Maybe not as hypnotic, not as mesmerising as the first album, Metamorfozy, but still exceptional piece of music, both as something simply enjoyable or something to listen to and as a set of highly elaborated compositions. Work of Gardzienice is one of the most convincing reconstructions of ancient mousikē - they do their best to squeeze out as much as possible from incomplete data and to reconstruct irreconstructible. [junusynu @ rateyourmusic.com] The music itself is 4-stars, but the priceless scientific book on the subject that accompanies it is worth additional half star. This is by far the most convincing and probably accurate reconstructions of Ancient music I've ever heard. Recommended for everyone interested in ancient mysteries and theater, not recommended for those imagining Ancient Greeks as some clean-singing noble elves. [hattivat @ rateyourmusic.com] Osrodek praktyk teatralnych "Gardzienice" (Centre for Theatre Practices "Gardzienice") was founded in 1977 by Włodzimierz Staniewski, and formally registered in 1978. The name comes from the village where the theatre is located. The group gained international critical acclaim, and is classified as an experimental anthropological theater. In 1997 the association established the Academy for Theatre Practices. This carries out numerous projects: research, arts, music, and cultural investigation into the humanities. Orkiestra antyczna (The Ancient Orchestra) was a scientific project directed by Tomasz Rodowicz and Maciej Rychły, focused on reconstruction of music of ancient Greece and Rome, conducted in cooperation with musicologists. The reconstructed music was then played and recorded by the theatre's musical ensemble. This CD record accompanied the Polish edition of the book Music in Ancient Greece and Rome by John Landels. The book (and so the CD) is currently out-of-print. |
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Projects like this one are highly controversial among the scholars, as well as "classical" music critics and fans, because the sources from which we can learn about works, practices and instruments of ancient music are not even scarce - they are almost non-existent. And I mean it - just to give you some perspective, we are talking here about building instruments, which nobody have touched for 2 thousand years, on the basis of pictures found on ancient ceramic vessels. Or "reconstructing" songs upon seven and a half words and not many more musical notes found on a broken stone slab (like it is with the track no. 13: "Hode Galatan Ares"). The painful truth is that nobody knows how these notes have been sung and how this music sounded. Therefore, maybe it would be more proper to call such efforts "artistic interpretation" rather than "scientific reconstruction".
Some may say I'm a little bit too harsh, not respecting hard work of these researchers. That is not true. I have great esteem for them. But let's be reasonable. Just imagine that in two thousand years some future civilization will play Beethoven's For Elise on a "piano" built from this illustration, after "reconstructing" the piece on the basis of a few random bars coming from the burnt score and a review from a magazine. It may be a great work, but do you think it will sound anything like the composition that I linked above? No way. So is this album a disappointment? Not at all! All I say is - let's not treat it like a definitive recording of ancient music, but rather as a suggestion: it might have sounded like that. So how is it, when judged on its own merits? Brilliant. Astounding. Breathtaking. Mesmerizing. I have to stop right now, because I'm running out of adjectives. You're lucky you're reading me in English, because in Polish I'd go on like this for several more pages. Each of these songs is so powerful, hypnotic, full of emotions that you are immediately carried away by the procession of ancient Greeks. You can only hope you won't end up offered as a sacrifice to Greek gods. So all this long introduction was to prepare you for what I am about to write now: I don't give a fuck if this is true ancient music or just a new-age'y / folky imitation. This is a masterpiece of Music. Who cares for labels. Let's just listen to this awesome record and praise ingenious people that created it. I have to end with a small disclaimer. Due to high originality and uniqueness of this music, this record is of course not for everyone. For the majority of pop/rock oriented public it would be probably just a cacophony. But if only you have open mind (and ears) for sonic experiments and you are not afraid of new musical experiences and unusual sounds, I am sure you will be delighted. Tracklist: 01. Promoleth' Helikona [02:44] 02. All' o chryseokitharin [03:14] 03. Tripoda manteion [04:02] 04. All' o Phoibe [05:12] 05. En, klyta megalopolis Atthis [02:22] 06. Ganytai [02:54] 07. Alla Latous [01:50] 08. Paian, o Paian [02:49] 09. Kronos archon [03:18] 10. Melipnoon [02:56] 11. Chelidon [02:46] 12. En kymasin [04:01] 13. Hode Galatan Ares [03:17] Playing Time.........: 41:30 Support artists, not recording industry Pay the artists directly. They do not profit from CD sales. If you buy brand new mainstream albums in regular record stores (no matter whether online or offline, CDs or downloads), almost all the money goes to the recording industry mafia and is later used for committing crimes such as unlawful harassment of fans and bribing authorities to implement changes in law, which would infringe basic human rights. If you really want to support mainstream artists (and you should, if you love their music!), go to concerts or buy merchandise off the official websites. If you can afford buying music, but it is not possible to pay a particular artist without a mafia tribute, consider supporting some independent artists instead. You can find many great acts on such websites as magnatune.com, jamendo.com, cdbaby.com, bandcamp.com, megatotal.pl. Supporting independent artists helps fight the recording industry mafia.
