Edda - An Icelandic Saga - Myths From Medieval Iceland / Sequentia
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CD Details
Composer: Icelandic AnonymousPerformer: Cologne Sequentia Ensemble for Medieval Music
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 1999-05-18
Music Label: RCA
Soundtracks:
- Myths From Medieval Iceland: Leikr elds ok isa (The Song Of Fire And Ice)
- Myths From Medieval Iceland: Veit ek at ek hekk (Odinn's Rune-verses)
- Myths From Medieval Iceland: Hliods bid ek allar (The Prophecy Of The Seeress)
- Myths From Medieval Iceland: Vreidr var pa Ving-Porr (The Tale Of Prymr)
- Myths From Medieval Iceland: Nu erum komnar (The Song Of The Mill)
- Myths From Medieval Iceland: Baldrs minni (In Memory Of Baldr)
- Myths From Medieval Iceland: Senn voru aesir allir a pingi (Baldr's Dreams)
- Myths From Medieval Iceland: Pat man hon folkvig (The Prophecy Of The Seeress)
- Myths From Medieval Iceland: Ragnarok (The End Of The Gods)
- Myths From Medieval Iceland: A fellr austan um eitrdala (The Prophecy Of The Seeress)
Music reviews of Edda - An Icelandic Saga - Myths From Medieval Iceland / Sequentia
Music Review: Some Thoughts and Square Facts on this CD
Rating: 4 Stars
Having listened now to this CD a fair bit I wish to comment on it. First of all I will say that it is an absolutely beautiful work: the voices, the sound of the lyre and the fiddle, the lyrics themselves (taken from the Old Norse "Elder Edda") are strange and enchanting. Here do not mistake "strange" for a negative comment: part of the beauty of the Norse myths, as with the Finnish "Kalevala", and with Professor Tolkien's "Silmarillion" and "The Lord of the Rings", comes from this sense of strangeness. Perhaps a better way of describing it would be to say that it is Teutonic (as opposed to, say, Classical or Romantic) in tone and feel, which is something altogether unique.
As I said, I find these stories to be exceptionally stirring and beautiful, and this CD provides the same feeling. But some clarity as to the nature of this CD is, I think, required.
For starters, ignore the reviewer who complained that this CD is sung in Latin; it is not. It is in Old Icelandic. (How this person came to this conclusion I can't imagine: a quick glance at the liner notes -- which are excellent, by the way, providing a dual text in Old Icelandic and Modern English -- should make this apparant: lines such as "Surtr ferr sunnan meš sviga lęvi / skinn af sverši sol valtiva" are clearly *not* Latin.)
However, the mistake is perhaps not without cause, for the CD (and this is important to note) is sung in the style of old Latin Gregorian chants. The inflection on the language is Latinate, *not* Norse. The reason I say this is important is because the CD claims it is singing approximately the way the ancient Norsemen would have sung these lays, but this is not so close to the truth as other reviews would imply. The fact is that Old Icelandic (as with all the Germanic languages) is a language of accents and stresses which is wholly distinct from the Romance languages. You can see this evidenced in the alliteration of the actual Eddic text: "*Br?šr* muno *beriaz* ok at *bonum* veršaz", for instance; or "Her stendr *Baldri* of *brugginn* miošr, / *skirar* veigar, liggr *skioldr* yfir."
I was quite disappointed by this, having hoped very strongly to hear a fair-to-good example of what actual Norsemen long ago would have sounded like, chanting these mysterious songs. BUT: as I said before, I find this nevertheless to be a very moving and beatiful collection. The manner in which it is sung, though evoking Latin tradition, still captures something of the feel of these ancient poems. Perhaps it is because that Gregorian chant style simply, in general, evokes something of an older world. (One notices how popular it has been made by film composers such as John Williams in the recent "Star Wars" and "Harry Potter" films, as well as Howard Shore in the "LotR" scores; and, furthermore, has been used with dubious results by a host of other imitators.)
So that's it, then. Old Norse language and text, but sung in an old Latin style; not authentic, but nevertheless evocative of a mysterious and ancient world which I find very beautiful. I recommend this CD to all lovers of medieval-style music, as well as lovers of the Eddic poems in particular. Just know the facts on what you're listening to.
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