Michael Levy: My Albums...

"An Ancient Lyre" - CD Album

AN ANCIENT LYRE

MY NEW MP3 ALBUM!_resized

INTRODUCTION

THE CD OF THIS ALBUM IS OUT NOW! The limited batch of just 100 CDs which I have just had manufactured for this album, also features an incredibly detailed 8-page CD insert booklet, with full details of all the fascinating ancient historical background...

"An Ancient Lyre" is also available from iTunes & Amazon MP3 Store. The concept of this unique album, is a meditative "Musical Adventure in Time Travel"....

On this Voyage, I will take you back to the entrancing sounds of ancient Egypt, examples of some of the the actual surviving musical fragments of ancient Greece, and indeed, to the oldest fragment of written melody so far ever discovered, in my arrangement for solo lyre, of the 3400 year old "Hurrian Hymn " from Mesopotamia!

The lyre I play is a replica of the 10- string Lyre of the Ancient Hebrews known in Hebrew as the "Kinnor" כנור

This incredible lyre also features in my earlier albums available from cdbaby, "King David's Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel" and "Lyre of the Levites".

My replica 3000 year old Kinnor Lyre of the Ancient Hebrews, is almost tonally identical to the wooden lyres played throughout the Ancient World - for example, the type of lyre played 3000 years ago in the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt ( as seen on the see album cover) and the ancient Greek Kithara Lyre.

Therefore, I came up with the inspiration of this concept heard here, of creating an album featuring music from all of these amazing Ancient Civilizations...

THE MUSIC

1) "An Ancient Lyre" - my meditative prelude to the album, consisting of a spontaneous improvisation on a mesmerizing, hypnotic, dreamy scale...

2) "Hurrian Hymn no.6(c.1400BCE)" - the 3400 year old "Hurrian Hymn", which was discovered in Ugarit in Syria in the early 1950s, and was preserved for 3400 years on a clay tablet, written in the Cuneiform text of the ancient Hurrian language - it is THE oldest written song yet known! Respect, to the amazing ancient culture of Syria.. .السلام عليكم

Below is a live perfomance of this incredible melody...

The replica of the ancient Kinnor Lyre from neighbouring Israel, on which I am performing the piece, is almost tonally identical to the wooden asymmetric-shaped lyres played throughout the Middle East at this amazingly distant time...when the Pharaoh's still ruled ancient Egypt.

A photograph of the actual clay tablet on which the Hurrian Hymn was inscribed, can be seen here:

http://www.phoenicia.org/music.html

The melody is an interpretation by Richard Dumbrill, from the ambiguous Cuneiform text of the Hurrian language in which it was written. Although many of the meanings of the Hurrian language are now lost in the mists of time, it can be established that the fragmentary Hurrian Hymn which has been found on these precious clay tablets are dedicated to Nikkal; the wife of the moon god.

There are several such interpretations of this melody, but to me, the fabulous interpretation by Richard Dumbrill just somehow sounds the most "authentic". Below is a link to the sheet music, as interpreted by Richard Dumbrill and
arranged by Clint Goss, and also to Richard Dumbrill's own website:

http://www.flutekey.com/pdf/HurrianTabLtd.pdf

http://hometown.aol.com/ricdum/mane.htm#Music

In my arrangement of the Hurrian Hymn, I have attempted to illustrate an interesting diversity of ancient lyre playing techniques, ranging from the use of "block and strum" improvisation at the end, glissando's, trills & tremolos, and alternating between harp-like tones in the left hand produced by finger-plucked strings, and guitar-like tones in the right hand, produced by use of the plectrum.

I have arranged the melody in the style of a "Theme and Variations" - I first quote the unadorned melody in the first section, followed by the different lyre techniques described above in the repeat, & also featuring improvisatory passages at the end of the performance.

My arrangement of the melody is much slower than the actual arrangement by Richard Dumbrill - I wanted the improvisations in the variations on the theme to stand out, and to better illustrate the use of lyre techniques by a more rubato approach to the melody...

3) "Echoes of Ancient Egypt" - This improvisation on the lyre, uses a genuine pentatonic ancient Egyptian scale...last heard, some 3000 years ago! Although tragically no actual written music from ancient Egypt has survived, we do know from many ancient illustrations, that the ancient Egyptians did use a form of musical notation, whereby specific gestures of the hand represented specific changes in pitch in a given musical scale - this is ancient form of musical notation is known as "Chironomy". We also know some of the specific scales once used in ancient Egypt, thanks to the discovery of several ancient Egyptian flutes, still in playable condition! The ancient lost art of Chironomy, and details of this haunting, ancient Egyptian scale are discussed at length in this fascinating article:

http://www.rakkav.com/biblemusic/pages/chironomy.htm

The minor pentatonic scale I am using in this improvisation, was deciphered from ancient chironomy gestures by the late Professor Hans Hickmann, of the Museum in Cairo.

This improvisation is therefore my attmept to evoke the sounds of the Lyres heard in the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, over 3000 years ago...

Tracks 4 - 8 of the album continue my attempt to evoke the sounds of ancient Egypt, in my arrangements for solo lyre, of a selection of my favourite tradtional Egyptian folk songs from Port Said, where the Simsimyya Lyre is still played toady by the local musicians - a lyre which has its origins stretching back almost 4000 years ago, to the Middle kingdom of Ancient Egypt...

4)"My Heart Was Burnt by Love" - a traditional Egyptian folk song:

5) "Salah" - a traditional Egyptian folk song:

6) "I Sing"- a wonderful traditional Egyptian folk song from Port Said.

7) "Sar A Lay" - a traditional Egyptian folk song from Port Said:

8) "I Saw The Moon" - a wonderful traditional Egyptian folk song from Port Said.

9) "The First Delphic Hymn to Apollo (c.138BCE)" - This is my arrangement for solo lyre, of the famous "First Delphic Hymn to Apollo" - a precious surviving fragment of music, which is an amazing legacy from the mostly lost musical culture of ancient Greece! My replica "Kinnor" lyre of the Ancient hebrews (based on illustrations found on ancient Jewish coins), is virtually identical to the ancient Greek "Kithara" - the large wooden lyre favoured by the professional musicians of ancient Greece (with the small exception, that Kithara had 7 strings, whereas the Kinnor had 10 - no doubt to represent the Ten Commandments?)

There are two Delphic Hymns that have been discovered, and they were dedicated to the god Apollo. The two Delphic Hymns have sadly not survived in their complete form. However, they do survive in substantial fragments...giving just a tantalizing taste of the glory of the tragically lost, magnificent musical culture of ancient Greece!

The two Delphic Hymns are dated c.138 BC and 128 BC. My rendition here, is of the earlier of them; the First Delphic Hymn. Although it has unfortunately not survived in its complete form, the First Delphic Hymn to Apollo is THE earliest unambiguous surviving fragment of notated music from anywhere in the Western World! It is written in the unambiguous alphabetical musical notation system used in ancient Greece, whereby alphabetical notation describing the pitch of the melody, is written above the text of the song, as can be clearly seen in this image of the actual Delphic Hymn, as it was found, inscribed in marble:

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Delphic_Hymns

The rhythm can easily be inferred from the syllables of the text.

The First Delphic Hymn to Apollo was discovered in 1893 by a French archaeologist. It was inscribed in marble, carved on an outside wall of the Treasury of the Athenians at Delphi.

All that is known about its composer is that it was written by an Athenian, around 138 BC, since the part of the inscription giving the name of the composer is too difficult to read. The Second Delphic Hymn is slightly more recent, and has been dated to precisely 128 BC; evidently it was first performed in the same year. The name of the composer of the Second Delphic Hymn has also survived, in a separate inscription: he is called "Limenius". The occasion of the later hymn was the Pythian Festival, and this one, the earlier hymn, was probably written for the boys choir at the Pythian Games in 138 BC.

The translation of the fragment of text which has survived of the this, the First Delphic Hymn to Apollo, is as follows:

"Hear me, you who posses deep-wooded Helicon,
fair-armed daughters of Zeus the magnificent!
Fly to beguile with your accents your brother,
golden-tressed Phoebus who, on the twin peak of this rock of Parnassus,
escorted by illustrious maidens of Delphi,
sets out for the limpid streams of Castalia, traversing,
on the Delphic promontory, the prophetic pinnacle.
Behold glorious Attica, nation of the great city which,
thanks to the prayers of the Tritonid warrior,
occupies a hillside sheltered from all harm.
On the holy alters Hephaestos consumes the thighs of young bullocks,
mingled with the flames, the Arabian vapor rises towards Olympos.
The shrill rustling lotus murmurs its swelling song, and the golden kithara,
the sweet-sounding kithara, answers the voice of men.
And all the host of poets, dwellers in Attica, sing your glory, God,
famed for playing the kithara, son of great Zeus,
beside this snow-crowned peak, oh you who reveal to all mortals
the eternal and infallible oracles.
They sing how you conquered the prophetic tripod
guarded by a fierce dragon when, with your darts
you pierced the gaudy, tortuously coiling monster,
so that, uttering many fearful hisses, the beast expired.
They sing too, . . . ."

10) "Hymn to the Muse (2nd Century CE)" - a hauntingly beautiful surviving fragment of the mostly lost music of ancient Greece. This piece was written almost 2000 years ago, by Mesomedes of Crete...

Mesomedes of Crete was a Greek lyric poet and composer of the early 2nd century AD. More information can be found at:

http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Bios/Mesomedes.html

It is written in the ancient Greek "Dorian" mode; E-E on the white note of the piano - not to be confused with the MEDIEVAL "Dorian" mode, which was D-D! Due to a misinterpretation of the Latin texts of Boethius, medieval modes were given the wrong Greek names! For the CORRECT names of the ORIGINAL ancient Greek modes, see:

http://www.harmonics.com/lucy/lsd/corrections.html

http://www.midicode.com/tunings/greek.shtml

For what Plato & Aristotle themselves had this to say about these ancient musical modes, please see this fascinating link:

http://www.pathguy.com/modes.htm

Below is a video featuring a clip of this track from my album:

The most challenging aspect of playing this piece, is attempting to play the many accidentals required by the melody - on a DIATONICALLY tuned lyre...WITHOUT the aid of any fancy sharpening pedals, which are to be found on almost all modern harps!

According to the musicologist Curt Sachs, the ancient Greeks managed to get around this by a technique I have been working on, called "finger-stopping" - an accidental can be played, by increasing the pitch of a lyre string by a semitone; this is achieved by pressing the string (about a centimeter in from the tuning peg), with a finger of the left hand which shortens its vibrating length, and therefore increases the pitch of the note the string produces.