Log translation at http://eachelper.uphero.com/
EAC extraction logfile from 16. January 2004, 8:17 for CD
Unknown Artist / Unknown Album
Used drive : TEAC CD-W524E Adapter: 0 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure with NO C2, accurate stream, NO disable cache
Combined read/write offset correction : 0
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Used output format : Internal WAV Routines
44.100 Hz; 16 Bit; Stereo
Other options :
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
External ASPA drivers installed
Track 1
Filename D:\Track01.wav
Peak level 98.8 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC 10331797
Copy OK
Track 2
Filename D:\Track02.wav
Peak level 98.8 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC 428A152B
Copy OK
Track 3
Filename D:\Track03.wav
Peak level 98.8 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC 86843217
Copy OK
Track 4
Filename D:\Track04.wav
Peak level 98.8 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC 68C0ED12
Copy OK
Track 5
Filename D:\Track05.wav
Peak level 69.9 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC 885A0836
Copy OK
Track 6
Filename D:\Track06.wav
Peak level 69.9 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC 712FCEA6
Copy OK
Track 7
Filename D:\Track07.wav
Peak level 84.2 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC 7685152A
Copy OK
Track 8
Filename D:\Track08.wav
Peak level 98.8 %
Track quality 99.9 %
Copy CRC 8BF6F7AA
Copy OK
Track 9
Filename D:\Track09.wav
Peak level 98.8 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC 1126E199
Copy OK
Track 10
Filename D:\Track10.wav
Peak level 68.6 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC 3BFA1331
Copy OK
Track 11
Filename D:\Track11.wav
Peak level 98.8 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC 3BEBCCA5
Copy OK
Track 12
Filename D:\Track12.wav
Peak level 57.6 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC A371DF12
Copy OK
Track 13
Filename D:\Track13.wav
Peak level 98.8 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC 2BF5905B
Copy OK
No errors occured
End of status report
[CUETools log; Date: 2013-02-17 03:35:10; Version: 2.1.4] [CTDB TOCID: rEfT3DdSkNX.fCUkHt7wTZe5t68-] disk not present in database. [AccurateRip ID: 001425c0-00c803a9-9709ba0d] disk not present in database. ----------------------- DON'T MODIFY THIS FILE ----------------------- PERFORMER: auCDtect Task Manager, ver. 1.5.1RC4 build 1.5.1.5 Copyright (c) 2008-2010 y-soft. All rights reserved http://y-soft.org ANALYZER: auCDtect: CD records authenticity detector, version 0.8.2 Copyright (c) 2004 Oleg Berngardt. