Ya Hala Bil Dayf - Levantine Arabic Song Farya Faraji 2024-08-05 | Strings by Akram Berrada, qanun by the Hiimart group, vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is a folk song mainly found in Lebanon but also in Syria and Jordan. It was notably sung by singers Samira Tewkif and Layal Khaddaj. I modeled my pronunciation after Jordanian recordings of the song. The orchestration is a typical representation of Arabic Classical music as arranged in the Levant countries since the previous two centuries, with a Western string section of violins, cellos and contrabass played in a noticeably oriental manner using copious amounts of glissando and portamento on every note, instead of the Western reliance on vibrato as the standard way of playing all notes, traditional percussions, a qanun, as well as Lyrics in Arabic:ا هلا بالضيف ضيف اللهع حساب الروح اي واللهما بنرضى تروح من عناما بنرضى تروح لا واللهيا هَلّا بِالضَيْف ضَيْف اللّٰهع حِساب الرُوح أَي وَاللّٰهما بنرضى تُرَوِّح لا وَاللّٰهمرت ايام ع الفرقة ما دق ابوابي دقةمرت ايام ع الفرقة ما دق ابوابي دقةاشكي شوقي والحرقة مثل عيونك ما القىاشكي شوقي والحرقة مثل عيونك ما القىع الديرة الله جابك ردك من طول غيابكع الديرة الله جابك ردك من طول غيابكوانا دخيله وانا دخيلهمشتاقة العين مشتاقة وع خدودي دموع حراقةوعلى بعدك مالي طاقة يا محلى يوم نتلاقىوعلى بعدك مالي طاقة يا محلى يوم نتلاقىيا امير الكون غايتنا نشوفك تدوم فرحتنايا امير الكون غايتنا نشوفك تدوم فرحتنااسكن بربوع ديرتنا بي اهلنا وعزوتنااسكن بربوع ديرتنا بي اهلنا وعزوتناEnglish translation:Welcome guest of godI feel you in my soul, in truthWelcome guest of godI feel you in my soul in truthWe don't want you to leaveWe don't want you to leave, in truthDays passed since we brokeI complained to flame about youDays passed since we brokeI complained to flame about youI had a complaintYou came and helped meGod brought you to meGod brought you from your whole nothingnessGod brought you to meGod brought you from your whole nothingnessI am servant of godI am servant of godI miss you so muchQuench my heart, I miss youI miss you so muchQuench my heart, I miss youWe finally meet after separationMy heart is relieved, We come together againGod brought you to meGod brought you from your whole nothingnessGod brought you to meGod brought you from your whole nothingnessI am servant of godI am servant of godGod brought you to meGod brought you from your whole nothingnessGod brought you to meGod brought you from your whole nothingnessI am servant of godI am servant of godWelcome guest of godI feel you in my soul in truthWe don't want you to leaveWe don't want you to leave in truthWe don't want you to leave in truth
The Cruel Youth - English & American Folk Song Farya Faraji 2024-10-12 | Vocals by Aurora Aguilar and Farya Faraji, arrangement by Farya Faraji. The text of this song is found in many different variants in both England and America, with various allusions to a willow tree and a cruel youth. This specific melody is one I've heard a few people sing but could find no recordings of; I can't provide any information as to its geographical origins, but thought it would be interesting to have this variant here for diversity's sake.Lyrics:There was a youth, a cruel youthWho lived beside the sea,Six little maidens he drownded thereBy a lonely willow tree.As he walked forth with Sally Brown,As he walked by the sea;An evil thought then came to himBy that lonely willow tree."Take off your gown, your golden gown.Take off your gown," said he,For though I am going to murder youI would not spoil your finery.""Then turn around, you false young man."Turn around," said she,"For it is not meet that a youthA naked woman should see."He turned around, that false young man'Round about turned he.And seizing him boldly in both of her arms,She tossed him into the sea."Lie there, lie there, you false young manLie there, lie there," said she"Six little maidens you've drownded hereGo keep them company."He sank beneath the icy waves,He sank down into the sea.No living thing there wept for him, saveThat lonely willow tree.
