounds especially epic, dramatic. Everything is made by a virtual orchestra.
This album is a 15 music pieces original compositions by the great greek composer Dimitris Polychroniadis created for synchronizing music for movies or tv fiction.Originally it was about 30 pieces of music: electronic, orchestral, ambient pieces.
About TOSKY Records
Tosky Records has been created with the aim to merge music with skill, passion and innovation. Tosky Records wants make the most of the music talent, by offering the synergy of a group of skilled professionals in different fields: discography, publishing, audio/video production and services for shows. Our major asset is to integrate and converge our skills in a sole organization, by creating an added value to be offered to our clients, starting from the point of view that their success is our success. Tosky Records works with important partners such as consolidated organizations, with an experience of more than 20 years in this field. Our mission is to offer valid discographic products not limited by brands; the product is developed since the beginning: from the idea of its realization up to its distribution and promotion. The collaboration with the client goes along the whole process. Quality, responsibility, proficiency and respect for the past and for the future are the foundations of our modus operandi. |
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