Folk /
Cycles
Edition of 50.* Hugjiltu plays the guitar with five strings. Not used to the standard chord-forms of Western guitar, he invented his own system of tuning, combining the three-string Mongolian lute and the two-string horsehead fiddle, both of which he started playing as a child. These five strings epitomise his relationship with the music from within the Mongolian ethnic tradition and with the music beyond, a state of artistic composure few in his generation have achieved. Hailing from a musical …
Exploring Gongs Culture In Southeast Asia, Mainland And Archipelago
Tip! *In process of stocking* 'Gongs have played an integral role in the mythogeography of Asia. This is not music that aligns with national borders or ideas of homogenous populations, let alone racial stereotypes and exotic clichés. What connects all of these tracks is a simultaneous feeling of entrancement and social cohesion. Communal and collaborative, its form is hypnotically repetitious, melodies and rhythms spread out among the players using the technique of hocketing in which a flowing l…
A Cloudy Dawn
Death is Not the End follow up 'The Sun is Setting on the World' with another set of Greek rebetika from the 1930s to the late 1950s.
The Music Of Islām
Ten years in the making, The Music of Islam series recorded in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Yemen, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran and Qatar represents the most comprehensive sound documentation available to Westerners today, of a world religion dating back to 1/622. Although governed by strict rules for fourteen centuries, contact with other cultures has radically affected Islamic music throughout history. As the world enters the XV/21st century the timing of this collection serves an even larger…
Mayeh-ye Dashti / Mayeh-ye Isfahan
*2022 stock.* The award-winning 2-CD album features contemporary classical compositions and arrangements with traditional Irani instruments. The spiritual intensity and traditional musicianship was deemed worthy for Celestial Harmonies records. The musicians are the Dastan Ensemble, which is a collective who change membership over the decades. For this 2008 live concert recording, the Ensemble consists of Hossein Behroozinia (barbat, the Irani oud), Hamid Motebassem (the long-neck tar), Said Far…
The Music Of Bali
The Music of Bali is produced by the highly acclaimed New Zealand composer/musician/producer David Parsons. Much like the other traditional/lost arts replications he has produced, The Music of Cambodia (19902), The Music of Vietnam (19903) and The Music of Armenia (19909), this collection is an opened time capsule of music from the isles of paradise.
Jegog as heard on The Music of Bali, Volume One: Jegog (13136) is played predominantly for entertainment although it occasionally accompanies relig…
The Music Of Vietnam
*2022 stock. In process of stocking* A country shaped by struggles with Chinese, French, Japanese and American invasions. That is how Vietnam stands in the minds of many, while its culture most people actually know little about. It is a rich culture, whose musical heritage has developed over a thousand years' time. Celestial Harmonies, early in 1994, released the first two volumes of The Music of Vietnam series in order to bring this beautiful, fascinating music to the world at large.
It is unde…
The Music Of Cambodia
*2022 stock.* Celestial Harmonies' Music of Cambodia box set collects three volumes of traditional Cambodian songs as performed by indigenous orchestras and musicians. The Pinpeat Orchestra's "Sathouka," the Trot Orchestra's "Somplov," Taam Ming's "Klang Chanat," and the Mahori Orchestra's "Trorpean Piey" are some of the collection's highlights, all capturing the mysterious, hypnotic sounds of Cambodia.
The Hugo Masters - An Anthology Of Chinese Classical Music
Chinese classical music is a much larger field than Western classical music. It covers a huge geographical area as well as a time frame of thousands of years. Although some of China's musical instruments have changed very little in hundreds of years, others were adapted to Western standards under the influence of Russian musicians during the middle of the last century. In some cases, frets were added to non-chromatic instruments and tonalities standardized. The liner notes of The Hugo Masters co…
The Music Of Armenia
*2022 stock. In process of stocking* The entire Music of Armenia series began as a musical detour while David Parsons was on assignment for Celestial Harmonies' The Music of Islam (19907) series. Fortunately, for our history—and evolution—the lost arts, musically speaking, of this biblical area which has and continues to travel the path of love, hatred and destruction, only to someday be revered and loved again, is superbly recreated and created anew.