The translation of the words to this ancient Greek song are as follows:

'Sing for me, dear Muse, begin my tuneful strain; a breeze blow from your groves to stir my listless brain...Skillful Calliope, leader of the delightful Muses, and you, skillful priest of our rites, son of Leto, Paean of Delos, be at my side'. (translation by J. G. Landels).

11) Ancient Greek Fragment - This simply mesmerizing fragment of ancient Greek music, is catalogued simply as "ANONYMI BELLERMANN 97" . It was preserved in an ancient Byzantine manuscript:

Conspectus codicum:
V. Venetus Marcianus appl. cl. VI, saec. XIII-XIV
N. Neapolitanus graecus III. C4, saec. XV
F. Florentius Ricc. 41, saec. XVI

I first heard this amazing piece performed on the album "Musique de la Grece Antique" (Atrium Musicae de Madrid, 1979).

12) "Song of Seikilos (c.200BCE - 100CE)" - This final track on my album, is unique in musical history, as it is the only piece of music from antiquity in the entire Western world, that has SO far been found, which has survived in its COMPLETE form, and unlike much earlier surviving fragments of melodies that have been found, this song is written in a totally unambiguous ALPHABETICAL musical notation, which can be played, note for note, as it was written...about 2000 years ago:

http://www.amaranthpublishing.com/SongOfSeikilos.htm

This melody is an amazing musical legacy from ancient Greece; a precious remnant of a long-forgotten musical culture now forever lost in the mists of time. It is written in the ancient Greek "Hypophrygian" mode; the equivelant intervals as heard in a scale of G-G played on the white notes of the piano. (This mode confusingly has exactly the same intervals as heard in the MEDIEVAL "Mixolydian" mode -the ORIGINAL ancient GREEK "Mixolydian" mode, was, in fact, B-B!).

In this version, I have tried to utilize EVERY conceivable lyre-playing technique I could think of, which may have also been used in Antiquity! This includes experimenting with "string blocking" at the beginning (blocking certain notes to form chords with the left hand to enable rhythm to be strummed on the lyre; just as on a guitar!), alternating between finger-plucked and plectrum plucked tones, the use of basic harmony below the melodic line, a touch of improvisation between phrases and plenty of tremolos & glissando's...in order to inject some new life into this beautiful ancient melody...

This is a more lively rendition than some of the "dire dirge-like" renditions of the song I have heard on some older recordings of it - I have recently learnt that "The Song of Sekilos" is, in fact a DRINKING SONG! (What a GREAT idea of the ancient Greeks to put a drinking song on a TOMBSTONE - I want one to be on MINE!!). The ancient Greek term for a drinking song like this was called a "Skolion".

About 2000 years after it was written, this melody was rediscovered in 1883, in its complete & original form. It was found inscribed in marble on an ancient Greek burial stele, bearing the following epitaph: "I am a portrait in stone. I was put here by Seikilos, where I remain forever, the symbol of timeless remembrance".

The timeless words of the song are:

"Hoson zes, phainou
Meden holos su lupou;
Pros oligon esti to zen
To telos ho chronos apaitei"

Translation - "While you live, shine
Don't suffer anything at all;
Life exists only a short while
And time demands its toll"

Here is a live perfomance of this 2000 year old song - the oldest complete piece of written music in History...

PURCHASE LINK

Either the NEWLY RELEASED, LIMITED EDITION CD of the album, or any individual track from my new album "An Ancient Lyre" is available for instant digital download from www.cdbaby.com - simply click on the link below to be re-directed to my cdbaby webpages:

"An Ancient Lyre" is also available for download from Apple iTunes, Amazon MP3 Store or Rhapsody...

Shalom, Salaam...PEACE!

Michael Levy

PEACE_cropped

Buy this CD at CD Baby!
Download This Album From iTunes!
Download This Album From Amazon MP3 Store!

"King David's Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel" - CD Album

KING DAVID'S LYRE; ECHOES OF ANCIENT ISRAEL

King David playing the Lyre..

My DEBUT CD ALBUM! Over six months in the making, the first batch of these painstakingly crafted CDs were finally manufactured in September 2008...

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 Lyre of the Ancient Hebrews can now finally be heard, once again...

For full details all about the ancient Biblical Kinnor, please see the appropriate section in the extensive "Historical Details" tab of this website...

THE CHOICE OF REPERTOIRE FOR THE ALBUM

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...

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 we shall discover later (in the "Historical Details" section of this website), the traditional Jewish scales/modes in which these pieces are actually written, may well have roots which stretch deeply back to these distant, mystically remote Biblical times...

My most adventurous attempt at "Musical Adventures in Time Travel" on this album, is "The Music of Moses"; a spontaneous improvisation on a genuine, 3500 year old ancient Egyptian scale! Below is a video I created to accompany the studio recording of "The Music of Moses", which features not only the awe-inspiring sights of ancient Egypt, but also, in conjuring up this improvisation,the long-lost, mystical sounds...

Here is video from my "Klezfiddle1" Channel on Youtube discussing how I created this epic improvisation:

For this improvisation, I tuned my Kinnor, bottom string to top string:

Bb D E F A Bb D E F A

The late Professor Hans Hickmann of the Museum of Cairo, deciphered this pentatonic scale from ancient Egyptian tomb illustrations, which represented an ancient system of musical notation called "Chironomy"; this is a system of hand gestures which were used, to denote both the pitch and ornamentation of a melody:

Here is the video I created, featuring a clip of track 21 of the album, the timeless melody, in the mystical, ancient Jewish Ahava Raba mode, "Hava Nagila":

Special thanks, to Wolfgang Schweizer, for permission to use his amazing abstract artwork in this video:

http://www.wolfgangschweizer.com

This my video of track 10, the Klezmer classic, "Odessa Bulgar":

THE 22 TRACKS...

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.

HOW TO ORDER

To order one of the limited number of physical CDs of "King David's Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel", please click on the link below to be redirected to my cdbaby webpage:

Prepare to embark with me, on an actual "Musical Adventure in Time Travel"! On this incredible journey, I will take you back over 3500 years ago, to the mystically remote, Biblical times of the Ancient Hebrews, & to hear once more, the Music of Moses, & the Healing Harp of King David...

Shalom!

Michael Levy

PEACE_cropped

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Download This Album From iTunes!
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"Lyre of the Levites" - CD Album

LYRE OF THE LEVITES

INTRODUCTION

This is my second CD album of mystical, ancient lyre music - the sequel album to my debut CD, "King David's Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel".

Both of these albums are dedicated to restoring again, for the first time in almost 2000 years, the mystical, ancient sounds of the "Kinnor"; the Hebrew Temple Lyre, once played by my very own, very ancient Levite ancestors in the Courtyard of the Temple of Jerusalem, to accompany the legendary singing of the Levitical Choir (II Chronicles 5:12):

THE CHOICE OF REPERTOIRE FOR THE ALBUM

"Lyre of the Levites" uniquely features arrangements of primarily traditional melodies from the Jewish Klezmer repertoire arranged for solo Levitical Lyre - the concept of the musical performances on this album, again, are meant to be evocations, not reconstructions, of the sounds & playing techniques that were possible on the ten-stringed Kinnor of the Bible - but the scales/modes of the pieces have roots which as we discussed, could well stretch back over 3000 years in time...

There are three traditional Jewish Klezmer Modes used in the album. These are the the "Ahava Raba" Mode: EFG#ABCDE (tracks 1,2,4,5,7,8,10 & 11), the "Misheberakh" Mode: EF#GA#BC#DE (track 3), & the "Natural Minor" Mode: EF#GABCDE (tracks 6,9 & 12).

THE 12 TRACKS

There are 12 tracks to the album - corresponding to the 12 Gems which once adorned the Breastplate of the Levitical Priests of the Temple of Jerusalem. These 12 Gems represented the 12 Tribes of Israel...

These 12 tracks consist of my arrangements for solo Levitical Lyre, of many "Musical Gems" from the traditional Klezmer repertoire, the famous traditional Jewish Wedding song "Chusen Kalah Mazeltov" ("Congratulations, Bride & Groom", track 3) & which also includes several beautiful Jewish folk songs, such as "Artza Alinu" ("We Ascended to the Land", track 6).

Track 12 features my arrangment for solo Levitical Lyre, of Naomi Shemer's "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav" ("Jerusalem of Gold", track 12), made forever immortal, by the legendary singing of it by the late great Ofra Haza. This song has since become known as Israel's "Second National Anthem":

In this album, I experiment more with the tremolo style of lyre playing - an ancient lyre playing technique still heard today, by the Egyptian Simsimyya lyre players of Port Said.

In my opinion, the overall final digital mix of this album is slightly superior to "King David's Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel" - it took me over six months of digital re-mixing for this album, to find just the right EQ & "etherial, ancient sound" I was striving for....having finally arrived at the right sound, I was able to apply this very specific digital mix instantly to my recording of "Lyre of the Levites". The result was a much more "unified" master disc...buy both albums, and see if you can detect these subtle differences!

HOW TO ORDER

To order the physical CD of the album, simply click on the link to my cdbaby webpage below:

Shalom, Salaam...PEACE!

Michael Levy

PEACE_cropped

Buy this CD at CD Baby!
Download This Album From iTunes!
Download This Album From Amazon MP3 Store!

"The Ancient Biblical Lyre" - MP3 Album

THE_BIBLICAL_LYRE_ALBUM_COVER0001_resized_cropped

This album is dedicated to restoring once more, the mystical sound of one of the ancient Biblical Lyres, the "Nevel"(in ancient Hebrew: נבל), once played over 2000 years ago by my very own, very ancient Levite ancestors, to accompany the singing of the Levitical Choir. To download the album from cdbaby.com, simply click on the "Purchase Button" below, to be redirected to my cdbaby webpage:

Below is a clip of 11, "King David Danced" - a spontaneous improvisation in the ancient Jewish "Ahava Raba" mode (EBG#ABCDE), performed on replica 3000 year old Biblical "Nevel" (נבל). In this piece, I wanted to evoke the description in the Biblical narrative, where King David danced with rapture during the Tranport of the Ark of the Covenant (I Chronicles 15.1 - 16.6):

Also, below is one of my "Online Lyre Lessons" featured on my "Klezfiddle1" Youtube Channel, describing how to play track 2 of the album - the ancient melody traditionally sang to Psalm 114, "When Israel Went Forth From Egypt":

This particular Biblical Lyre referred to throughout the Biblical Text is the “Nevel” (in ancient Hebrew: נבל). Full details can be found in the "Historical Details" section of this website.

