Isaias Caetano
04-04-2013, 11:24 PM
Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble - Officium Novum (2010)
Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble - Officium Novum
This thread is dedicated to the Greeks
Peter Pap, RolloTomasi & Yannis
http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/u387/icsilva/Review_zps78b7856a.gif
Review by Stephen Eddins ~ Allmusic
More than 15 years separate the release of Jan Garbarek's best-selling album Officium from his Officium Novum. The newer release, like the original, features Garbarek on soprano and tenor saxophones and the male vocal quartet, the Hilliard Ensemble. In both albums, Garbarek takes preexisting vocal pieces and embroiders them with his soulful obbligato contributions. The chaste austerity of the men's voices and the reedy plaintiveness of the saxophone make for a surprisingly effective pairing. Garbarek and the singers manage to merge two very different musical worlds without compromising the integrity of either, and that is part of what gives these albums such an impact. The first album used primarily Medieval and Renaissance material -- chants, motets, and liturgical song -- while this second mostly uses more recent source material, primarily from Eastern Europe. In addition to several medieval sources, included are works by early 20th century Armenian priest, musicologist, and composer Komitas; Nikolai N. Kedrov, a Russian composer of the same era; mid-20th century Greek composer Giorgios Sefaris; Estonian Arvo P�rt; and several original pieces by Garbarek himself. Like the first album, this one is suffused with a sense of distant mystery and a profound, powerful melancholy that is given voice with intense feeling. The sound again is spacious and warmly resonant, with an earthy, enveloping ambience. This album will be a must-have for anyone who loved the first one, and it should appeal to any listener with an affinity for meditative Eastern European spirituality, especially when tied to contemporary expressivity and stylistic freedom.
BBC Review
Officium Novum completes a stunning trilogy that began back in 1993 when Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek and British vocal quartet The Hilliard Ensemble first collaborated on the original Officium album. Released the next year, it blended pure unaccompanied voices with soaring saxophone on a programme of medieval church music. Unpredictably, that unique combination was an immediate success. The album became one of the biggest sellers on the ECM label and hit the charts in several countries.
In 1999, the five released a follow-up, the double album Mnemosyne, which featured a more adventurous range of music adding traditional and world music plus Garbarek compositions. Admirers of those albums have long been anticipating the arrival of Officium Novum. Despite the similar album title, it is not a re-recording or repackaging of Officium but consists entirely of pieces recorded in June 2009, including Armenian church music, two Garbarek originals and Arvo P�rt�s Most Holy Mother of God.
The compatibility between the voices and saxophone will please both jazz aficionados and followers of choral music. Garbarek�s saxophone acts as a fifth voice, harmonising with the other four. He also improvises melodic lines that swoop out of the ensemble, creating an exhilarating feeling of lightness and freedom.
As with the first two albums, the recording took place at the St Gerold monastery in Austria. Chosen for its acoustics, the monastery is an important element in the Officium story. The resounding natural reverberation it adds to the music gives it greater depth and majesty than would be expected from four voices and a saxophone. When Garbarek and The Hilliard Ensemble perform live, they generally play in venues with a similar ambience, such as St Paul�s Cathedral or King�s College Chapel, Cambridge.
While some listeners may potentially feel alienated by the use of such Christian locations and by the religious connotations of some of the repertoire, they should not let them spoil their enjoyment. Sung in various languages, the music carries no overtly religious messages and is not attempting to preach to anyone. Instead, those of any faith or of no faith can appreciate its simple beauty. ~ by John Eyles
Review of "Officium Novum" by Alyssa Mathias ~ ethnomusicologyreview
ECM New Series B003NBBNF4, 2010.
One compact disc. Booklet (24 pp.)
with notes by Thomas Steinfeld, black and white photographs by Mario Giacomelli.
Accompanying podcast at www.ecmrecords.com.
