Medieval Dreams [Live]

Track Listings

1. Medieval Dreams

2. Romance I

3. Romance II

4. Romance III

5. Mystery at Ojai

6. Arabesque

7. Second Summer

8. Liana

Tracks:

Myths From Medieval Iceland: Leikr elds ok isa (The Song Of Fire And Ice)
Myths From Medieval Iceland: Veit ek at ek hekk (Odinn's Rune-verses)
Myths From Medieval Iceland: Hliods bid ek allar (The Prophecy Of The Seeress)
Myths From Medieval Iceland: Vreidr var pa Ving-Porr (The Tale Of Prymr)
Myths From Medieval Iceland: Nu erum komnar (The Song Of The Mill)
Myths From Medieval Iceland: Baldrs minni (In Memory Of Baldr)
Myths From Medieval Iceland: Senn voru aesir allir a pingi (Baldr's Dreams)
Myths From Medieval Iceland: Pat man hon folkvig (The Prophecy Of The Seeress)
Myths From Medieval Iceland: Ragnarok (The End Of The Gods)
Myths From Medieval Iceland: A fellr austan um eitrdala (The Prophecy Of The Seeress)

Amazon.com

Sequentia here performs a miracle of musical restoration, bringing to vibrant life medieval Icelandic texts about gods and heroes inhabiting a mythic past. Drawing on oral traditions and informed scholarly speculations about long-dead performing styles, they have come up with a hypnotic disc that startles with its power and beauties. The songs and recitations are interwoven with captivating fiddle tunes, and the singers wrench surprising emotions from the old texts. The late Barbara Thornton shines in her solos and duets, and Benjamin Bagby's mesmerizing chanting, recitation, and singing brings us as close as we're likely to get to sitting at the feet of the bards of old. An extraordinary disc that shouldn't be missed. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews:

Sings to my DNA.......2007-02-17

While it's not unusual for me to have several different recordings of the same work by different performers, this is the only case in which I have two identical CDs, one for home and one for the car. I have to assume my Scots-Irish ancestry has some Nordic blood, as this music affects me powerfully. I haven't even read the program notes, so it can't be that the text's mesmerizing. This may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if mead is your drink, it's perfect.

Pretty Good.......2007-02-01

There are some really awesome moments on this disc. All of the Voluspa segments, especially the final one describing Ragnarok, and The Song of the Mill are very well done. The stark atmosphere serves to not only enhance the singing portion, but really draw you into the song. The booklet that comes with the CD is essential, with beautiful translations of the poems that put Caroline Larrington's Poetic Edda to shame.

But there are also a lot of weak moments. I can't say that there is anything interesting in the instrumentals, which are fortunately few and far between. The Tale of Thrym is ok the first time through, but loses it's appeal very quickly. Odin's Rune Verses lack emotion compared to the rest of the pieces.

I also found the Italian Opera style singing a bit imposing. The rolling of the r's is sometime distracting, and I wondered the first time I heard it if that's what the language really sounds like. Of course, this is my first exposure to Icelandic, so I really couldn't tell you if its right or wrong, but the male singers do it much more than the females. Perhaps it just comes from their background as opera singers.

Overall, this is a good thing to have if you're at all interested in Norse/Icelandic/Viking mythology. If you're not, I think you can skip it.

For the Nordic Soul, an echo across time..........2006-10-23

I thought nothing like this existed, yet here it is! The Sequentia group sings ancient Nordic mythological poems, in very much the manner of ancient Skalds. The skald was a bard, or troubadour, of ancient Scandinavia. In the Sagas, many of the greatest skalds came from Iceland, a land colonized by Norwegians unwilling to live under the dictatorship of King Harald Harfa-gri (Harald Fairhair). The songs on this album are recited in Icelandic, a language that has changed only slightly from the Old Norse spoken by their ancestors. The style of performance is a specualtion, to a certain degree, but very much like that of most traditional Nordic folk music, traditions that have been passed on for centuries.

Medieval Latin? Music.......2006-10-14

For some reason, it doesn't sound quite nordic to me. Did they really roll their 'R's in the Old Norse, or is Sequentia putting a Latin spin on it? It sounds like Italian opera accompanied by medieval Icelandic instruments.