Here is a little of the historical details mentioned in this section in brief. The Nevel is mistranslated in the Old Testament as “harp” – however, there is absoutely no archeaological evidence that harp was used in ancient Israel after the end of the Copper Age, around 3200BCE. The harp as totally replaced by the more portable lyre during the Biblical Era (from about 1900BCE). This transition from the bulky harp to the portable lyre was no doubt brought about by the fact that the anciestors of the ancient Hebrews were nomadic...

BIBLICAL REFERENCES TO THE ANCIENT "NEVEL" LYRE

The Biblical "Nevel" is mentioned in 1 Samual 10:5, 2 Samual 6:5, Kings 10:12, Isiah 5:12, 14:11, Amos 5:23, 6:5, Psalm 33:2, 57:9, 71:22, 81:3, 92:4, 108:3, 144:9, Chronicles 13:8, 15:16, 20, 28; 16:5, 25:1, 6; 2 Chronicles 5:12; 9:11; 20:28; 29:25, Neh. 12:27.

THE AMBIGUITY OF THE ACTUAL HEBREW MEANING OF "NEVEL"

Unlike the Biblical Kinnor, the exact meaning of the word “Nevel” is ambiguous, as the Hebrew root “nvl” (נבל ) can be pronounced in two different ways – either “naval” or “nevel”.

In the Hebrew language, only the consonants are written down - the vowels are added by the speaker...whih causes no end of problems once the original pronunciation of an ancient Hebrew word is lost in the mists of time! John Wheeler explains:

"Nevel is such a difficult instrument to understand precisely because

1) leather was used for soundboards both for some harps and for some lyres;

2) the root word itself has several different meanings. The name could just as well refer to a wineskin used for a soundbox, and while we don't have anything that I know of earlier than bar Kokhba illustrating that for the Hebrews, it's certainly possible given how animals' stomachs were used for other instruments"

THE TWO INTERPRETATIONS OF THE ORIGINAL MEANING OF THE HEBREW WORD "NVL" (נבל )

1) If "NVL" is pronounced “Naval”, in Hebrew this can mean “carcass”, implying that the Biblical Nevel was a lyre with a skin membrane as a soundboard (similar to the ancient Greek “Lyra” – the lyre with a tortoise shell resonator, over which was stretched a soundboard of taut animal skin).

2) The alternative interpretation, if the word is pronounced “Nevel”, means “Skin bottle”. This could mean a lyre with a regular wooden soundboard, but shaped like a skin bottle.

I believe that it is more likely that meaning (1) seems more likely from the available evidence, as discussed below - that the elusive Biblical Nevel may have been a skin-membrane lyre. The replica lyre upon which I am playing, as made by Mid East Ethnic Instruments is based on this interpretation:

HNVL.jpg_resized

HOW WAS THE NEVEL CONSTRUCTED?

The Nevel was made of the same materials as the Kinnor (the other Biblical Lyre played in the Temple of Jerusalem), namely Almug wood, (Kings 10:5), and was plucked by hand, as opposed to being plucked with a plectrum, as in the case of the Kinnor – we know this from the writings of Josephus Flavius (Antiquities vii 12.3) and the Biblical text (Amos 6:5). Josephus also describes the Nevel as having 12 strings, whereas the Kinnor had 10 strings.

THE TRACKS ON THIS ALBUM

1) Kol Nidre (Aramaic: כָּל נִדְרֵי) - The haunting ancient melody of the Kol Nidre (All Vows) prayer, traditionally sang at Yom Kippur. This haunting song is in the ancient Jewish "Ahava Raba" Mode: EFG#ABCDE. This uniquely Jewish scale may even have its origins in the music of the Levitical Ensemble in the Temple of Jerusalem, as can be heard in Suzanne Haik-Vantoura's alleged reconstruction of the original melody of the Priestly Blessing.

2) Psalm 114 (Ancient Traditional Melody, c. 2nd century CE) - this traditional melody sang to Psalm 114, "When Israel Went Forth From Egypt" is of great antiquity., and was preserved by both Jews and Christians in the Middle Ages, as a Sephardic cantillation (B'tseth Isra'el) & in the Roman Catholic tradition, as a Latin plainchant (In Exitu Israel).

The two chants are indentical, both musically and texturally - which could even suggest that there was an ancient common origin, before the Jewsh and Christian faiths split into separate entities..maybe even an aural memory of the orginal melody once sang by the L evitical Choir in the Temple of Jerusalem? A fascinating possibility...

3) Ma'oz Tzur (Hebrew: מעוז צור‎ )- the traditional melody to the Hanukkah song, "Rock of Ages" - The melody for this Hanukkah hymn has been identified by Birnbaum as an adaptation from the old German folk-song "So weiss ich eins, dass mich erfreut, das pluemlein auff preiter heyde," given in Böhme's "Altdeutsches Liederbuch" (No. 635). This rousing melody was widely spread among German Jews as early as 1450.

The traditional English translation is as follows:

"Rock of Ages let our song
Praise thy saving power;
Thou amidst the raging foes;
Wast our sheltering tower

Furious they assailed us,
But Thine arm availed us,
And Thy word broke their sword,
When our own strength failed us.

Children of the martyr race
Whether free or fettered
Wake the echoes of the songs
Where ye may be scattered

Yours the message cheering
That the time is nearing
Which will see all men free
And tyrants disappearing

Kindling new the holy lamps,
Priests approved in suffering.
Purified the nation's shrine,
Brought to God their offering.

And His courts surrounding,
Hear in joy abounding,
Happy throngs, singing songs,
With a mighty sounding"

4) Avinu Malkeinu (Hebrew: אָבִינוּ מַלְכֵּנוּ‎) - This timeless Jewish hymn in the ancient "Ahava Raba" mode, is tradionally sang at between Rosh Hashanah & Yom Yippur. This beautiful melody is in the ancient Ahava Raba Mode.

5) Ma Tovu ( Hebrew: מה טבו )- "Oh How Good"...

The translation of this beautiful Shabbat hyms is as follows:

"How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel!
And I, with Your great loving-kindness, shall enter Your House; I shall prostrate myself toward Your Holy Temple in the fear of You.

O Lord, I love the dwelling of Your house and the place of the residence of Your glory.
Come, let us prostrate ourselves and bow; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker.
But, as for me, may my prayer to You, O Lord, be in an acceptable time. O God, with Your abundant kindness, answer me with the truth of Your salvation"

6) V'Shamru ("And They Shall Keep the Sabbath.") - This beautiful Sabbath hymn is taken directly from Exodus 31:16. Here is the translation of this traditional Shabbat Hymn:

"The children of Israel should keep the Sabbath
Observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as an everlasting covenant
It is a sign between G-d and the children of Israel for all time
That in six days G-d made the heavens and the earth
And that on the sventh day He was finished and He rested"

7) Lecha Dodi (Hebrew: לכה דודי‎ ) - This Shabbat Hymn means "come my beloved," and is a request of a mysterious "beloved" that could mean either God or one's friend(s) to join together in welcoming Shabbat that is referred to as the "bride". During the singing of the last verse, the entire congregation rises and turns to the open door, to greet "Queen Shabbat" as she arrives.

8) Adon Olam (Hebrew: אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם‎; )- "Master of the Universe". This ancient Shabbat Hymn iwas alleged to be composed in the 11th century by Solomon ibn Gabirol. The word “Adon,” meaning master, was first spoken by Abraham in the Bible, referring to God. The timless text affirms God’s greatness, ominpotence and all-empowering existence:

"The Lord of the Universe who reigned
before anything was created.
When all was made by his will
He was acknowledged as King.

And when all shall end
He still all alone shall reign.
He was, He is,
and He shall be in glory.

And He is one, and there's no other,
to compare or join Him.
Without beginning, without end
and to Him belongs diminion and power.

And He is my G-d, my living G-d.
to Him I flee in time of grief,
and He is my miracle and my refuge,
who answers the day I shall call.

To Him I commit my spirit,
in the time of sleep and awakening,
even if my spirit leaves,
G-d is with me, I shall not fear"

9) Hava Nagila (Hebrew: הבה נגילה )- "Let Us Rejoice".

10) Ashir Shirim - This ancient Babylonian Jewish wedding song, "I Will Sing Songs To God," was preserved almost a century ago by the musicologist A.Z. Idelsohn:

"Ashir shirim laél beviath hag-goél. Ayuma temima bathe ne‘ima — Hish geal na geal. Eliyahu yavo yighal, yighal."

The translation of the song is:

"I will sing songs to God at the coming of the redeemer.This terrified,innocent,& fair daughter - hurry to redeem her now. Elijah will come & she will be redeemed"

The song is in the timeless "Ahava Raba" Mode. The traditional music of the Babylonian Jews is unique, as it may well be the "Invisible Baggage" of the Jews who were sent into exile there, after the destruction of the First Temple of Jerusalem by King Nebuchadrezzar II, in 586BC! These melodies therefore, may be representative of the very earliest aural memory of Jewish music...from the almost Legendary Era of the Ark of the Covenant, & King Solomon's Temple!

In this song, the bride is depicted as a metaphor for Israel - just as the bridegroom "redeems" the bride by fulfilling his promise to her, so will God redeem Israel when the prophet Elijah returns to annonce the comig of the Messiah.

11) King David Danced - an exhilarating improvisation on the ancient "Ahava Raba" scale, in my attempt to evoke the Biblical account of how King David danced before the Ark of the Covenant..

May the reconstructed sounds of this ancient Biblical Lyre bring you everlasting peace...Shalom!

Michael Levy

PEACE

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"Apollo's Lyre" - MP3 Album

APOLLO’S LYRE

APPOLO_S_LYRE_ALBUM_COVER_resized_cropped

This NEW ALBUM album is available to download now, from iTunes, Amazon MP3 Store & cdbaby.com - simply click on the "Buy It Now" button below to be redirected to my cdbaby webpage:

This album is my first to feature entirely original compositions, arranged for replica Lyres of Antiquity, using actual musical scales/modes once heard throughout the Ancient World, thousands of years ago...

The concept of this album is to restore the sound once more, the Lyres of Apollo – both the large wooden lyre, known in ancient Greece as the Kithara, once favoured by the professional musicians of ancient Greece, and the skin-membrane lyre, known in ancient Greece as the Lyra – the lyre made from a tortoise shell resonator, over which was stretched a soundboard of taut leather.

These two basic types of lyre were also played throughout the ancient world, including the Kithara-like wooden lyres once played over 3000 years ago in the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, and the Nevel & Kinnor Lyres played 3000 years ago during Biblical Times, in Ancient Israel.