Officium Novum is the third CD by acclaimed British choral group, the Hilliard Ensemble and Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek. On the accompanying podcast, Garbarek describes the album as �the slow movement of a camera coming from the east into the west.� Armenian hymns, Byzantine chant, and a piece by contemporary Estonian composer Arvo P�rt join 13th-century P�rotin and two compositions by Garbarek himself. For fans of the 20-year-old Hilliard/Garbarek combination, improvised saxophone lines on nearly every track add an element of freedom to the Hilliard Ensemble�s traditionally refined style. Critics, however, may see the continued collaboration as formulaic, guided by the first two albums� high sales. Whatever one�s feelings about the appropriateness of this partnership, the album deserves attention for its focus on Armenian liturgical songs.
The western classical music world is no stranger to the music of Armenians. Major symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles have recorded works by composers Aram Khachaturian, Alexander Arutiunian, and Alan Hovhannes. Armenian artists such as soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian, bass Ara Berberian, and violinist Ivan Galamian have presented celebrated interpretations of Bach, Mozart, Rossini, Mahler, and many others. Yet recordings of Armenian liturgical songs, especially by non-Armenians, remain comparatively rare. The Hilliard Ensemble�s attention to Armenian sharakans in recent performances and on Officium Novum suggests that these hymns may indeed have a place in choral music repertoire around the world.
The Armenian Apostolic Church prizes the sharakans as works wholly Armenian�resistant to surrounding Arab, Persian, Turkic, Georgian, and Slavic music cultures. Many date back to the ninth century or earlier, and the sharakans as they are now notated and categorized represent the continued work of composers and scholars throughout the development of the Armenian Church (McCollum 2004:224-6). In the 19th and 20th centuries, Armenian priest, composer, and ethnomusicologist Komitas Vardapet arranged the Divine Liturgy and many sharakans for four voices. His aim was twofold: to carry Armenian liturgical music into its next stage of spiritual significance through the addition of harmony and to cleanse the music of inappropriate fashionable embellishments through careful research of church modes and the old notation systems (Komitas 1897:159).
A British/Norwegian interpretation (with saxophone, no less!) is thus bound to offend purists. Yet the Hilliard Ensemble singers clearly have done their research, traveling to Armenia to learn the songs upon invitation from a Yerevan radio station. While the accompanying booklet�s stunning photographs of a medieval monastery and Mount Ararat may inspire a rather romanticized take on the music�s history, Thomas Steinfeld�s notes correctly identify the pieces as Komitas�s early 20th-century arrangements, which were composed in a very urban Constantinople.
As with their recordings of western music from the Medieval and Renaissance periods, countertenor David James, tenors Rogers Covey-Crump and Steven Harrold, and baritone Gordon Jones sing with limited vibrato, opting for that British choral aesthetic often described as clean and pure. They respond to each other well, allowing moving lines to emerge clearly from a well-blended ensemble sound. While it may not be what Komitas intended, this style of singing allows the intricacies of his arrangements to shine.
Jan Garbarek�s introduction to �Ov Zarmanali,� (the hymn for the Baptism of Christ) is a pleasing meditation on Armenian motifs, but to my ears his contribution is otherwise distracting rather than collaborative. First, when joining the singers, the saxophone is simply too loud; even in low registers it tends to drown out the vocal parts. Second, Garbarek�s fast arpeggios in �Surb, Surb� (Sanctus) obscure any feeling of direction in the choir�s long melismatic lines.
Komitas�s special attention to Armenian liturgical modes might have excited the Hilliard Ensemble�s more academic tendencies. Rogers Covey-Crump has been known to write very clear and thorough articles on tuning Ockeghem, Brumel, and Dufay. I would welcome his insights on tuning Komitas. In the current recording, it is difficult to hear which, if any, explicit tuning decisions have been made, as the saxophone�s intonation sometimes does not match that of the vocal ensemble.