Majorian - Epic Roman Music Farya Faraji 2024-10-07 | Vocals & music by Farya Faraji, lyrics by Sidonius Apollinaris, with aulos recordings from various ancient Greco-Roman musical researchers. Please note this isn't an attempt at historical reconstruction, only modern music with aspects of ancient Roman music and its instruments implemented.Majorian was a Western Roman Emperor from 457 to 461. A skilled general a commander, his primarily military reign consisted of fighting to reconquer lost territories and keep the empire alive. The lyrics are from Sidonius Apollinaris' panegyric for Majorian, who lived at the same time as Majorian. The isntrumentation consists of aulos, a pandoura, and an early form of the organ, an instrument that existed all the way back in Antiquity in various forms, and would rise to prominence in Europe starting with the end of Antiquity.Lyrics in Latin:Mūndō prīnceps Maiōriānus't,Clāmant hoc sīdera sīgnīs, hoc hominēs vōtīs. Ingēntia suādet cōnsilia et sequitur, tōtum quod cōgitat āltum est, ūrgēt quod spērāt. Sī clīpeum capiat, vincit Telāmōne crēātum. Missile sī quantō iaculētur pondere quaeris, sēgnius īnsertae trepidāns prō fāsce Camillae excussit tēlum Mētābus. Tōtus dormītat ad istum māgnus Alexandēr, patrīs quem glōria tōrsit.English translation:Majorian is Prince of the World,The stars clamour for this and men pray for this,He counsels the wise and they follow him, all he thinks of, he proceeds to make with haste.If he takes up his shield, he vanquishes Telamon.Next to him, Alexander the Great for whom his father's achievements was cause of grief, seems a pitiable sluggard.
Čudna Jada Od Mostara Grada - Bosnian Song Farya Faraji 2024-10-04 | Vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is a Bosnian song of the Sevdalinka genre, a traditional style centred on love songs that express deep longing and painful love stories, hence the usage of the Turkish term "sevda," which is a word for love that is specifically ardous and painful. My arrangement bridges modern and more traditional styles of Sevdalinka. Historically, the saz used to be its main instrument, and has now largely been replaced by the accordion. I used both in this arrangement to fuse both the modern and modern ancient sonorities of the genre.Bosnian lyrics:Čudna jadaOd Mostara gradaSve od lani, pa evo do sadaKako Biba od ljubavi stradaBol boluje čelebića BibaBol boluje, nikom ne kazujeBol boluje, nikom ne kazujeKceri BiboTi rumena ružoKaži majci šta te boli dušoKaži majci šta te boli dušoene boli i srce i glavaJer moj Ahmo s' drugom razgovaraJer moj Ahmo s' drugom razgovaraKakav AhmoVoda ga odnjelaZbog njega si Bibo oboljelaZbog njega si mlada oboljelaMila majko, nemoj Ahme kletiReko' me je na jesen uzetiReko' me je na jesen uzetiEnglish translation:Strange pain from the city of MostarIt’s already been a year nowSince Biba got hurt by loveČelebić Biba is suffering from pain,Suffering from pain, telling no oneSuffering from pain, telling no one” Biba, my daughter, rosy rose,dear, tell your mother where it hurts!dear, tell your mother where it hurts!”Both my heart and my head hurtCause my Ahmo is talking to another!Cause my Ahmo is talking to another!”“What Ahmo?! May the water carry him away,because of him, you’ve fallen ill Biba!”because of him, you’ve fallen ill so young!”“Dear mother, don’t curse Ahmo,He said he’d marry me in the fall!He said he’d marry me in the fall!”
Mehregan-e-Fereydun — Epic Iranian Music Farya Faraji 2024-09-30 | Music by Farya Faraji, vocals by Kelareh Kabiri & Farya Faraji, dotar by @edgarviens , tanbour by Soheil Saadat with improvisations by the latter two. This is a piece I composed for the occasion of the Iranian holiday of Mehregan, which celebrates the mythological fall of the usurper serpent-king Zahaak, who is taken down by Fereydun and Kaveh the blacksmith. The music uses the Iranian modes of Shur and Segah, and the instruments consists of the setar, dotar and tanbour, as well as a santour and daf drums. The lyrics are from the Shāhnāmeh, the national epic of Iran written by Ferdowsi in the Middle-Ages. English translation of the lyrics:There was one called Zahak,Unclean and bereft of good he was,Outside of human flesh, There was nothing that could sustain him,He struck the king's head, And said, O king, I am Kāveh the justice-seeker,I am but a humble blacksmith, But from this king we receive naught but pain,If you are king of seven countries,Why do we all suffer so?He took the leather from his boots,And hastening it onto his spear,Made a flag of it, He mixed red and gold and purple,And thus created the Kavyiani Derafsh,At the age of sixteen, Fereydun came down from the mountains,He had the beauty and greatness of Jamshid,And his allure was like the sun's,Like the wind he came onto Zahak,And brought his bull's head mace,Down onto his head,Upon this day of our Mehr month,The royal crown was placed upon Fereydun's head,The worship of Mehregān holiday is his religion,His goal is the growth of his land,He ordered for fire to be brought,And the people burned amber and saffron.