According to ancient Greek tradition, Apollo was the god of music, and above all, a master of the lyre...

Here is the fascinating background to this ancient Greek mythology...

“Hermes was born on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia. The story is told in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes. His mother, Maia, had been secretly impregnated by Zeus. Maia wrapped the infant in blankets but Hermes escaped while she was asleep. Hermes ran to Thessaly, where Apollo was grazing his cattle. The infant Hermes stole a number of his cows and took them to a cave in the woods near Pylos, covering their tracks. In the cave, he found a tortoise and killed it, then removed the insides. He used one of the cow's intestines and the tortoise shell and made the first lyre. Apollo complained to Maia that her son had stolen his cattle, but Hermes had already replaced himself in the blankets she had wrapped him in, so Maia refused to believe Apollo's claim. Zeus intervened and, claiming to have seen the events, sided with Apollo. Hermes then began to play music on the lyre he had invented. Apollo, a god of music, fell in love with the instrument and offered to allow exchange of the cattle for the lyre. Hence, Apollo became a master of the lyre” (quoted from Wikipedia).

THE ANCIENT GREEK MODES

The names of musical modes in use today, (e.g. Dorian, Mixolydian etc) although having the same names as the original Greek musical modes, were actually misnamed during the Middle Ages! Apparently, the Greeks counted intervals from top to bottom. When medieval ecclesiastical scholars tried to interpret the ancient texts, they counted from bottom to top, jumbling the information. The misnamed medieval modes are only distinguished by the ancient Greek modes of the same name, by being labelled “Church Modes”. It was due to a misinterpretation of the Latin texts of Boethius, that medieval modes were given the wrong Greek names!

According to an article on Greece in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians, the original ancient Greek names for species of the octave included the following (on white keys):

B-B: Mixolydian
E-E: Dorian
A-A: Hypodorian
D-D: Phrygian
G-G: Hypophrygian
C-C: Lydian
F-F: Hypolydian

For what Plato & Aristotle themselves had this to say about these ancient musical modes, please see this fascinating link:

http://www.pathguy.com/modes.htm

THE REPERTOIRE FOR THIS ALBUM

The repertoire in this unique album consists of a selection of original compositions based on actual scales heard thoughout the ancient world. The album features some of the Ancient Greek modes mentioned by Plato & Aristotle, improvisations on an mystical Middle Eastern scale, Ancient Hebrew scales and an Ancient Egyptian scale...

1) “Apollo’s Lyre” – an original composition for replica Kithara-style lyre, in the Ancient Greek Hypolydian Mode.

2) ”Ode To Orpheus” – an original composition on replica skin-membrane lyre, in the Ancient Greek Hypodorian Mode.

3) “Hymn To Zeus” – an original composition on replica Kithara-style lyre, in the Ancient Greek Dorian Mode:

4) “Magic of the Ancients” – an improvisation on a mystical Middle Eastern scale:

EFG#ABCD#E

This scale and its variants are known as “Hijaz” modes...

5) “Ode To Athena” – an original composition for replica skin-membrane lyre in the Ancient Greek in the Hypodorian mode.

6) “The Holy Tabernacle” – an improvisation on the Ancient Hebrew “Ahava Raba” mode:

EFG#ABCDE

The ancient 3000 year old Hebrew “Kinnor” was almost identical to the later Greek Kithara – coincidence or tantilizing evidence of an ancient cross-cultural musical exchange of ideas? A fascinating possibility!
This lyre was the “harp” of King David, and it was later played by the Levitcal Ensemble in the Temple of Jerusalem to accompany the singing of the Levitical Choir...

7) “The Wisdom of Solomon” – an improvisation on the Ancient Hebrew “Misheberakh” scale:

EF#GAA#BC#DE

This same scale can be heard in an example of ancient Greek music, called “Tecmessa’s Lament” – coincidence, or yet more possible evidence of an ancient cross-cultural exchange of musical ideas?
Below is a modern orchestral arrangement of this unique ancient Greek melody:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rw0D-cCXYY

8) “Hymn To Horus” - this piece for solo kithara-style lyre, is based on a traditional Egyptian folk song. It is in the Natural Minor mode – which is very common in the Middle East, both now and in ancient times. During the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, over 3000 years ago, wooden lyres very similar to the later Kithara lyre of Ancient Greece were introduced to Egypt for the first time, most likely from the ancient Canaanites. Below is a video featuring a live performance of this piece:

9) “Hymn To Hathor” – an improvisation on replica Kithara-style lyre, based on an ancient Egyptian minor pentatonic scale.
The late Professor Hans Hickmann of the Museum of Cairo, deciphered this pentatonic scale from ancient Egyptian tomb illustrations, which represented an ancient system of musical notation called "Chironomy"; this is a system of hand gestures which were used, to denote both the pitch and ornamentation of a melody."

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"The Ancient Greek Modes" - MP3 Album

INTRODUCTION

Below is a video featuring a clip of track 1, "Spirit of the Kithara":

The concept of this newly released album, is to recreate the both the sounds of the musical modes once used in Ancient Greece (as described in the writings of Plato & Aristotle) & to restore the lost sounds of the ancient Greek Kithara - the large wooded lyre once favoured by the professional musicians of Ancient Greece...the album is available for download iTunes, Amazon MP3 Store & cdbaby.com:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/MichaelLevy1

THE ANCIENT GREEK MODES

According to an article on Greece in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the original ancient Greek names for species of the octave included the following (on white keys):

B-B: Mixolydian
E-E: Dorian
A-A: Hypodorian
D-D: Phrygian
G-G: Hypophrygian
C-C: Lydian
F-F: Hypolydian

Full details can be found here:

http://www.midicode.com/tunings/greek.shtml

For what Plato & Aristotle themselves had this to say about these ancient musical modes, please see this fascinating link:

http://www.pathguy.com/modes.htm

THE REPERTOIRE

The seven original compositions arranged for replica lyre which form the repertoire of this album, are each written in one of the seven Ancient Greek Modes.

The lyre-playing techniques heard in this album, are authentically based on lyre-playing styles which have remarkably survived from Antiquity & which still can be heard today in the amazing lyres still played throughout the continent of Africa, where unlike the rest of the Western world, a precious remnant of the cross-cultural influences from the around ancient world have miraculously survived.

THE LYRE PLAYING TECHNIQUES USED IN THIS ALBUM

Some of these lyre-playing techniques include the “block & strum” method, still practiced today by the Krar Lyre players of Eritrea in East Africa – this technique allows the player to strum rhythm & basic chords on the lyre, similar to an acoustic guitar. This technique entails blocking strings with the left hand which are not required and leaving open only the strings which form the required intervals, which then can be strummed with a plectrum in the left hand.

Ancient illustrations of Kithara players seem to infer that this technique was also prominent in Ancient Greece – many illustrations clearly depict the left of the lyre player blocking/dampening the strings with the left hand whilst strumming the open strings with a plectrum in their right hand.

I also demonstrate all the possible styles available on the Kithara. These include the use of tremolo (based on the style of Egyptian Simsimiyya Lyre Players still heard today), alternating between harp-like finger plucked tones played with the left hand, and guitar-like plectrum-plucked tones with the right hand, using basic finger-plucked intervals/chords with the left hand to form a basic harmonic background for the melodic line being played with the plectrum in the right hand (the surviving fragments of Ancient Greek music clearly imply a basic harmonic tonality to these ancient melodies (as opposed to simple folk melodies which can simply be accompanied by a drone).

To hear my arrangements for solo lyre, of some of these actual surviving melodies from Ancient Greece, please listen to my other albums, “An Ancient Lyre” & “Ancient Times – Music of the Ancient World” (also available from www.cdbaby.com & iTunes).

THE 7 TRACKS

1) “Spirit of the Kithara” (Composition For Lyre in the Ancient Greek Dorian Mode)

2) “Dance of Dionysus” (Composition For Lyre in the Ancient Greek Hypolydian Mode):

3) “Hymn To Poseidon” (Composition For Lyre in the Ancient Greek Hypodorian Mode)

4) “Procession of the Olympians” (Composition For Lyre in the Ancient Greek Lydian Mode)

5) “The Sanctuary of Apollo” (Composition For Lyre in the Ancient Greek Hypophrygian Mode)

6) “The Oracles of Delphi” (Composition For Lyre in the Ancient Greek Mixolydian Mode)

7) “The Glory of the Parthenon” (Composition For Lyre in the Ancient Greek Phrygian Mode):

"The Ancient Greek Modes" is available to download from CD Baby - simply click on the link below:This album is also available from iTunes & Amazon MP3 Store...

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"The Ancient Greek Lyre" - MP3 Album

INTRODUCTION

My next album - due for release in October 2010! Here is a Hi Def video, featuring some of the tracks...

THE_ANCIENT_GREEK_LYRE_COVER__3.JPG_resized

This unique album will feature 6 examples of some of the actual music of ancient Greece & 6 original compositions for replica ancient Greek Kithara lyre, in some of the original ancient Greek Modes (as described in the writings of Plato & Aristotle, some 2400 years ago) The concept of this album & my previous album, "The Ancient Greek Modes", is to recreate the both the sounds of the musical modes once used in Ancient Greece & to restore the lost sounds of the ancient Greek Kithara - the large wooden lyre once favoured by the professional musicians of Ancient Greece...

THE ANCIENT GREEK MODES

According to an article on Greece in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians, the original ancient Greek names for species of the octave included the following (on white keys):

B-B: Mixolydian
E-E: Dorian
A-A: Hypodorian
D-D: Phrygian
G-G: Hypophrygian
C-C: Lydian
F-F: Hypolydian

For what Plato & Aristotle themselves had this to say about these ancient musical modes, please see this fascinating link:

http://www.pathguy.com/modes.htm

More interesting reading can be found at :

http://www.midicode.com/tunings/greek.shtml

ANCIENT LYRE-PLAYING TECHNIQUES

The lyre-playing techniques heard in this album, are authentically based on lyre-playing styles which have remarkably survived from Antiquity & which still can be heard today in the amazing lyres still played throughout the continent of Africa, where unlike the rest of the Western world, a precious remnant of the cross-cultural influences from the around ancient world have miraculously survived.