Criticisms aside, Officium Novum is a fine introduction to Armenia�s rich sacred music tradition, especially for choral conductors looking to expand their repertoires. Yet while the album may include glimpses of Armenia and Constantinople, the camera, to use Jan Garbarek�s metaphor, remains firmly placed in Western Europe. Those who would like to hear more are advised to seek out recordings by Lusine Zakarian, the Male Chamber Choir of the Yerevan Opera Theatre, and Onnik Dinkjian. Additionally, a widespread Armenian diaspora nearly ensures that this music can be heard live every Sunday in Armenian churches around the world.
Artist: Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble
Title Of Album: Officium Novum
Year Of Release: 2010
Label: ECM Records
Genre: Folk, World, Jazz, Contemporary, Medieval, Classical Music
Quality:MP3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Total Time:01:01:10
Total Size:139 MB
Covers
Jan Garbarek (soprano & tenor saxophones)
The Hilliard Ensemble (David James, countertenor; Rogers Covey-Crump, tenor; Steven Harrold, tenor; Gordon Jones, baritone)
http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/u387/icsilva/Tracklist_zps8cb8d255.gif
Tracklist:
01. OV zarmanali (Hymn of the baptism of Christ)
Komitas
02. Svjete tihij
Byzantine Chant / Orthodox Chant
03. Allting finns
Jan Garbarek
04. Litany / Otche nash / Dostoino est
Various Composers
a) Litany
b) Otche nash
c) Dostoino est
05. Surb, Surb
Komitas
06. Most Holy Mother of God
Arvo P�rt
07. Tres morillas m�enamoran
Anonymous, Cancionero de Palacio / Anonymous, Spanish
08. Sirt im sasani (Hymn for Maundy Thursday)
Komitas
09. Hays hark nviranats ukhti
Komitas
10. Alleluia. Nativitas
P�rotin
11. We are the stars
Jan Garbarek
12. Nur ein Weniges noch
Bruno Ganz (Recitation Text)
George Seferis
http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/u387/icsilva/Download_zpsc2567a55.gif
?????????? ????????????? TurboBit.net ? ????? ??????? ?? 100 ??, ?????????? ??????? ?????? (http://turbobit.net/download/free/logjfk5dctc7#)
Say thank you and leave an impression!!!
Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble - Officium Novum
This thread is dedicated to the Greeks
Peter Pap, RolloTomasi & Yannis
http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/u387/icsilva/Review_zps78b7856a.gif
Review by Stephen Eddins ~ Allmusic
More than 15 years separate the release of Jan Garbarek's best-selling album Officium from his Officium Novum. The newer release, like the original, features Garbarek on soprano and tenor saxophones and the male vocal quartet, the Hilliard Ensemble. In both albums, Garbarek takes preexisting vocal pieces and embroiders them with his soulful obbligato contributions. The chaste austerity of the men's voices and the reedy plaintiveness of the saxophone make for a surprisingly effective pairing. Garbarek and the singers manage to merge two very different musical worlds without compromising the integrity of either, and that is part of what gives these albums such an impact. The first album used primarily Medieval and Renaissance material -- chants, motets, and liturgical song -- while this second mostly uses more recent source material, primarily from Eastern Europe. In addition to several medieval sources, included are works by early 20th century Armenian priest, musicologist, and composer Komitas; Nikolai N. Kedrov, a Russian composer of the same era; mid-20th century Greek composer Giorgios Sefaris; Estonian Arvo P�rt; and several original pieces by Garbarek himself. Like the first album, this one is suffused with a sense of distant mystery and a profound, powerful melancholy that is given voice with intense feeling. The sound again is spacious and warmly resonant, with an earthy, enveloping ambience. This album will be a must-have for anyone who loved the first one, and it should appeal to any listener with an affinity for meditative Eastern European spirituality, especially when tied to contemporary expressivity and stylistic freedom.
BBC Review
Officium Novum completes a stunning trilogy that began back in 1993 when Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek and British vocal quartet The Hilliard Ensemble first collaborated on the original Officium album. Released the next year, it blended pure unaccompanied voices with soaring saxophone on a programme of medieval church music. Unpredictably, that unique combination was an immediate success. The album became one of the biggest sellers on the ECM label and hit the charts in several countries.
