Ethiopiques, Vol. 21: Ethiopia Song [Import]

Ethiopiques (Buda Series), Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 14, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Buda Musique
• ASIN: B000BU9FOQ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #146,286 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. The Homeless Wanderer

2. The Last Tears of a Deceased

3. A Young Girl's Complaint

4. The Mad Man's Laughter

5. Presentiment

6. Mother's Love

7. Ballad of the Spirits

8. The Song of the Sea

9. Homesickness

10. Golgotha

11. The Jordan River Song

12. The Garden of Gethesemanie

13. The Song of Abayi

14. The Story of the Wind

15. Evening Breeze

16. Tenkou! Why Feel Sorry?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

If the listener did not have the CD cover handy, it would be difficult to guess who this artist is or where she hails from. Emahoy TseguÈ-Maryam GuÈbrou was born into a prominent literary Ethiopian family in 1923 and partly educated in Europe. The lovely young girl studied piano and violin but political vicissitudes in her homeland led to an unsettled and peripatetic youth. Dispirited by events in her life, she found consolation in religion and became a nun. Although dedicated to teaching at an orphanage, she nonetheless found time to create a series of slightly jazz-influenced, neo-classical pieces, many of which are showcased here. The material is culled from two LPs that were released in 1963, when she was 40 years of age. Meditations on bible themes and the beauties of nature were her favorite subjects and her compositions were often built around recognizably Ethiopian melodic structures. But they also reveal refracted shards of what would certainly be cited as influences if only it could be established she had ever heard the works of Count Basie, Oscar Peterson, Keith Jarrett, Abdullah Ibrahim and especially, Eric Satie. But ultimately, Sister GuÈbrou seems to be a lone reed -- but a very beautiful one. --Christina Roden

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rare and complete original !, June 10, 2006

By 

nadav haber (jerusalem Israel) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ethiopiques, Vol. 21: Ethiopia Song (Audio CD)

Emahoy Tzegue-Mariam Gebru's life is, as detailed in the informative booklet attached to the CD, is very unique, filled with tragedy, courage and devotion. All of this is reflected in the music heard in this surprising CD. She was sent as a child to Switzerland, where she studied violin and piano. She continued playing the piano when she returned to Ethiopia, and then continued her studies under a Polish teacher in Egypt. When she was prevented from studying music in Britain, she chose the life of a nun. Her musical tastes are first and foremost Beethoven, Strauss and Chopin, while she has heard and liked the early Ethiopian Pop of Tilahun Gessese, Hirut Bekele, Mahmud Ahmad and Bizunesh Bekele. She is influenced by the religious music of the Ethiopian church as well.

The result is an original sound. On the first track of the CD, she stays with two Ethiopian scales (Tizita and Bati), but with her approach they are given a new meaning, reminiscent of some early blues and Jazz piano.

The next 3 tracks have very little that is Ethiopian, and much that is European - paying tribute to her favorite composers, with her unique style.

From the fifth track to the end of the CD, it is a beautiful combination of all her musical influences. Her approach to composing is European - each note is planned, calculated, and written down. The Ethiopian touch is in the intervals ending the phrases, and in the rhythmic subtleties that lean to a 3/3 meter.

Throughout, her life's rich experience fills the music with sadness, tragedy and beauty. This is necessary music for all lovers of music - the experience of this music simply cannot be found anywhere else !

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting and Etheric Mix of Debussey, Ethiopia, and the Blues, December 21, 2009

By 

achdukleidustein "none" (Vladivistock) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ethiopiques, Vol. 21: Ethiopia Song (Audio CD)

I have never heard anything like this before, and doubt i will in the future from anyone else. This music is charming, relaxing and interesting. It has affected how i play the piano myself. I love it.

If Mississippi John Hurt had played the piano, and been from Addis, it would have sound something like this.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars absolutely gorgeous, April 30, 2006

By 

leo (Beijing, China) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ethiopiques, Vol. 21: Ethiopia Song (Audio CD)

this new volume reveals an astonishing beauty that the world has been deprived of until now... just like the editorial review says, it is like an ethiopian Satie...