THE 12 TRACKS

1) Lament of Simonides (Ancient Greek Musical Fragment - Arranged For Replica Kithara)

This lovely melody, written in the ancient Greek Hypophrygian Mode, can possibly be attributed to the ancient Greek poet & musician, Simonedes of Ceo .Simonides of Ceos (ca. 556 BC-469 BC) was a Greek lyric poet. He was born at Loulis on Kea. During his youth he taught poetry and music, and composed paeans for the festivals of Apollo. He was included, along with Sappho and Pindar, in the canonical list of nine lyric poets by the scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria. Further details can be found at:

http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Bios/SimonidesOfCeos.html

Although initially the piece sounds as if it is in the Ancient Greek Mixolydian Mode (the equivalent B-B on the white notes of the piano - not to be confused with the Medieval "Mixolydian" Mode, which is G-G!), the tonality of the melody actually implies the Ancient Greek Hypophrygian Mode (G-G). Maybe it is this ambiguity of tonality which creates the haunting, mystical feel of this beautiful ancient melody?

2) Ancient Greek Musical Fragment (Anonymi Bellerman 97 - Arranged For Replica Kithara)

This beautiful melody, written in the haunting ancient Greek Hypolydian Mode, was preserved in several Byzantine manuscripts - Conspectus Codicum:
V. Venetus Marcianus appl. cl. VI, saec. XIII-XIV
N. Neapolitanus graecus III. C4, saec. XV
F. Florentius Ricc. 41, saec. XVI

3) Ancient Greek Musical Fragment (POEM, MOR 1, 11f MIGNE 37, 523 - Arranged For Replica Kithara)

This brief fragment of ancient Greek melody, written in the ancient Greek Hypodorian Mode, was preserved in several Byzantine manuscripts - Athanasius Kircher (+1680), Musurgia Universalis 1650. Schema Musicae Antiquae. "Bibl. S.
Salvatore, Messina, Silicia", "Bibliothecam Graecis Manuscriptus", 17th century.

4) Epitaph of Seikilos (Complete Ancient Greek Melody Composed by Seikilos, Son of Euterpe, 1st c. CE - Arranged For Replica Kithara)

Engraved on an ancient Burial Stele at Tralles, Asia Minor, this beautiful melody was discovered and published by Ramsay, 1883. Musical signs deciphered by Wessley, 1891. The stone itself, long preserved in the collection of Young at Doudja, disappeared after the burning of Smyrna (September 1923). It is now in the Copenhagen Museum, Inv. No. 14897.

This song, written in the ancient Greek Hypophrygian Mode, is so far, the oldest complete piece of music ever found - unlike the other precious shards of ancient Greek music which have survived, this piece is unique, as it survived in its entirety. The ancient Greek burial stele on which it was found, , bore the following epitaph: "I am a portrait in stone. I was put here by Seikilos, where I remain forever, the symbol of timeless remembrance".

The timeless words of the song are:

"Hoson zes, phainou
Meden holos su lupou;
Pros oligon esti to zen
To telos ho chronos apaitei"

Translation - "While you live, shine
Don't suffer anything at all;
Life exists only a short while
And time demands its toll"

This piece was masterfully remastered by Dominik Johnson, from my album, "An Ancient Lyre"

5) The First Delphic Hymn To Apollo (Ancient Greek Melody c.138BCE - Arranged For Replica Kithara)

This substantial fragment of ancient Greek music was composed ca. 138 B.C. by an Athenian composer. It was discovered inscribed on a slab of marble in May 1893, in the ruins of the Treasury of the Athenians at Delphi. Now preserved in the Museum of Delphi: Delphi Inv. No. 517, 494, 499.

There are two Delphic Hymns that have been discovered, and they were dedicated to the god Apollo. The two Delphic Hymns have sadly not survived in their complete form. However, they do survive in substantial fragments...giving just a tantalizing taste of the glory of the tragically lost, magnificent musical culture of ancient Greece.

The two Delphic Hymns are dated c.138 BC and 128 BC. Recent musilogical research may indicate that both Hymns were actually written in 128 BCE: " They were long regarded as being dated circa 138 BCE and 128 BCE, respectively, but recent scholarship has shown it likely they were both written for performance at the Athenian Pythaides in 128 BCE (Pöhlmann and West 2001, 71–72). If indeed it dates from ten years before the second, the First Delphic Hymn is the earliest unambiguous surviving example of notated music from anywhere in the western world whose composer is known by name." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphic_Hymns)

My rendition here, is of the First Delphic Hymn. It is written in the unambiguous alphabetical musical notation system used in ancient Greece, whereby alphabetical notation describing the pitch of the melody, is written above the text of the song, as can be clearly seen in this image of the actual Delphic Hymn, as it was found, inscribed in marble:

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Delphic_Hymns

The rhythm can easily be inferred from the syllables of the text.

I have based my arrangement for solo replica Kithara, on the first half of the fragment, which is based around the ancient Greek Hypodorian Mode. The second half of the Hymn is highly chromatic, (the piece was written for vocal perfomance) and not really suitable for performance on solo enharmonically tuned lyre with limited number of strings. In order to play chromatic accidentals on a lyre, it is necessary to stop the string with the left hand to shorten it's length to achieve the required pitch - this technique can be heard towards the end of the melody, where one of the notes of the melody is required to be lowered a semitone.

The translation of the fragment of text which has survived of the this, the First Delphic Hymn to Apollo, is as follows:

"Hear me, you who posses deep-wooded Helicon,
fair-armed daughters of Zeus the magnificent!
Fly to beguile with your accents your brother,
golden-tressed Phoebus who, on the twin peak of this rock of Parnassus,
escorted by illustrious maidens of Delphi,
sets out for the limpid streams of Castalia, traversing,
on the Delphic promontory, the prophetic pinnacle.
Behold glorious Attica, nation of the great city which,
thanks to the prayers of the Tritonid warrior,
occupies a hillside sheltered from all harm.
On the holy alters Hephaestos consumes the thighs of young bullocks,
mingled with the flames, the Arabian vapor rises towards Olympos.
The shrill rustling lotus murmurs its swelling song, and the golden kithara,
the sweet-sounding kithara, answers the voice of men.
And all the host of poets, dwellers in Attica, sing your glory, God,
famed for playing the kithara, son of great Zeus,
beside this snow-crowned peak, oh you who reveal to all mortals
the eternal and infallible oracles.
They sing how you conquered the prophetic tripod
guarded by a fierce dragon when, with your darts
you pierced the gaudy, tortuously coiling monster,
so that, uttering many fearful hisses, the beast expired.
They sing too, . . . ."

This piece was masterfully remastered by Dominik Johnson, from my album, "An Ancient Lyre"

6) Invocation To The Muse ( Mesomedes of Crete, c.130 CE - Arranged For Replica Kithara)

This haunting ancient Greek melody in the ancient Greek Dorian Mode, was preserved in diverse Byzantine Manuscripts: First printed edition by Vincenzo Galilei, 1581.
Mesomedes -- Conspectus Codium:
V. Venetus Marcianus app. cl. VI, 10, saec. XIII-XIV
C. Parisinus Coislinianus graecus 173, saec. XIV
N. Neapolitanus graecus III C4, saec. XV
Ve. Venetus Marcianus graecus 994, saec. XIV
O. Ottobonianus graecus 59, saec. XIII-XIV

This piece was masterfully remastered by Dominik Johnson, from my album, "An Ancient Lyre"

7) Hymn To Hermes (Original Composition For Replica Kithara in the Ancient Greek Lydian Mode)

8) Mount Olympus (Original Composition For Replica Kithara in the Ancient Greek Hypophrygian Mode)

9) Ode To Aion (Original Composition For Replica Kithara in the Ancient Greek Phrygian Mode)

10) Ode To Aphrodite (Original Composition For Replica Kithara in the Ancient Greek Hypodorian Mode)

11) Paean (Original Composition For Replica Kithara in the Ancient Greek Dorian Mode)

12) Song of Syrinx (Original Composition For Replica Kithara in the Ancient Greek Hypolydian Mode)

"Ancient Times - Music of the Ancient World" - MP3 Album

ANCIENT_TIMES_ALBUM_COVER_resized_cropped_cropped

INTRODUCTION

The concept of this complation album, is a meditative "Musical Adventures in Time Travel"! On this Voyage, I will take you back to the entrancing sounds of ancient Egypt, examples of some of the actual surviving musical fragments of ancient Greece, and indeed, to the oldest fragment of written melody so far ever discovered, in my arrangement for solo lyre, of the 3400 year old "Hurrian Hymn” from Mesopotamia!

In this album, I also explore the mystical, meditative sound of ancient Indian modes and I attempt to restore the authentic sound of the Lyre of the Ancient Hebrews, through an exploration of timeless, traditional Jewish musical scales, which may have had their origin in the singing of the Levitical Choir in the Temple of Jerusalem...

This album is collaboration between myself, and the amazing Manchester musician and “Audio-Mixing Magician”, Dominik Johnson. The tracks heard on this album are a compilation of my personal favourite surviving treasures from musical antiquity, as previously heard on three of my earlier albums of Ancient Lyre Music, “King David’s Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel”, “Lyre of the Levites & “An Ancient Lyre”.

All the tracks I selected for this compilation have all been meticulously remastered by Dominik Johnson - with reverb authentically sampled from actual ancient, mystical Middle Eastern caves!

The lyre I play is a replica of the 10- string Lyre of the Ancient Hebrews (known in Hebrew as the "Kinnor" ( כנור ). My replica 3000 year old Kinnor Lyre of the Ancient Hebrews, is almost tonally identical to the wooden lyres played throughout the Ancient World - for example, the type of lyre played 3000 years ago in the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt and the Ancient Greek Kithara – the large wooden lyre favoured by the professional musicians of ancient Greece. Therefore, I came up with the inspiration of this concept heard here, of creating an album featuring music from all these amazing Ancient Civilizations...

THE 16 TRACKS...

1) “Ancient Times” - an epic 10 minute improvisation an Ancient Indian Scale, providing a meditative prelude to the album, featuring a unique hypnotic, entrancing duet of relica 3000 year old Biblical Lyre (Michael Levy) and mystical Sitar (Dominik Johnson):

2) ”Song of Seikilos” - this precious remnant of the music of ancient Greece, is unique in musical history, as it is the only piece of music from antiquity in the entire Western world, that has SO far been found, which has survived in its COMPLETE form, and unlike much earlier surviving fragments of melodies that have been found, this song is written in a totally unambiguous ALPHABETICAL musical notation, which can be played, note for note, as it was written...about 2000 years ago:

http://www.amaranthpublishing.com/SongOfSeikilos.htm

This melody is an amazing musical legacy from ancient Greece; a precious remnant of a long-forgotten musical culture now forever lost in the mists of time. It is written in the ancient Greek "Hypophrygian" mode; the equivalent intervals as heard in a scale of G-G played on the white notes of the piano. (This mode confusingly has exactly the same intervals as heard in the MEDIEVAL "Mixolydian" mode - the ORIGINAL ancient GREEK "Mixolydian" mode, was, in fact, B-B!).