In 1999, the five released a follow-up, the double album Mnemosyne, which featured a more adventurous range of music adding traditional and world music plus Garbarek compositions. Admirers of those albums have long been anticipating the arrival of Officium Novum. Despite the similar album title, it is not a re-recording or repackaging of Officium but consists entirely of pieces recorded in June 2009, including Armenian church music, two Garbarek originals and Arvo P�rt�s Most Holy Mother of God.
The compatibility between the voices and saxophone will please both jazz aficionados and followers of choral music. Garbarek�s saxophone acts as a fifth voice, harmonising with the other four. He also improvises melodic lines that swoop out of the ensemble, creating an exhilarating feeling of lightness and freedom.
As with the first two albums, the recording took place at the St Gerold monastery in Austria. Chosen for its acoustics, the monastery is an important element in the Officium story. The resounding natural reverberation it adds to the music gives it greater depth and majesty than would be expected from four voices and a saxophone. When Garbarek and The Hilliard Ensemble perform live, they generally play in venues with a similar ambience, such as St Paul�s Cathedral or King�s College Chapel, Cambridge.
While some listeners may potentially feel alienated by the use of such Christian locations and by the religious connotations of some of the repertoire, they should not let them spoil their enjoyment. Sung in various languages, the music carries no overtly religious messages and is not attempting to preach to anyone. Instead, those of any faith or of no faith can appreciate its simple beauty. ~ by John Eyles
Review of "Officium Novum" by Alyssa Mathias ~ ethnomusicologyreview
ECM New Series B003NBBNF4, 2010.
One compact disc. Booklet (24 pp.)
with notes by Thomas Steinfeld, black and white photographs by Mario Giacomelli.
Accompanying podcast at www.ecmrecords.com.
Officium Novum is the third CD by acclaimed British choral group, the Hilliard Ensemble and Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek. On the accompanying podcast, Garbarek describes the album as �the slow movement of a camera coming from the east into the west.� Armenian hymns, Byzantine chant, and a piece by contemporary Estonian composer Arvo P�rt join 13th-century P�rotin and two compositions by Garbarek himself. For fans of the 20-year-old Hilliard/Garbarek combination, improvised saxophone lines on nearly every track add an element of freedom to the Hilliard Ensemble�s traditionally refined style. Critics, however, may see the continued collaboration as formulaic, guided by the first two albums� high sales. Whatever one�s feelings about the appropriateness of this partnership, the album deserves attention for its focus on Armenian liturgical songs.
The western classical music world is no stranger to the music of Armenians. Major symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles have recorded works by composers Aram Khachaturian, Alexander Arutiunian, and Alan Hovhannes. Armenian artists such as soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian, bass Ara Berberian, and violinist Ivan Galamian have presented celebrated interpretations of Bach, Mozart, Rossini, Mahler, and many others. Yet recordings of Armenian liturgical songs, especially by non-Armenians, remain comparatively rare. The Hilliard Ensemble�s attention to Armenian sharakans in recent performances and on Officium Novum suggests that these hymns may indeed have a place in choral music repertoire around the world.
The Armenian Apostolic Church prizes the sharakans as works wholly Armenian�resistant to surrounding Arab, Persian, Turkic, Georgian, and Slavic music cultures. Many date back to the ninth century or earlier, and the sharakans as they are now notated and categorized represent the continued work of composers and scholars throughout the development of the Armenian Church (McCollum 2004:224-6). In the 19th and 20th centuries, Armenian priest, composer, and ethnomusicologist Komitas Vardapet arranged the Divine Liturgy and many sharakans for four voices. His aim was twofold: to carry Armenian liturgical music into its next stage of spiritual significance through the addition of harmony and to cleanse the music of inappropriate fashionable embellishments through careful research of church modes and the old notation systems (Komitas 1897:159).
