Author: Chris Moss
View album and artist detailsArtist/band: |
Cuncordu e Tenore de Orosei |
Label: |
Buda Musique |
Magazine Review Date: |
October/2015 |
If you don’t speak Sardo, the language of Sardinia, then you’re destined to seek other kinds of satisfaction in the work of Cuncordu e Tenore de Orosei. Fortunately, this mesmeric polyphonic a capella folk singing offers all kinds of aural delight. As the five varied voices of the male singers converge there are unexpected sonic effects. I heard what sounded like the resonances of a church organ, the barks of a (very musical) dog, and the tuneful rasping of something otherworldly and magical. Vast and affecting emotions are conveyed through the searching, spiralling voices. Where Gregorian chant repels or reveals, depending on your religious persuasion, there is something pure and deeply pleasurable to exposing your mind to a new, alien sound. There are, in fact, sacred pulses behind the traditional cuncordu form, but this group also include profane elements and perhaps it is this collision that stirs the soul.
The helpful liner notes explain that the 19 tracks speak of love, agricultural work, death, community dancing and, of course, the rosary and holy mass. A constantly surprising and spiritually thrilling journey to the ‘other continent’ off the coast of Italy.
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