"Avinu Malcheinu" (Our Father Our King) - Track 3 from my album, "King David's Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel". Thi haunting, ancient Jewish sacred melody, arranged here, for a modern evocation of the Biblical lyre, is traditionally sang at Yom Kippur...

INTRODUCTION

Both my CD albums, "King David's Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel" & "Lyre of the Levites", are dedicated to restoring again, for the first time in almost 2000 years, the mystical, ancient sounds of the "Kinnor" - the lyre of the ancient Hebrews. After almost 2000 years of empty, desolate silence, after the tragic destruction of the Jewish Temple by the Roman Legions under Titus in 70 C.E, the haunting strains of the ancient Jewish Kinnor can now finally be heard, once again...


THE AMAZING SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NUMBER OF STRINGS ON THE ORIGINAL BIBLICAL LYRES

According to both the ancient writings of the 1st century Jewish historian, Josephus Flavius, and the Biblical text, we know that the Kinnor Lyre played in the Temple of Jerusalem had 10 strings, and the Nevel Lyre had 12 - this is of amazing spiritual significance...

The reason why the Kinnor had 10 strings, must surely be to represent The Ten Commandments, and the reason why the Nevel Lyre had 12 strings, must be to represent The 12 Tribes of Israel (the Levitical Priests in the Temple of Jerusalem also wore a breastplate with 12 Gems to represent the 12 Tribes).

Even more amazing - the sum of the total number of tones which could be played on both these lyres is 10 strings on the Kinnor, plus the 12 strings of the Nevel, which gives a total of 22 possible musical notes - which also happens to correspond to the 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet!

According to the doctrines of Jewish Mysticism, more commonly known as Kabbalah, each letter of the Hebrew alphabet has a unique, spiritual significance, as the Hebrew alphabet is, quite literally, "the Word of G_d" -  this amazing correlation of numbers regarding the strings on both the Kinnor and Nevel Lyres once played in the Temple of Jerusalem, could quite well be one of the earliest examples of Kabbalistic Philosophy ever know!

For details of all the all the fascinating historical and spiritual background to my albums, please follow the link on the left to my official website. There is also a link on the left, to one of the promotional videos I created for this album.


KING DAVID'S LYRE

The truly ancient Jewish Kinnor, was the very first lyre to be mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, where it is now commonly mistranslated as "harp" - Jubal was the son of Lamech and Adah, a brother of Jabal, a descendant of Cain, and according to the Bible, "he was the ancestor of all who played the lyre and pipe" (Genesis 4:21).

References to this beautiful Biblical lyre of antiquity can also be found throughout the entire text of the Hebrew Bible, for example:

Psalm 33:2, 43:4, 49:4, 57:8, 71:22, 81:2, 92:3, 98:5, 98:5, 108:2, 147:7, 149:3, 150:3, 137:2

In Biblical times, the Kinnor was usually made of cypress wood, or in very precious instruments, of sandalwood (I Kings 10: 12; described as "almug"). According to the ancient writings of the Jewish historian Josephus Flavius, who actually witnessed the Kinnor being played by the Levites in the Temple of Jerusalem, the Kinnor had ten strings, made of sheep gut.

The Biblical Kinnor Lyre was the actual "Harp of David", once played by King David himself, 3000 years ago, as he danced before the very Ark of the Covenant (II Samuel 6:5), and for over 1000 years, the mystical resonance of the Kinnor could be heard wafting down from the Temple Mount, as my very own, very ancient Levite ancestors played their Kinnors in the Courtyard of the Temple of Jerusalem, to accompany the almost legendary singing of the Levitical Choir (II Chronicles 5:12).

The Kinnor on which I am playing, is of the Second Temple Era design; from the actual time of Jesus! The design of my replica instrument is based illustrations of the Kinnor depicted on ancient Jewish coins minted at the time of the Simon Bar Kochba Revolt against the Roman occupation in Israel (a photograph of such a coin can be seen the cover of the album). 