In this version, I have tried to utilize EVERY conceivable lyre-playing technique I could think of, which may have also been used in Antiquity! This includes experimenting with "string blocking" at the beginning (blocking certain notes to form chords with the left hand to enable rhythm to be strummed on the lyre; just as on a guitar!), alternating between finger-plucked and plectrum plucked tones, the use of basic harmony below the melodic line, a touch of improvisation between phrases and plenty of tremolos & glissando's...in order to inject some new life into this beautiful ancient melody...

This is a more lively rendition than some of the "dire dirge-like" renditions of the song I have heard on some older recordings of it - I have recently learnt that "The Song of Sekilos" is, in fact a Drinking Song! (What a great idea of the ancient Greeks to put a drinking song on a Tombstone - I want one to be on mine!). The ancient Greek term for a drinking song like this was called a "Skolion".

About 2000 years after it was written, this melody was rediscovered in 1883, in its complete & original form. It was found inscribed in marble on an ancient Greek burial stele, bearing the following epitaph:

"I am a portrait in stone. I was put here by Seikilos, where I remain forever, the symbol of timeless remembrance".

The timeless words of the song are:

"Hoson zes, phainou
Meden holos su lupou;
Pros oligon esti to zen
To telos ho chronos apaitei"

Translation -

"While you live, shine
Don't suffer anything at all;
Life exists only a short while
And time demands its toll"

This is a masterful remix by Dominik Johnson, of track 12 of my album, “An Ancient Lyre”.

3) “Hymn to the Muse” - a hauntingly beautiful surviving fragment of the mostly lost music of ancient Greece. This piece was written almost 2000 years ago, by Mesomedes of Crete...

Mesomedes of Crete was a Greek lyric poet and composer of the early 2nd century AD. More information can be found at:

http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Bios/Mesomedes.html

http://www.harmonics.com/lucy/lsd/corrections.html

For what Plato & Aristotle themselves had this to say about these ancient musical modes, please see this fascinating link:

http://www.pathguy.com/modes.htm

The most challenging aspect of playing this piece, is attempting to play the many accidentals required by the melody - on a diatonically tuned lyre...without the aid of any fancy sharpening pedals, which are to be found on almost all modern harps!

According to the musicologist Curt Sachs, the ancient Greeks managed to get around this by a technique I have been working on, called "finger-stopping" - an accidental can be played, by increasing the pitch of a lyre string by a semitone; this is achieved by pressing the string (about a centimetre in from the tuning peg), with a finger of the left hand which shortens its vibrating length, and therefore increases the pitch of the note the string produces.

I found this technique of shrotening the length of the sting easier to achieve by gently pressing the nail of the left hand against the string, thus forming a fret by which the string length is shortened, increasing the pitch of the string. Using just a finger pad or knuckle pressed on the string impairs the intonation of the note being played.

I actually adapted this technique from one of the techniques used in oldtime Appalachian fretless banjo playing! Here, the nail of the left hand similarly forms a moveable fret for the strings being played on the fretless banjo neck...

The translation of the words to this ancient Greek song is as follows:

'Sing for me, dear Muse, begin my tuneful strain; a breeze blow from your groves to stir my listless brain...Skilful Calliope, leader of the delightful Muses, and you, skilful priest of our rites, son of Leto, Paean of Delos, be at my side'. (translation by J. G. Landels).

This is the remix of track 10 from my album, “An Ancient Lyre”

4) “The First Delphic Hymn To Apollo” - - This is my arrangement for solo lyre, of the famous "First Delphic Hymn to Apollo" - a precious surviving fragment of music, which is an amazing legacy from the mostly lost musical culture of ancient Greece...

My replica "Kinnor" lyre of the Ancient Hebrews (based on illustrations found on ancient Jewish coins), is virtually identical to the ancient Greek "Kithara" - the large wooden lyre favoured by the professional musicians of ancient Greece (with the small exception, that Kithara had 7 strings, whereas the Kinnor had 10 - no doubt to represent the Ten Commandments?)

The two Delphic Hymns are dated c.138 BC and 128 BC. My rendition here, is of the earlier of them; the First Delphic Hymn. Although it has unfortunately not survived in its complete form, the First Delphic Hymn to Apollo is the earliest unambiguous surviving fragment of notated music from anywhere in the Western World! It is written in the unambiguous alphabetical musical notation system used in ancient Greece, whereby alphabetical notation describing the pitch of the melody, is written above the text of the song, as can be clearly seen in this image of the actual Delphic Hymn, as it was found, inscribed in marble:

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Delphic_Hymns

The rhythm can easily be inferred from the syllables of the text.

The First Delphic Hymn to Apollo was discovered in 1893 by a French archaeologist. It was inscribed in marble, carved on an outside wall of the Treasury of the Athenians at Delphi.

All that is known about its composer is that it was written by an Athenian, around 138 BC, since the part of the inscription giving the name of the composer is too difficult to read. The Second Delphic Hymn is slightly more recent, and has been dated to precisely 128 BC; evidently it was first performed in the same year. The name of the composer of the Second Delphic Hymn has also survived, in a separate inscription: he is called "Limenius". The occasion of the later hymn was the Pythian Festival, and this one, the earlier hymn, was probably written for the boy’s choir at the Pythian Games in 138 BC.

The translation of the fragment of text which has survived of this, the First Delphic Hymn to Apollo, is as follows:

They sing how you conquered the prophetic tripod
guarded by a fierce dragon when, with your darts
you pierced the gaudy, tortuously coiling monster,
so that, uttering many fearful hisses, the beast expired.
They sing too, . . . ."

This is Dominik’s masterful remix of track 9 from my album, “An Ancient Lyre.”

5) "Ancient Greek Music Fragment" - This simply mesmerizing fragment of ancient Greek music, is catalogued simply as "ANONYMI BELLERMANN 97"...

This beautiful ancient melody was preserved in an ancient Byzantine manuscript:

Conspectus codicum:
V. Venetus Marcianus appl. cl. VI, saec. XIII-XIV
N. Neapolitanus graecus III. C4, saec. XV
F. Florentius Ricc. 41, saec. XVI

I first heard this amazing piece performed on the album "Musique de la Grece Antique" (Atrium Musicae de Madrid, 1979).

This is Dominik’s amazing remix of track 11 from my album, “An Ancient Lyre.”

6) "Hurrian Hymn" - the 3400 year old "Hurrian Hymn", which was discovered in Ugarit in Syria in the early 1950s, and was preserved for 3400 years on a clay tablet, written in the Cuneiform text of the ancient Hurrian language - it is the oldest written song so far discovered, in all of History...

http://phoenicia.org/music.html

The melody is an interpretation by Richard Dumbrill, from the ambiguous Cuneiform text of the Hurrian language in which it was written. Although many of the meanings of the Hurrian language are now lost in the mists of time, it can be established that the fragmentary Hurrian Hymn which has been found on these precious clay tablets are dedicated to Nikkal; the wife of the moon god.

There are several such interpretations of this melody, but to me, the fabulous interpretation by Richard Dumbrill just somehow sounds the most "authentic".

Below is a link to the sheet music, as interpreted by Richard Dumbrill and
arranged by Clint Goss, and also to Richard Dumbrill's own website:

http://www.flutekey.com/pdf/HurrianTabLtd.pdf

http://hometown.aol.com/ricdum/mane.htm#Music

I have arranged the melody in the style of a "Theme and Variations" - I first quote the unadorned melody in the first section, followed by the different lyre techniques described above in the repeat, & also featuring improvisatory passages at the end of the performance.

My arrangement of the melody is much slower than the actual arrangement by Richard Dumbrill - I wanted the improvisations in the variations on the theme to stand out, and to better illustrate the use of lyre techniques by a more rubato approach to the melody...

This is the remix of track 2 of my album, “An Ancient Lyre.”

7) “The Temple of Amun” - this improvisation on the lyre, uses a genuine pentatonic ancient Egyptian scale...last heard, some 3000 years ago! Although tragically no actual written music from ancient Egypt has survived, we do know from many ancient illustrations, that the ancient Egyptians did use a form of musical notation, whereby specific gestures of the hand represented specific changes in pitch in a given musical scale - this is ancient form of musical notation is known as "Chironomy". We also know some of the specific scales once used in ancient Egypt, thanks to the discovery of several ancient Egyptian flutes, still in playable condition! The ancient lost art of Chironomy, and details of this haunting, ancient Egyptian scale are discussed at length in this fascinating article:

http://www.rakkav.com/biblemusic/pages/chironomy.htm

This is the remix of track 4, “Echoes of Ancient Egypt”, from my album, “An Ancient Lyre”.

8) "Hymn to Thoth" - my arrangement of the traditional Egyptian folk song, "I Saw The Moon", arranged for solo lyre. Thoth was the ancient Egyptian moon god...

9) “The Music of Moses” – another improvisation on the ancient Egyptian minor pentatonic scale, performed on my replica Lyre of the Ancient Hebrews. This is Dominik Johnson’s masterfully remixed version of track 1 of my debut CD album, “King David’s Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel”. In the creation of this piece, I wanted to convey the ancient connection between the ancient Hebrews and ancient Egypt...

10) “Exodus of the Israelites” – Dominik Johnson’s remixed version of my arrangement for replica Kinnor, of an exhilarating traditional Jewish Klezmer melody, “Odessa Bulgar”, which for me, coveys the drama of the Biblical Exodus. This piece was originally heard on track 10 of my debut album, “King David’s Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel”. The ancient mode in which it is written is called the "Misheberakh"mode – amazingly, this very same mode can also be heard in a fragment of ancient Greek music called “Techmessa’s Lament” (full details can be heard in the “Historical Details” section of my official website).

11) “Ark of the Covenant” – Dominik Johnson’s remixed version of my original arrangement for solo lyre of an entrancing
traditional Jewish Klezmer melody, “Bukovina Freylekhs”, in the traditional Jewish “Ahava Raba” mode :

EFG#ABCDE

This musical mode may have truly ancient origins – in 1976, the late Suzanne Haik Vantoura claimed to have discovered the original 3000 year old music of the Hebrew Bible, and this is one of the musical modes which can be heard in her reconstruction of the Priestly Blessing, once sang by the Levitical choir in the Temple of Jerusalem. Full details can be found in the “Historical Details” section of this website.