A British/Norwegian interpretation (with saxophone, no less!) is thus bound to offend purists. Yet the Hilliard Ensemble singers clearly have done their research, traveling to Armenia to learn the songs upon invitation from a Yerevan radio station. While the accompanying booklet�s stunning photographs of a medieval monastery and Mount Ararat may inspire a rather romanticized take on the music�s history, Thomas Steinfeld�s notes correctly identify the pieces as Komitas�s early 20th-century arrangements, which were composed in a very urban Constantinople.
As with their recordings of western music from the Medieval and Renaissance periods, countertenor David James, tenors Rogers Covey-Crump and Steven Harrold, and baritone Gordon Jones sing with limited vibrato, opting for that British choral aesthetic often described as clean and pure. They respond to each other well, allowing moving lines to emerge clearly from a well-blended ensemble sound. While it may not be what Komitas intended, this style of singing allows the intricacies of his arrangements to shine.
Jan Garbarek�s introduction to �Ov Zarmanali,� (the hymn for the Baptism of Christ) is a pleasing meditation on Armenian motifs, but to my ears his contribution is otherwise distracting rather than collaborative. First, when joining the singers, the saxophone is simply too loud; even in low registers it tends to drown out the vocal parts. Second, Garbarek�s fast arpeggios in �Surb, Surb� (Sanctus) obscure any feeling of direction in the choir�s long melismatic lines.
Komitas�s special attention to Armenian liturgical modes might have excited the Hilliard Ensemble�s more academic tendencies. Rogers Covey-Crump has been known to write very clear and thorough articles on tuning Ockeghem, Brumel, and Dufay. I would welcome his insights on tuning Komitas. In the current recording, it is difficult to hear which, if any, explicit tuning decisions have been made, as the saxophone�s intonation sometimes does not match that of the vocal ensemble.
Criticisms aside, Officium Novum is a fine introduction to Armenia�s rich sacred music tradition, especially for choral conductors looking to expand their repertoires. Yet while the album may include glimpses of Armenia and Constantinople, the camera, to use Jan Garbarek�s metaphor, remains firmly placed in Western Europe. Those who would like to hear more are advised to seek out recordings by Lusine Zakarian, the Male Chamber Choir of the Yerevan Opera Theatre, and Onnik Dinkjian. Additionally, a widespread Armenian diaspora nearly ensures that this music can be heard live every Sunday in Armenian churches around the world.
Artist: Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble
Title Of Album: Officium Novum
Year Of Release: 2010
Label: ECM Records
Genre: Folk, World, Jazz, Contemporary, Medieval, Classical Music
Quality:MP3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Total Time:01:01:10
Total Size:139 MB
Covers
Jan Garbarek (soprano & tenor saxophones)
The Hilliard Ensemble (David James, countertenor; Rogers Covey-Crump, tenor; Steven Harrold, tenor; Gordon Jones, baritone)
http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/u387/icsilva/Tracklist_zps8cb8d255.gif
Tracklist:
01. OV zarmanali (Hymn of the baptism of Christ)
Komitas
02. Svjete tihij
Byzantine Chant / Orthodox Chant
03. Allting finns
Jan Garbarek
04. Litany / Otche nash / Dostoino est
Various Composers
a) Litany
b) Otche nash
c) Dostoino est
05. Surb, Surb
Komitas
06. Most Holy Mother of God
Arvo P�rt
07. Tres morillas m�enamoran
Anonymous, Cancionero de Palacio / Anonymous, Spanish
08. Sirt im sasani (Hymn for Maundy Thursday)
Komitas
09. Hays hark nviranats ukhti
Komitas
10. Alleluia. Nativitas
P�rotin
11. We are the stars
Jan Garbarek
12. Nur ein Weniges noch
Bruno Ganz (Recitation Text)
George Seferis
http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/u387/icsilva/Download_zpsc2567a55.gif
?????????? ????????????? TurboBit.net ? ????? ??????? ?? 100 ??, ?????????? ??????? ?????? (http://turbobit.net/download/free/logjfk5dctc7#)
Say thank you and leave an impression!!!