The design of the Jewish Temple Lyre in the time of Jesus is remarkably similar to the ancient Greek Kithara; the large wooden lyre played by the professional musicians of ancient Greece. This could possibly demonstrate the Hellenistic influence on Jewish culture at this time? Indeed, it is know that Herod often imported Greek musicians for the various festivals in Jerusalem.


THE CHOICE OF REPORTOIRE FOR THE ALBUM

After much experimentation and research, I finally settled on the idea of arranging for solo lyre, a diverse range of traditional Jewish folk songs, mystical Shabbat hymns and music from the traditional Jewish Klezmer repertoire - the concept of the musical performances on this album, are meant to be evocations, not reconstructions, of the sounds & playing techniques that were possible on the ten-stringed Kinnor of the Bible - there are sadly too few unambiguously notated melodies from antiquity to make an album of "note for note" reconstructions of ancient instrumental solo lyre music a feasible reality.

However, as can be discovered in the detailed articles which can be found on my "Official Website", the traditional Jewish scales/modes in which these pieces are actually written, may have their origin in these mystically remote, ancient Biblical Times...


THE 22 TRACKS...

Jewish Mysticism is more popularly known as Kabbalah; according to the Kabbalists, each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet has a unique, transcendental and spiritual significance - therefore, I have decided to record 22 tracks for this album; to correspond to each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet :


1) The Music of Moses – a spontaneous improvisation on an ancient Egyptian scale. 
 
2) Kol Nidre - “All Vows”; sung at the start of the Yom Kippur Services.

3) Avinu Malcheinu - “Our Father, Our King”; traditionally sang at Yom Kippur.

4) Havenu Shalom Aleichem - “Peace unto you”; one of the most famous of all Hebrew songs.

5) Zemer Atik - “Ancient Melody”; an Israeli folk song.

6) Hatikvah - “The Hope”; the Israeli National Anthem.

7) Berdichiever Khosid – an almost mystical-sounding Klezmer melody...

8) Siman Tov – "A Good Sign"; a jubilant song of celebration and congratulation.

9) Kandel's Hora – a slow , haunting, Jewish Klezmer melody.

10) Odessa Bulgar – an exhilarating Klezmer classic!

11) Abu's Courtyard – a lively Hasidic melody.

12) Shalom Chavarim - “Peace friends, until we meet again”; a traditional Hebrew song.

13) Araber Tantz - “Arabic Dance”; an amazingly Middle Eastern-sounding Klezmer melody.

14) Hine Ma Tov - “Behold How Good”; an Israeli folk song.

15) Bukovina Freylekhs – a hypnotically beautiful Klezmer tune.

16) Oh Hanukah – a traditional Jewish song.

17) Der Heyser Bulgar - “The Hot Bulgar”; a traditional Klezmer favourite.

18) Shabbat Shalom –  An improvisation on a meditative Shabbat chant.

19) Shalom Aleichem - “Peace be upon you”; a traditional Shabbat melody.

20) Ose Shalom - "The One Who Makes Peace"; the final refrain of the Mourner's Kaddish.

21) Hava Nagila - “Let Us Rejoice”

22) Yigdal - “May He be Magnified”; this lovely traditional melody is often the concluding hymn sang at the end of the Friday evening Shabbat service.

For full details, including a free PDF booklet of the album notes, please see:

http://ancientlyre.com/albums_for_solo_lyre/king_davids_lyre_echoes_of_ancient_israel/

Avinu Malcheinu (Arranged For Biblical Lyre)

Vogelkamer

Required

David Sylvian - A Fire in the Forest (Meow-Meow Attack Remix)

talian Soundtrack holy grail and one of the most regarded scores by the majestic Oscar Award maestro Luis Bacalov, author of DJANGO, IL POSTINO (The Postman) and other legendary film scores. Original soundtrack for the Drama/Erotic film directed by Fernando Di Leo, shooted in our beatiful Sicily, IT. For us, totally destroys all his Soundtrack productions with a big orchestra selection featuring some of the best Italian grooves ever - terrific Funk beats, mindmelting scats, Brazilian influenced music with loads of dope Exotic vibes. The thing is a swaggering waltz of Funk with Wah Wah guitars, sensous horns, huge orchestra arrangements, smooth rhythms throughout with deep vocals by studio combo session, and finally the heaviest driving piano groove ever. A gigantic Italian music masterpiece finally available for the joy of collectors!

