East meets West...
stonechat | hyperspace | 01/05/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Nobody's reviewed this yet? How strange! This is a superb collection of fascinating music. Apart from anything else, it's an excellent introduction to Armenia's traditional instruments: including the duduk (a "double-reed instrument made from apricot wood"; now widely used on film soundtracks), the kanon (a zither), the kamancha (a three-string fiddle, often with a rather East European sound), the zurna (a wailing Middle-Easterny oboe-like instrument), the shevi (a reed flute) and the dhol (a hand drum). Many of the tracks are songs, for male and/or female voice, typically accompanied by one of the melody instruments, plus drone (i.e. a single note, typically played on duduk) and dhol. There are a variety of combinations, but they hold together well as a unified whole: some with a rather Middle Eastern sound, others more reminiscent of medieval European music. East meets West indeed! In general, it's probably best classifiable as "folk": but it's a serious sort of folk, verging on what might be called "classical". According to the (voluminous) liner notes, the Armenian musical tradition is perhaps the oldest written tradition in the world; and as with other related traditions (e.g. Central Asian; see the excellent compilation on Ocora), there's no sharp distinction between "popular" and "classical". And then, of course, there are the melodies... one beautiful melody after another: I'm afraid "haunting" is the only word! The lullaby Nani bala, here sung unaccompanied by female vocalist Hasmik Haratunian, is just drippingly beatiful. In short, a superb collection: to my ears, rather better than the duduk solo disk in the same collection, which gets to be rather too much of a good thing. [By the way, if you want to learn more about Middle Eastern and Asian classical traditions, I would whole-heartedly recommend Todd McComb's highly informative web-page "Traditional World Music Recordings".]"
Absolutely stunning
C. Martin | DeForest, WI United States | 03/13/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This was my first, true introduction into Armenian music. I see why many artists are drawing so much upon the instruments and the unique arrangments found in this music. The haunting vocals, the sometimes overjoyous drumming and the rich use of both string (the oud) and woodwind instruments (the duduk) speaks of a great people and the pagentry of their culture. "Dawn Opened Again" and "I am Burned by Love", for me anyway, transcended languages and spoke to what is the common ground we all share as human beings. With this being a double CD set, I whole heartedly recommend this collection as a great introduction to Armenian culture."
Track Listings (20) - Disc #1