Book of Days

Wayne Hankin (Composer), Meredith Monk (Composer), Nurit Tilles (Performer), Andrea Goodman (Performer), Ching Gonzalez (Performer), Johanna Arnold (Performer), John Barber (Performer), John Eppler (Performer), Meredith Monk (Performer), Naaz Hosseini (Performer), Nicky Paraiso (Performer), Robert Een (Performer), Timothy Sawyer (Performer), Toby Newman (Performer), Wayne Hankin (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Nurit Tilles, Andrea Goodman, Ching Gonzalez, Johanna Arnold, John Barber, et al.
• Composer: Wayne Hankin, Meredith Monk
• Audio CD (February 1, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ecm Records
• ASIN: B000025ZJM
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #141,832 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Near perfection..., May 18, 2001

By 

Prof. De Plume "De Plume, PhD" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Book of Days (Audio CD)

Being an instrumentalist, I've never been bothered by the complaints of my friends that Meredith Monk has no lyrics -- like a great, perfectly blended wind ensemble, her cast gives a flawless and nuanced performance throughout. At equal turns ecstasy of beauty, eery and haunting, and laugh-out-loud spritely, the two parts I didn't like on this CD were, unsuprisingly, the improvisational bagpipe and the eery but jarring Madwoman's Song. But with an experimenter like Meredith Monk, not everything will hit with everybody, and these thematically provided appropriate contrast to the unrelenting beauty of the rest of the CD. Ms. Monk's unique style and ever strong voice fit perfectly with the medieval setting. Now, anyone know where to find the movie this is the soundtrack to? I've been intrigued with finding it since the day I got this CD of peace and beauty...

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Her most satisfying work, November 12, 2000

By 

Allan MacInnis (Vancouver) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Book of Days (Audio CD)

The finest, most fully realized Meredith Monk cd, methinks. The medieval theme does her well, puts her vocal explorations in a context that really brings out the magic in the music. One of the few CDs I know that can completely transform the feel of a room it's being played in. Wonderful.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Meredith Monk "Book of Days", January 27, 2008

By 

Stavroula Avgousti (Athens Greece) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Book of Days (Audio CD)

When I heard this album in vinyl edition, about 16 years ago, I was very surprised to hear how the human voice can be used as a musical instrument, producing all sorts of sounds and evoking images and feelings without using a single word. This is what Meredith Monk and her vocal ensemble have achieved, with only a faint use of musical instruments such as keybords and pipes, by using mainly the voice as a vehicle to convey these feelings and images. For example "Plague" is a piece with sounds where the music is almost absolutely absent, to create the nightmarish impression of a serious disease. "Madwoman's vision" uses sounds that give us the impression of wailing. Other tracks like "Early Morning Melody" or "Eva's song" are lighter, "easier" to listen.

Although this is characterised an avantgarde album, it can appeal to someone who listens to it for the first time, because of the richness of images and feelings it evokes.