Ethiopiques, Vol. 21: Ethiopia Song [IMPORT]

Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 14, 2006)
• Original Release Date: February 14, 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 (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #159,541 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

• This is item 21 in The Ethiopiques Series.

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

Product Description

"…The Buda label's Ethiopiques reissues prove that this 3,000-year-old civilization has much more to offer than bad news. Totaling nearly 20 volumes to date, the series presents the golden age of modern Ethiopia, prior to 1975’s coup and the repressive regime that fueled subsequent violence and unrest." -AUSTIN CHRONICLE

An outstanding pianist and a remarkable composer, Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guébrou (now a Christian nun in a Jerusalem monastery) once recorded her own piano solo works, steeped in Ethiopian culture.The rich, personal poetry of these songs brings to mind Claude Debussy or Carlos d'Alessio's "India Song." A rare curiosity indeed, with beautiful melodies and a charming interpretation.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 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)

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 !

4 of 4 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 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...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a genius, January 10, 2008

By	peterserious (Jamaica Plain, MA United States) - See all my reviews

Not just Satie, but Art Tatum: she had a similar genius for absorbing multiple disparate musical traditions and synthesizing them into a revelatory blues. Gorgeous.