Originally released in 1973 - Fonit Cetra LPX 27

Original soundtrack of the film directed by Fernando Di Leo.
Remastered edition released by ℗ 2017 SONOR MUSIC EDITIONS & BEAT RECORDS COMPANY
https://www.facebook.com/sonormusiceditions
© Ed. Sonorfilm

Music composed, arranged and directed by LUIS ENRIQUEZ BACALOV with Rosa Balestreri & I Ninhos Pega
Production: Sergio Bardotti

LA SEDUZIONE

Luis Bacalov - "LA SEDUZIONE" OST

Jessica Moss shares an excerpt of a work in progress, recently recorded live in her rehearsal space, that offers a lovely preview of new material to which concertgoers may find themselves treated in 2018 (alongside her debut opus Pools Of Light).

"Untitled 3" displays various techniques and influences that lie at the heart Moss's solo music: building stacked slow-burn string themes through live looping, sampling and pitch-shifting that beautifully balance drone and melody, gradually introduce further electronic, oscillation and synthesis textures, and channel folkways tropes from Eastern Europe and the Middle East – in this case, gesturing towards the Klezmer tradition perhaps most explicitly since her work in the mid-2000s with Black Ox Orkestar.

Jessica Moss
Pools Of Light
http://cstrecords.com/cst124

Jessica Moss • "Untitled #3 (excerpt)"

2nd track off 'VI-X' EP
Free track download here - https://tristan-allen.bandcamp.com
Engineering / Mixing : Evan Reiner

VI-X

Blue Door There

Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts 19 (Step Between Shadows Mix)

Today the world is able to hear the first new music from lo-fi hero Jason Molina since 2009 (1st solo music since '06). The mini-album is called 'Autumn Bird Songs' & is an incredibly moving & powerful work. It was recorded soon before Molina took a leave from the industry a few years back. 'Autumn Bird Songs' consists of 8 songs that were specifically written and recorded to and for William Schaff's artwork in the hopes that one day our music-related art book would be finished. Well due to the overwhelming support on Kickstarter, that became a reality this year and we are very proud of the finished result. The book is 82 pages and begins with an introduction by John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats. On the artwork front, we take you from the old school mixtape covers Schaff would create when he was young to his work for such artists as Okkervil River, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Monster Movie, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Kid Dakota, Songs: Ohia and many more.

This is a product of love that we began in 2007 so we really hope you enjoy it. The retail version of the book comes with a rainbow center spray black 10" of 'Autumn Bird Songs' which is limited to 350 copies.

We thank you very much for your support,

Ryan Graveface

You can purchase a book/10" here: http://www.graveface.com/graveface-schaff.html

Jason Molina - Heart My Heart

Yasmina Dexter aka Pandora's Jukebox's playlist for the designer's Paris Fashion Week show

Ry Cooder - Nothing Out There

Jaguar - Mogwai (Disco Geeks translation)

Michael Levy is a UK-based composer for the recreated lyres of antiquity, whose musical mission is to create an entirely new musical genre, which could best be described as a 'New Ancestral Music' - dedicated to creating new music for the recreated ancient lyre, featuring an exotic palette of ancient musical modes and intonations not heard for almost 2000 years.

Michael has collaborated with the Grammy award winning Canadian composer, Rufus Wainwright - Rufus musically incorporated one of Michael's "Hymn to Zeus"  in two scenes of his second opera, "Hadrian" - which premiered in Toronto on 13th October 2018.

In 2022, Michael collaborated with the iconic American artist, Jeff Koons – his music for recreated ancient Greek kithara is currently the main soundscape of Koon’s animatronic sculpture, “Apollo Kithara” (2020-2022) on view at DESTE’s Project Space on the Greek island of Hydra.

Avinu Malcheinu (Arranged For Biblical Lyre)

Michael Levy Lyre Music

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