Covering the geographic area of Armenia, as …
The Ongaku Masters: An Anthology of Japanese Classical Music
*2022 stock. In process of stocking* The Ongaku Masters: An Anthology of Japanese Classical Music, a five-CD edition presented in a black linen box, spans 1,000 years of Japanese classical/traditional music, from early Buddhist Shomyo chant to late 20th century Takemitsu. It touches on every relevant stage in the development of Japanese music from the distant origins on the Asian mainland to contemporary expressions. Leading scholars from universities on three continents contributed to extensive…
Back To Baâlbek
The Diva Faïrouz. Her real name Nouhad Haddad, she was born in the Zokak el Blat district of Beirut. The eldest of a modest Maronite family, she developed a passion for singing very early on. Her parents are too poor to afford the luxury of a radio, so she spends most of her time listening, her ear glued to the wall, to the neighbors. Nouhad quickly memorizes the songs she hears and gives a few samples at parties organized by her school. It was there that she seduced her comrades with her vocal …
In Between The Notes : A Portrait Of Pandit Pran Nath
William Farley’s 1986 documentary portrait of the Indian classical figure, who considered by many to be the godfather of drone. Featuring interviews with Terry Riley, Mariam Zazeela and La Monte Young.
All Parts Dark
** 2021 Stock. Includes a 12 page color booklet with rare photographs, full lyrics, and extensive notes ** Marika "Politissa" Frantzeskopoulou was a Greek singer from Constantinople, reknowned for her precise, fluid and graceful performances and depth of feeling. Backed by some of the best musicians of the era on lyra, violin, oud, kanonaki and guitar, Marika’s repertoire and techniques drew from Byzantine and Ottoman musical traditions. She possessed an ability to devastate her audience through…
Similar & Different
Dal:um is a musical duo based in Seoul, who challenges the sonic possibilities of Korea's most well-known traditional string instruments: the gayageum and geomungo. Ethereal and otherworldly, Dal:um create a compelling soundworld that treasures subtle dynamics and the space between the notes. Two musicians. Two weighty acoustic stringed instruments. A dialogue between traditional and experimental practices. Dal:um was founded in 2018 by Ha Suyean (gayageum) and Hwang Hyeyoung (geomungo). Suyean …
Longing for Freedom
Hiski Salomaa began his life in 1891 in Kangasniemi in the Southern Savonia region of Finland, emigrating to the USA after the death of his mother in 1909 - travelling via Hanko, to Hull, Liverpool, Ellis Island, Manhattan, and finally to a Finnish American community in the South Range of Michigan.
After taking to writing and performing songs as a young boy, Salomaa saw a demand amongst the growing Finnish immigrant set for music performed in their own language, and indeed in the Finnglish diale…
Confluence
**Limited 1st Edition mini lLP paprsleeve in 500 only copies** In Hindustani classical music, jugalbandi denotes a duet performance whereby the soloists are entwined in the exploration of a raga (Indian musical mode). Sheer improvisation, interplay, playful challenge and the mutual nourishment of each other’s musical imagination make this form of presentation extremely dynamic and inspiring for the performers and audiences alike. Providing the fundamental yet responsive rhythmic framework, are u…
Scaling New Horizons with Guitar
* Newly remastered, limited edition pressing * Brij Bhushan Kabra was one of the Indian musicians who heard the steel guitar’s siren call, but his vision went beyond adapting Hawaiian sounds to popular music. Instead, he saw the instrument’s potential for playing ragas. To pursue this dream, Kabra began studying with Ali Akbar Khan, whose fretless sarod offered a sonic example for Kabra to emulate with his lap-slide guitar. Kabra’s instrument was a Gibson Super 400, modified with a drone string…
The Magic of Music - Guitar and Tabla
* Newly remastered, limited edition pressing * Brij Bhushan Kabra was one of the Indian musicians who heard the steel guitar’s siren call, but his vision went beyond adapting Hawaiian sounds to popular music. Instead, he saw the instrument’s potential for playing ragas. To pursue this dream, Kabra began studying with Ali Akbar Khan, whose fretless sarod offered a sonic example for Kabra to emulate with his lap-slide guitar. Kabra’s instrument was a Gibson Super 400, modified with a drone string…
Lure of the Desert
* Newly remastered, limited edition pressing * In the 1920s, Tau Moe (pronounced mo-ay), a Hawaiian musician, arrived in India and introduced Hawaiian music to the Sub Continent. After settling in Calcutta in the early 1940’s, Moe and his family performed, taught and introduced Hawaiian music by building and selling guitars to the local musicians. Indian filmmakers and composers quickly fell under the spell of these instruments and sounds and made them suitable for playing ragas— the melodic p…