Customer Reviews

Synaulia - Music from Ancient Rome, Vol. 1: Wind Instruments

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This CD is a wonderful collection of music for wind instruments from ancient Rome's imperial period played on accurate replicas of various Roman instruments. This is a great buy for anyone interested in ancient music or the study of ancient Rome.

There are unfortunately few direct sources on the composition of Roman music. Most of the work in this CD is a recreation of what the music would have sounded like based on the range of the instruments, various classical sources, and anthropological studies of present Mediterranean cultures. I strongly disagree with a previous reviewer's giving of a low rating on the basis that the music is not the direct product of Roman sheet music. Although there may be certain inaccuracies in the recomposition of such music, the number of different scholars who participated in producing this work from various disciplines probably makes such inaccuracies rather slim. Furthermore, since there is no direct source for such music nor is it likely that we will ever uncover any, it's better to have this than nothing at all. The music is primarily brass and percussion but it also has string accompaniments for certain pieces. The music is charming and makes one feel as if they are reclining on their sofas, eating dates, and drinking wine in praise of Baccus. The package makes this CD worth every penny as it has a very detailed synopsis of all the instruments, the works themselves, and the work that was involved in this music: the pamphlet is also filled with photographs and drawings of the instruments as well as various Roman frescoes from Pompey depicting Roman social life and the instruments in question.

This is a great contribution to the study of antiquity and a valuable tool for teachers of ancient music, antiquity, or anthropology. This also a great buy for anyone who has broad interests in music and its development. For what you get with this CD it's a steal.

No one really knows what the hit songs were in 235 A.D. but old traditional goat hearder songs & ancient religious folk chants still persist that have roots from Roman Times. Match that with instruments reconstructed from Roman paintings & sculptures and you get a sound so ethnic and exotic not just in location, but exotic in time. The CD is comes in an extensive & beautifully illustrated booklet on Roman music & instruments. It's not a corny Hollywoodish remake, instead it's unexpected and definately Roman feeling! The Trumpets with Tympanum and the Oracle chants are my favorite!

This is CD-hypothesis. You would hear the modern "newly imagined" music written mainly by Walter Maioli for Ancient Roman instruments. You would hear the sounds of the antique music, not the music from the Roman sources itself. And the music performed by Syanaulia on this CD is very lively, interesting, theatrical, visible, so you would start to believe that this music is really authentic. It would help you to understand the spirit of the Pax Romana (Peaceful Universe of the Roman Empire). Beautiful booklet with the colour illustrations is included with this CD. So as a modern art form this record is very impressive. Well, it is a kind of fantasy music, but it gives you 3D vision of Roman Empire. Second CD by Synaulia with the music for strings is less interesting - this record sounds more fresh and emotional.
But it wouldn`t satisfy your hunger for the real music of the Antiquity. I highly recommend you CDs by ENSEMBLE DE ORGANOGRAPHIA "Music of the Ancient Greeks", "Music of the Ancient Sumerians, Egyptians and Greeks"!!!

Also try other CD with modern "newly imagined" music in Ancient Greek style -"Melpomen" by Conrad Steinmann and Schola Cantorum Basilensis.
Try also European CDs with the music from the Greek and Roman sources (I think that Ensemble De Organographia - the best performers of this music, but to compare different approaches to Antique music is also very interesting):
Ensemble Kerylos and Annie Belis "Ancient Greek Music" (label K 617);
Musica Romana "Mesomedes" (maxi-single with the music by Mesomedes of Crete) and "Symphonia Panica" (label Emmuty Records; these CDs available only directly from this label).

Although difficult to imagine that the 'scores' were completely authentic (in that the actual 'sheet' music does not survive), the carefull thought into the 'probabilities' of the actual scoring allows one to 'believe' in the reproduction. To those of us who don't really look for that sort of thing, this album provides just what we are after...the SOUND of Ancient Rome! It takes very little imagination to transport oneself to those times by listening to this marvelous CD.

Synaulia's CD "Music of Ancient Rome: Volume I" is quite a good reproduction of what Roman music may have been like. Being a student of Latin for 4 years, I was interested when I stumbled across this CD. I bookmarked it and to my suprise and delight it was given to me as a Christmas present. The plastic holder that the CD rests in is very durable and the booklet had many interesting facts, some of which I didn't even know. While the songs may be a bit weird, they're quite good, and some of the songs remind me of some Celtic tunes. The opening track "Pavor" which in Latin translates into the word "panic" or "terror" (I think it would have been more appropriate to have used the Adverb "Pavide", "in panic" but that's just me) is probably my favourite of the tracks. This song is basically of the god Pan inciting panic among people who disturbed the peace of his forest. While this music isn't an exact reproduction of what may have been listened to by the Romans, it brings these tunes from folk sources, poetic rhythm, and others. This is a fantastic CD and I recommend it for people who have historic interests in the Ancient World and don't mind listening to something a little different.

I find the title very misleading. When you start reading the booklet, it says there's no way to know how the actual music of ancient Rome sounded. The music is patterned after various influences, some which seem way too modern to my ears and some which sound like they're not necessarily from the right part of the world. This is in contrast to, for example, Secular Music Of Greek Antiquity, Vol. 1 by Petros Tabouris where at least a few of the tracks are based on snippets of ancient greek music and most of the rest are at least based on ancient greek lyric texts (those tend to be preserved better than melodies from that long ago) and the scales used back then.

(My low rating is because it's not what it seems to be. But it's not that music itself is bad if you treat it as modern music using these instruments, I might rate it 3 to 4 stars if it had been titled more truthfully -- except then I wouldn't have bought it...)

Also, beware the packaging: It's a single CD but held in a long digipak-style box-set-style case, and when I got it new in the mail, still shrink wrapped, the disc holder inside was broken, and there's no easy way to repair it because the whole case/booklet/holder/etc is all one piece.

I wouldn't know, never having heard ancient Roman music. But it does seem so real. I guess because it sounds so strange it intimidates me into thinking it's authentic! It kind of reminds me of the kind of music they might play on a pbs drama set it ancient Rome, like I, Claudius. Pretty eerie actually. I play it for my second graders when we study ancient Rome.

I have been looking for a while to find some Ancient Roman Music. This CD is really good! It's got some strange songs on it, but some are really beautiful and mystical. If you like worshiping the God/desses of ancient times, this would be a good CD for you.

Cranked all the way up, Synaulia has made writing my history research papers (all about ROMA) for school a new experience. After listening to many things - even, shamefully, watching Gladiator to create a stimulating mind set for my papers (as I CANNOT work in silence) - I thought I would never find anything that could come close to Synaulia's two albums.

If anyone is interested in the cultural aspects of Ancient Rome, I would, WITHOUT HESITATION, recommend you buy both the Strings and Wind collections by Synaulia-you will not be disappointed.

If you're planning an orgy as part of your social calendar this summer, this is the CD for you! As a brave attempt to reproduce the music of Rome, it deserves substantial praise. However, if it is an accurate imitation, I pity the ancient Romans. The music of Synaulia's Disk 1 is rarely melodic and seems more post-modern than ancient. I wonder whether the repetitiveness of the songs is an unavoidable result of the limited tonality of the replicated instruments or of the composer's failure to achieve proficiency with them before starting. The songs are often accompanied by maenadic shrieking, music most apropos for a fraternity toga party. Evoe, guys!