A great tool for learning as well as the musical enjoyment.......2006-07-11

I am impressed by, actually, the insert book! It has 47 thin pages of history, lyrics, and translation.

I bought this CD because the only foreign language I really retain is from foreign music. The lyrics are decently clear for learning. I didn't expect the insert book to have Icelandic lyrics, but it has that and a translation. There is a summary on each of the poems also.

The music is a bit simple, but the real art is in the song. The singing could even go without instrumentation. The album is 76:52 minutes long.

Average customer rating:

Thea Musgrave: Choral Works

Manufacturer: Bridge Records, Inc.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00075U0B2
Release Date: 2004-12-28

Tracks:

For the Time Being: Advent
Black Tambourine: North Labrador
Black Tambourine: Legend
Black Tambourine: Black Tambourine
Black Tambourine: My Grandmother's Love Letters
Black Tambourine: Pastorale
Black Tambourine: Repose of Rivers
Black Tambourine: John Cook
On the Underground, Set #1: Benediction
On the Underground, Set #1: Her Anxiety
On the Underground, Set #1: Lady "Rogue" Singleton
On the Underground, Set #1: Much Madness is divinest Sense
On the Underground, Set #1: Aunt Jennifer's Tigers
On the Underground, Set #1: Sometimes
On the Underground, Set #2: Dreams
On the Underground, Set #2: I saw a peacock with a fiery tail
On the Underground, Set #2: The subway piranhas
On the Underground, Set #2: Dreams (reprise)
On the Underground, Set #3: A Medieval Summer

Album Description

This CD presents a tribute to Thea Musgrave on the occasion of her 75th birthday. While a scholarship student of Nadia Boulanger, Scottish-born Musgrave was the winner of the Lili Boulanger Memorial Prize, and has since gone on to win numerous awards and honors. Her works have been widely performed in Britain, Europe and the USA. Musgrave is active as a conductor of her own music, and has worked with most of the major British and American orchestras. The New York Virtuoso Singers, arguably America's finest `new music' chorus, are heard in this loving tribute to Musgrave. The CD opens with a major Musgrave work-the 26 minute long "For the Time Being: Advent", based on W.H. Auden's poem "For the Time Being" (pub. 1945), a work of self-questioning in time of war and at a time of loss. This work is a tour de force, not only for its huge variety of vocal textures, but also for the manner in which Musgrave sustains, over its entire length, the sombre intensity of Auden's vision. British film star Michael York is the narrator on this recording. "Black Tambourine", on six poems of Hart Crane, is performed as a continuous 18 minute span. The cycle captures the wide range of moods of the poetry, from the madrigal-like trio of `Pastoral' to the tinkling salon piano of "My Grandmother's Love Letters". The CD also includes three delightful cycles taken from the anthology "Poems on the Underground"-a series of madrigal-like works setting poems that were exhibited in the trains of the London Underground.

Average customer rating:

Medieval Dreams
John Sciullo
Manufacturer: John Sciullo
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00005Y7K2
Release Date: 2001-01-01

Tracks:

Medieval Dreams
Romance I
Romance II
Romance III
Mystery at Ojai
Arabesque
Second Summer
Liana

Fantasie: Piano Music of John M. Sciullo

Average customer rating:

Genius

Fantasie: Piano Music of John M. Sciullo

Manufacturer: John Sciullo
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00005Y7HZ
Release Date: 2001-01-01

Tracks:

Fantasie
Dream Vision
Romance I
Little Romance
Mystery at Ojai
Sonata in D Major, K. 491, L. 164
Romance II
Impromptu
Arabesque
Talk
Improvisation for Hawaiian Audience
Talk
Improvisation for Hawaiian Audience
Music for Flute and Piano
Romance for Flute and Piano
Medieval Dreams

Customer Reviews:

Genius .......2005-08-04

John Sciullo is as eloquent with his compositions as William Shakespeare is with his sonnets. If music is, indeed, the way one unlocks the secrets of the soul then I would have to say that Sciullo's music is the only key that fits the proverbial lock. This is the one CD which transcends all generations and all cultural barriers; this music goes to the heart and soul of every individual.