This piece was originally heard on track 15 of my album, “King David’s Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel”). For me, this melody, when played on the Lyre of the Ancient Hebrews, conjures up images of shimmering gold, and for the first time in 3000 years. the lost Ark of the Covenant can be glimpsed once more...

12) “Lyres of the Levites” – this is the majestically remixed version of track 1 of my album, “Lyre of the Levites”. This was my arrangement of a mesmerising Klezmer melody called “Unzer Toyrele”, written in the ancient Ahava Raba mode.

13) "The Temple of Jerusalem" - my arrangement for solo Levitical Lyre, of the mesmorisingly beautiful, ancient Jewish Hymn, “Avinu Malcheinu” (Our Father, Our King); traditionally sang at Yom Kippur. This is the remixed version of track 3 of my debut CD album, “King David’s Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel”.

14) “Hava Nagila” (Let Us Rejoice) - The most exhilarating of all traditional Jewish melodies, written in the “Ahava Raba” mode, this is the remixed version of track 21 of my debut CD “King David’s Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel”.

15) “Shalom Aleichem (Peace be upon you) - a traditional Shabbat melody, in the ancient Ahava Raba mode.

This is Domink’s remix of track 19 of my album, “King David’s Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel. Although it was composed by Rabbi Israel Goldfarb in 1918, for me, this is the most timeless of all sacred Jewish melodies. Whenever I play it on the Lyre, I am transported back in time to the distant, ancient times, when my Levite ancestors played their lyres to accompany the Levitical Choir...

16) "Eternal Peace" - my arrangement for solo Leviticla Lyre, of the enchantingly beautiful Jewish hymn “Ose Shalom” (The One Who Makes Peace); the final refrain of the Mourner's Kaddish. This joyful traditional Shabbat melody, is Dominik’s remix of track 20 of my album, “King David’s Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel”. May the lovingly restored sound of the Lyre of the Ancient Hebrews, bring peace, to all the world...

HOW TO DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

"Ancient Times - Music of the Ancient World" is available to instantly download now, anywhere in the world from iTunes & Amazon MP3 Store! The album is also available for instant download from CD Baby, by simply clicking on the link below, to be redirected to my cdbaby webpage:

Michael Levy & Dominik Johnson: Ancient Times - Music of the Ancient World

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"The Klezmer Fiddle" - MP3 Album

THE KLEZMER FIDDLE

P6220350.JPG_resized

Originally released as a small 10 track album, this album has just been re-released on iTunes, cdbaby.com & Amazon MP3 Store, with 7 new tracks in addition to the original 10, & the audio engineering this time masterfully mixed & produced by Dominik Johnson...

http://cdbaby.com/cd/MichaelLevy2

The 17 tracks are:

1) Khosid Dance
2) Dance From Maramaros
3) Gut Morgan
4) Hopke
5) Unzer Toyrele
6) Oriental Hora
7) Devoutedly Bouyant at Abos
8) Papirrosen
9) Oy Tate
10) Bayim Rebin's Sude
11) Yiddish Hora
12) The Happy Nigun
13) Nokh A Glezl Vayn
14) Firn Di Mekhutonim Aheym
15) Odessa Bulgar
16) Der Heyser Bulgar
17) Yiddish Freylekh

"The Klezmer Fiddle", is my attempt to recreate the wonderful sounds of the traditional Jewish Klezmer fiddle, which once wafted through the many Shtetls of Eastern Europe, prior to the ravages wrought on Eastern European Jewish musical culture by the Holocaust.

The first couple of tracks on this album are particularly poignant. "Khosid Dance" (track 1) & "Dance From Maramaros" (track 2) - these melodies uniquely demonstrate the fusion of Jewish and Romanian-style Gypsy Music which existed in Hungary, prior to the totally pointless, barbaric destruction of both these communities and their centuries of fabulously rich and diverse musical culture, during the sheer horror of the Holocaust. I first learnt them by ear from a fantastic recording called "The Lost Jewish Music of Transylvania" (Hannibal 1973).

Below is a somewhat unique "Live Performance" on electric violin of the first track of the album, "Khosid Dance" - which has become my most watched Youtube video, ever...

This recording uniquely features Hungarian Jewish Klezmer melodies, thankfully remembered by a handful of surviving Hungarian Gypsy musicians, who played these very melodies with Jewish musicians, and also at Jewish Weddings in Hungary before World War II - thus preserving a precious remnant of the amazing Hungarian Jewish/Gypsy culture which once so wonderfully merged & thrived together for literally centuries...

In my own personal arrangement of "Khosid Dance", I have attempted to covey this fusion of Romanian Gypsy and Jewish Klezmer fiddle styles, by beginning and closing the piece passages in the style of a typical, mournful Romanian "Doina" - a free improvisatory style of fiddle playing, which the Klezmer musicians seem to have directly adopted and adapted from the Romanian-style Gypsy music they heard. In certain parts of "Khosid Dance", hints of the familiar Jewish Klezmer "Ahava Raba" mode can be heard (AA#C#DEFGA), but the Gypsy/Romanian influence can clearly be felt in both the phrasing and general "mood" of the music.

The fiddle playing heard in these precious few surviving Hungarian Klezmer melodies (as performed on the Muzikas recording) has a much "fuller" fiddle style/sound, than the much more ornamented, sinuous, almost "vibrato-free" fiddle styles of Jewish Eastern European Klezmer .

In my intention to covey the terrible loss of the Hungarian Jewish & Gypsy cultures which once so harmoniously blossomed together in Hungary for centuries, until their almost total destruction in the holocaust, my arrangement of the melody for track 1, "Khosid Dance", is much slower and mournful than the dance-style rendition heard in the performance of this piece by Muzsikas.

I also attempt to emphasis this sadness by means of the fiddle technique often heard in traditional Jewish Klezmer music, which is known as a "cretche" - literally attempting to create a "sobbing" effect on the fiddle, by means of lightly stopping the strings at the end of playing certain notes in the melody...which has the effect of "cutting short the breath" of these notes, just like the sound of someone sobbing.

Another fascinating recording I can recommend is called "Like a Different World", by the late Leon Schwartz. In this unique recording, can be heard a Jewish fiddle player who was born in Poland in 1902, and was actually taught to play fiddle by the local Gypsy musicians who lived near his village - a fantastically beautiful fusion of styles.

This fascinating cultural exchange of musical ideas is certainly not unique to Jewish Klezmer music - it seems to have happened throughout all of History, whenever two entirely different cultures find themselves living side by side, for example, Cajun music - an absolutely incredible fusion, of quaint French Dance Music...and Louisiana Blues!

Above all the musical styles which influenced the traditional Klezmer musicians of Eastern Europe, the Romanian influence seems to be the strongest and most enduring. This fact is reflected in the dance forms found throughout the entire surviving Klezmer music repertoire, e.g. Horas, Doinas, and Bulgars etc. I have also featured examples of such piece on the album, for example "Odessa Bulgar" (track9), "Yiddish Hora" (track 4) & "Oriental Hora" (track 3). This influence on the old Jewish Klezmer music of Eastern Europe may again be due to the sounds of Romanian Gypsy music heard on the fringes of Eastern European society, near to the old Jewish Shtetls, which the Klezmer musicians heard, adopted and adapted.

It is so often overlooked, that the fact that any Klezmer music has survived today, is mostly thanks to the emigration to America of Jewish musicians from Eastern Europe, prior to the advent of World War II. Some of these musicians recorded the traditional Klezmer melodies they took with them, (their “invisible baggage”), mostly during the 1920s. It was thanks to these crackly vintage recordings, that the revival of Klezmer music, starting in the 1970s, was made possible. "Oriental Hora" (track 4) is an example of one of these traditional Klezmer melodies which survived, thanks to an early recording of it in the USA, made by the Klezmer violinist, Max Liebowitz.

Other surviving Klezmer & Yiddish classics on this album, include "Odessa Bulgar", Papirorosen" and a selection of my other favourite Klezmer fiddle melodies. However, after the War in Europe, so much beautiful Jewish music was so tragically lost...

The rather rustic "rough edges" in my fiddle playing, (which the classically trained violinist will no doubt detect), is simply a consequence of the fact that I am totally, entirely self-taught - just like most of the Eastern European Jewish Klezmer musicians of old, I never had either the money or the opportunity to take violin lessons. In my own opinion, folk music played by a classically trained violinist, simply no longer sounds like authentic folk music.

If music can "Capture the Soul" of a People, then may this recording be my tribute to the Jewish & Gypsy musicians of Eastern Europe who were so brutally & pointlessly butchered by the Nazis during the Holocaust - at least this little selection of Klezmer melodies which some of them once played, will now, forever, live on...

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"The Appalachian Banjo"" - MP3 Album

INTRODUCTION

This album is a unique piece of "Appalachian Patchwork", comprising of all of my favourite Oldtimey Mountain melodies, arranged for traditional "clawhammer" style, 5-string banjo...

FINAL_BANJO_COVER.JPG_resized

Below is a little promotional video for the album which I created, featuring a clip of track 14 - my arrangement for solo 5-string banjo, of the haunting Appalachian old time ballad, "Willie Moore":

"The Appalachian Banjo" is available for instant download, anywhere in the world, from Apple iTunes and cdbaby.com - simply click on the "purchase button" below to be redireced to my cdbaby webpage:

A BRIEF HISTORY OF 5-STRING BANJO PLAYING STYLES

"Clawhammer" ( also commonly known as "frailing"), is the most ancient style of banjo playing. This technique consists of using the right hand shaped rather like a claw, and hammering the melody on the strings with either the middle or index finger, whilst using the thumb to pay the hypnotic 5th drone string. The sound of traditional clawhammer is much gentler and ryhthmic than the much louder "Bluegrass" style of banjo playing.

The "Bluegrass" style of banjo playing, as pioneered by Earl Scruggs around the 1940s, which uses fast rolls played with metal picks attached to the thumb, index finger and middle finger of the right hand. As Bluegrass banjos evolved, so did the modifications made to them, to increase volume even further - this was by the use of large brass tone rings inside the banjo frame beneath the banjo head, and the use of a resonator attached to the back of the instrument to further project the sound.

This 3 finger roll style of playing developed the "two finger" roll style of playing also common in some examples of traditional Appalachian banjo music. In this album, on some tracks, I have experimented in alternating between clawhammer and the use of the 2 finger style of playing (e.g in "Shady Grove" and "Santa Anna's Retreat")

The older, archaic clawhammer style of banjo playing was adapted and adopted by the early Appalachain settlers, from the African styles of playing of America's black slaves, who brought with them a memory one of their treasured native instruments; the "banjar" - a string instrument consisting of a resonator of gourd, over which a soundboard of taut leather skin was stretched. According to tradition, the hypnotic 5th drone string of the banjo was added by a the white minstrel performer, Joel Sweeney in the early 1800s. The real credit for this "invention" though, is far more likely to be one of the original versions of the African Banjar - the syncopated rhythm of the 5th string drone sounds distinctively African in origin.

