Customer Reviews

Temple Music from Tibet

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This CD contains recordings by musicologist Deben Bhattacharya made throughout the Himalayas in the 1970s. All recordings were done in the monasteries as the ceremonies occurred with portable equipment; unlike studio recordings in other cds(perhaps why it was titled as "temple music").

The pros of this are that the tracks are all authentic and heartfelt.

Cons, however, the recording, transfer and mastering do not do justice to the chants, vocals are muddied, and muffled, drumbeats are dulled, trumpets sound flat, and the transitions are somewhat awkward since these are select excerpts from long continuous ceremonies instead of being recorded on-demand; though the enchanting horns and bells both come out reasonably well.

From the linear notes, Mr Battacharya was obviously a purist who was completely aware of these tradeoffs; he wanted the recordings to be live so as not to "disembody" and isolate the music from its context. This is an admirable goal that must be taken into account.

Bottomline: An authentic well-intentioned documentary cd, but sound quality is indeed compromised, may benefit from remastering but the source is probably the issue. As a Tibetan person once said to me, there is no such thing as a good tibetan cd, they are all sacred.

This album of field recordings from the late 1970s includes Jensey, an unusal fire ceremony. Fire rites are paramount in Zoroastrianism, of course, but may be found also in Chinese traditional ceremonies as well. In Japan, the Tendai tantric sect has an elaborate fire rite. Most fire rites are for purification and meditative concentration; in this instance, Jensey is for the memory of departed kin and friends. Another selection celebrates the birthday of Padma Sambhava, the legendary figure who brought Buddhism to the Tibet. Sites of recordings are Tahijon and Bir in Tibet, Rumtek in Sikkim, and at Ghoom Monastery in west Bengal. These are excerpts of the various chants. The sound quality is not too bad, compared to Bhattacharya's other recordings of Tibetan rites on the ARC label. Although many other, far better, albums are available of Tibetan religious rites, this is only one which I am familiar that presents the fire rite, and thus this recording is worthwhile for the collector. You can hear the crackling of wood and offerings in the fire.