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2004 Alexander Djourik. All rights reserved. FILE: 13 - Hode Galatan Ares.wav Size: 34783772 Hash: DFDC6447392FA8D6338CCEB3A3AB7AF3 Accuracy: -m0 Conclusion: CDDA 100% Signature: 5C5303371F3C477810BA2791173047AE9E71115D FILE: 12 - En kymasin.wav Size: 42568892 Hash: 54C8A3B652ABBF6A33D20E7D0C30F245 Accuracy: -m0 Conclusion: CDDA 100% Signature: 4437AA67B490C6E136343B999AD2B3179282B062 FILE: 11 - Chelidon.wav Size: 29437676 Hash: 1A704EF74157270221BC1CA43B21727F Accuracy: -m0 Conclusion: CDDA 100% Signature: 4B95F76F76E76961C5F01180B60BC458CCFA02BD FILE: 10 - Melipnoon.wav Size: 31149932 Hash: 6B679538C25085A6E0B0E306FD4245F5 Accuracy: -m0 Conclusion: CDDA 100% Signature: 052F1E357222E01FCBA604D543CFC4C9C0879280 FILE: 09 - Kronos archon.wav Size: 34950764 Hash: 7457A8D8FB349367F4C0345B826F3E47 Accuracy: -m0 Conclusion: CDDA 100% Signature: 40D2727B9309779B215DADC23321731E1F1B3981 FILE: 08 - Paian, o Paian.wav Size: 29933948 Hash: 0BF400E0F95FE33C27E682CE54DD9D63 Accuracy: -m0 Conclusion: CDDA 100% Signature: AAE1CFFD22BFCB7260957AC54498F21C7CC9D449 FILE: 07 - Alla Latous.wav Size: 19427564 Hash: 3D55B4B1BAE79D84B23C161885830873 Accuracy: -m0 Conclusion: CDDA 100% Signature: 9AF4072F6A29B518072EFB18D778D0FF8DE5F994 FILE: 06 - Ganytai.wav Size: 30853580 Hash: FE692BAD6DD09C3FC217360C150BE798 Accuracy: -m0 Conclusion: CDDA 100% Signature: DD26E6EB5B3B6A017E2629FF98E2E1574EFFB86C FILE: 05 - En, klyta megalopolis Atthis.wav Size: 25095884 Hash: E0E1FA076C8B4437499811DEF286A1D2 Accuracy: -m0 Conclusion: CDDA 100% Signature: D95016E28321CB7472AC52DE05835D6343B63B3B FILE: 04 - All' o Phoibe.wav Size: 55105052 Hash: B6B9345C13E74A91743C8BE45F309C40 Accuracy: -m0 Conclusion: CDDA 100% Signature: 18127B806FAD19A75568D47AFBC5192CE8083516 FILE: 03 - Tripoda manteion.wav Size: 42691196 Hash: A6D99541FC9E772E02F2D5AAB3D34304 Accuracy: -m0 Conclusion: CDDA 100% Signature: C4B6C128D704E0E29B00C7CD74C6B9D694C124FC FILE: 02 - All' o chryseokitharin.wav Size: 34365116 Hash: DC3BBC44BC88D5F285736D49B4D8ECA5 Accuracy: -m0 Conclusion: CDDA 100% Signature: 7DADF892E94ABDC64950E628433F42EAD19D510D FILE: 01 - Promoleth' Helikona.wav Size: 28971980 Hash: 454CE927365ADEDE9CED8A862BAC9E7F Accuracy: -m0 Conclusion: CDDA 100% Signature: 8375ADCC2D28357F86A718C7388407C8BF0FC196 As you can see in the EAC log, the person that ripped this CD used a wrong offset setting: "Combined read/write offset correction" is set to "0", what probably means there are some missing samples (but note that it does not mean these differences are audible - it just means the copy is not formally "exact"). I carefully listened to this rip and I heard no audible ripping errors. Further, bear in mind that this CD is no longer available. The read mode line should usually say "disable cache", but it may say "NO disable cache" for drives that do not cache data. Interested? Ask Uncle Google the magic question: rEfT3DdSkNX.fCUkHt7wTZe5t68- avax |