The first Appalachian white settlers, mainly of Scotch-Irish descent, brought with them their own "invisible baggage" - a wonderful tapestry of jigs, reels and mournful ancient airs from their own native lands. Once settled in the Appalachians, these ancient melodies took on a new dimension, as the banjo was also adapted and adopted by the settlers, giving these haunting melodies a new, distinct Appalachain "flavour" all of their own.

MODAL APPALACHIAN BANJO TUNINGS

The mournful, lonesome modal tunings which feature on this album reflect this magical transformation of the ancient Scots/Irish melodies into the beautiful American Patchwork we now know as "Old Timey Appalachian Mountain Music"...

1) "MOUNTAIN MINOR TUNING": AEADE

This is my favourite and the most enchanting modal banjo tuning. I use it in "Old Cluck Hen", West Virginia Gals", "Shady Grove", "Santa Anna's Retreat" & "The Patroller"

2) "OPEN C TUNING": GCGCD

To me, the open 5ths of this enchanting tuning, conjures up a sound from the banjo, just like the hypnotic hum of the Appalachian Dulcimer! I use this tuning for "Over The Waterfall", "Wildwood Flower", "King Kong Kithchie Kithcihe Ki-Me-O", "Angelina Baker", "Soldier's Joy", "Willie Moore" & "Liberty":

3) "OPEN G TUNING": GDGBD

This became the standard banjo tuning later used in the evolution of the Bluegrass Banjo style - which unlike the gentler, more ryththmic style of traditional Appalachian clawhammer, uses fast rolls played loudly with metal picks. as pioneerd by Earl Scruggs ni the 1940s. I personally prefer the sound of open G tuning in the original Appalachian clawhammer style, and the pieces in which I use this tuning, are "Old Joe Clark" & "Santa Claus Come & Gone"

THE MODERN APPALACHIAN BANJO

In contrast to the Bluegrass style 5-string banjo, traditional Appalachian banjos are open-backed, without any heavy tone ring. The banjo I use in this album, is a "Deering Goodtime", - a beautifully minimalisitc banjo, crafted out of fine American Rock Maple, which gives a unique bright but gentle tone. My own Deering Goodtime has a custom scooped fingerboard at the top of the neck - so I can have an even BETTER time, in being able to find all those lovely, mellow "Oldtimey Tones" right up at the top of the neck - without bashing my poor knuckles on the mostly redundant upper frets!

MY NEW WEBSITE DEDICATED TOO THE HISTORY OF THE APPALACHIAN BANJO

For full details of all my research and recordings for the Appalachian banjo, please visit my brand new website:

https://sites.google.com/site/appalachianbanjo/

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"The Northern Emerald - Traditional Irish Music" - MP3 Album

INTRODUCTION

This newly released album, is now available from Apple iTunes! The 20 tracks feature some of the treasures of traditional Irish music - a unique collection of priceless Celtic Musical Gems, uniquely arranged for a replica of the 3000 year old Biblical Davidic 10-String Lyre, Celtic-Style Appalachian Clawhammer 5-String Banjo & Solo Mandolin...

To download any of the 20 tracks on this new album, either visit Apple iTunes, or simply click on the link below, to be redirected to my cdbaby webpage:

Michael Levy: The Northern Emerald - Traditional Irish Music

TRADITIONAL IRISH MUSIC PLAYED ON THE LYRE OF THE ANCIENT HEBREWS?

The video below features a clip of track 1 of the album - the haunting ancient Irish Air, "She Moved Through the Fair"...arranged for my replica 3000 year old Lyre of the Ancient Hebrews:

There is a fascinating LEGEND/MYTH, that the Celtic Harp is, in fact, a direct ancestor of the Lyre of the Ancient Hebrews, which was apparently introduced to Ireland 2600 years ago by Israelites who fled there in exile, after the Fall the of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586BCE...

This is a quote from John Wheeler's fascinating website on music from the time of the Hebrew Bible...

http://www.rakkav.com/biblemusic/pages/instruments.htm

"...The "harp of Tara", symbol of Ireland, is linked by Irish traditional history to the "harp of David". This last was said to have been brought to Ireland (among other artefacts) by "Ollamh Fodhla" (identified with the prophet Jeremiah), his scribe "Simon Brach" (identified with Baruch the scribe of Jeremiah), and "Tea Tephi" (identified with the daughter of King Zedekiah of Judah). Was this connection merely mythical, or could it have had a basis in truth?"

The Celts had lyres too; they also brought some kind of harp from the Middle East; and Jeremiah is said by Irish tradition to have brought a "harp".

In all likelihood, there was confusion in the transmission of historical facts in this little-known Gem of Irish Folk-Lore. However, in order to give this legend some of basis in truth, I have arranged several of the Irish musical gems featured on this album, on my actual replica of the Lyre of the Ancient Hebrews (the Biblical “Kinnor”), which King David himself once played, some 3000 years ago, and which was later played by my very own, very ancient Levite ancestors in the Temple of Jerusalem, to accompany the legendary singing of the Levitical Choir.

NB! I am NOT attempting to be "controversial" in trying to re-write history, and my intention is certainly NOT to offend ANY person's particular religious beliefs or traditions! It is merely a fascinating, harmless MYTH...but just maybe, with some hint of truth behind it?

Irish music really does work, when played on the Lyre of the Ancient Hebrews; the original "Harp of David" - maybe there is some truth in the fascinating legend of the Jewish origin of the Celtic Harp after all?

The pieces I have arranged for Davidic Lyre, are “She Moved Through the Fair” (track 1), “Brian Buru’s March” (track 8), “Tie the Bonnet” (track 11), “The Humours of Glendart” (track 13), and “Spancil Hill” (track 20).

TRADITIONAL IRISH MUSIC – ON THE APPALACHIAN-STYLE CLAWHAMMER 5-STRING BANJO?

The video below, features a clip of track 10 of the album, the enchanting A minor Reel,"The Cliffs of Moher", arranged for Celtic-style, clawhammer Appalachian 5-string banjo:

It is often overlooked, that virtually the old-time musical repertoire of the Appalachian Mountains, had its origins in traditional Irish music...the “Invisible Baggage” taken by the countless Irish immigrants to America, during the course of the Nineteenth Century e.g. “Turkey in the Straw”, “Soldiers Joy” etc.

The pieces I have arranged for Appalachian Banjo in this album, are literally traditional Irish melodies which “missed the boat” with these original 19th century immigrants!

Indeed, it is another overlooked fact, that the very first banjo to be introduced to Ireland was not the traditional Irish Tenor banjo, but the 5-string banjo! The 5-string banjo was introduced to Ireland, early in the 19th century, when the first Minstrel Shows came over from America–

“The banjo in all probability was first introduced to Ireland, when the Virginia Minstrels toured in England, Ireland and France in 1843, 1844 and 1845. The leader of the Virginia Minstrels was Joel Walker Sweeney who was born in Buckingham County, Virginia, in 1810. Sweeney, whose antecedents came from Co. Mayo, has become one of the most controversial characters in the history of the banjo, having been credited widely with introducing the fifth string, or chanterelle, to the instrument” (quoted from “The Banjo – A Short History”, by Mick Maloney).

The Tenor Banjo, used so commonly today in traditional Irish music, was not invented until around 1915! Eventually, in Ireland, it gradually replaced the 5-string Banjo, thanks mostly to the fact that it could be tuned to exctly the same intervals as the fiddle. If the history had taken a different turn, then just maybe, traditional Irish music would sound like it does on this album?

It is such a pity that the 5-string banjo is not used more to play traditional Irish music – Irish music, when played on the beautifully rhythmic clawhammer style on the 5-string banjo, with the almost hypnotic ringing of that magical 5th string, always conjures up images in my mind of babbling Irish brooks...

The tunings I use, include standard GDGBD tuning (track 7, “Out On The Ocean” & track 18, “The Morining Star”), as well as haunting modal banjo tunings heard in countless Appalachian Mountain Folk Songs. These modal tunings feature open D tuning, as head in Appalachian Clawhammer Banjo classics, such as “Soldier’s Joy” & “Wildwood Flower” – ADADE. Track on this album to use this wonderfully resonant open D tuning, are track 6, “My Love Is In America”, track 12, “Tobin’s Favourite”, track 14, “The Frost Is All Over” & track 16, “Drops of Brandy”).

I also use the most haunting of all the od time Appalachian Modal Banjo Tunings – AEADE. This mournful modal tuning, can be heard in traditional Appalachain Mountain songs, such as “Old Cluck Hen” & “Shady Grove”. Track on my album to use this mesmerising modal banjo tuning, are tracks 10, “The Cliffs of Moher” & track 19, “Star of The County Down”).

Below is another video, featuring a clip from track 14 of the album - my arrangement for clawhammer 5-string Appalachian banjo, of the exhilarating traditional Irish Jig, "The Frost Is All Over":

TRADITIONAL IRISH MUSIC PLAYED ON SOLO MANDOLIN?

Below is my delicate arrangement for solo mandolin, of the beautiful old Irish Air, "Hewlett", composed by Turlough O' Carolan:

Although the mandolin has been heard in Irish music sessions for centuries (primarily thanks to the fact that it shares exactly the same GDAE tuning of the fiddle), it is still very rare to hear this lovely gentle instrument played solo – normally, it’s delicate tone is ruthlessly drowned out beneath the fury of fiery fiddles and bodhrans...in this album, I have therefore attempted to redress the balance!

The pieces on this album, featuring solo mandolin are “Hewlett” (track 2), Carolan's Concerto” (track 3), “Off to California” (track 5), “Peggy on the Settle” (track 9), “Dusty Miller” (track 15) & “The Rambling Pitchfork” (track 17).

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Order a Personally Autographed CD!

HOW TO ORDER A PERSONALLY AUTOGRAPHED CD!

To order a personally autographed CD, which are available for my albums "King David's Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel", "Lyre of the Levites" & "An Ancient Lyre", please contact me directly for full details:

mblevy@ancientlyre.com

For personally autographed CDs purchased directly from me, I can accept payment either by Paypal or International Postal Order.

The cost, including postage and packaging, is either £12 (for all International orders), or £10 for orders in the UK.

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