Warriors of Merope - Epic Slavic Music of the Balkans Farya Faraji 2024-09-25 | Music from the traditional repertoire of Slavic peoples of the Balkans, arrangement by Farya Faraji, artwork by Vasil Goranov, check out his amazing work here where he depicts various episodes of Bulgarian history: vasilgoranov.com/en/index.htmlThe instruments used in this arrangement are the gadulka, the saz, and the kaval, with daoul drums.
Kalingattuparani - Epic Indian Music Farya Faraji 2024-09-21 | Melody and female vocals by Vishnegwari V.S, veena by Latha Henthry, vocals by J, arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is a Tamil-language song that incorporates elements of Carnatic Classical Music and Tamil folk music, using the verses 404 to 407 of the epic poem Kalingattuparani.The Kalingattuparani is a 12th-century Tamil poem written by Jayamkondar about the victory of Kulottunga Chola I over the Kalinga king, Anantavarman Chodaganga in the Chola-Kalinga war. Parani is a type of literature about a historical figure that slays a thousand war elephants in battle. The poem is regarded as one of the masterpieces of Tamil literature for its mastery of diction and the way its poetry creates rythmic effects.I worked with Tamil rapper J. to deliver the poem in its original metre, and contacted Vishnegwari V.S, a professionally trained Carnatic vocalist from Tamil Nadu who used her expertise in Carnatic music and anthropological knowledge to devise a melody for the otherwise spoken nature of the original poem. The raagam, or mode chosen by her is Gambheera Nattai. To quote her: "the choice is rooted in the rāgam's inherent power and majesty, which perfectly encapsulate the grandeur and intensity of the epic’s war sequences. The war scenes in Kalingathu Parani are rich with valor and heroism. Gambheera Nattai is traditionally used in compositions that evoke strength and divinity, making it an ideal choice to reflect the heroic qualities of the warriors in Kalingathu Parani."The instruments used are the South Indian mridangam and kanjira drums and the South Indian meena. Konnakol, the practice of vocalising drum patterns with stock syllables, accompanies the rythmic texture of the piece.Lyrics in Tamil:404எடுமெடு மெடுமென வெடுத்ததோர் இகலொலி கடலொலி யிகக்கவேவிடுவிடு விடுபரி கரிக்குழாம் விடும்விடு மெனுமொலி மிகைக்கவே. 1405வெருவர வரிசிலை தெறித்தநாண் விசைபடு திசைமுகம் வெடிக்கவேசெருவிடை யவரவர் தெழித்ததோர் தெழியுல குகள்செவி டெடுக்கவே. 2இருபடைகளும் குதிரைகளும்406எறிகட லொடுகடல் கிடைத்தபோல் இருபடை களுமெதிர் கிடைக்கவேமறிதிரை யொடுதிரை மலைத்தபோல் வருபரி யொடுபரி மலைக்கவே. 3யானைப் படையும் குதிரைப் படையும்407கனவரை யொடுவரை முனைத்தபோற் கடகரி யொடுகரி முனைக்கவேஇனமுகின் முகிலொடு மெதிர்த்தபோல் இரதமொ டிரதமு மெதிர்க்கவே. English translation:Let us begin the war!Let us begin the war!Soldiers on both camps shouted,War cries reverberated like the roar of the ocean!Charge the cavalry here!Send the elephant division there!These war cries went on increasing!They stringed their strong bowsRending all the directions by their noise!In the battle-field.War cries struck the world dumb!Both the armies dashed against each otherLike the confrontation of two oceans;The charging of the cavalries,Like the confrontation of foaming waves!Warring elephants dashed against each otherLike the clash of the mountains!Chariots charged against each otherLike the clash of the clouds!
Un Canadien Errant - French Canadian Song Farya Faraji 2024-09-18 | Vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is a song written in 1842 by Antoine Guérin-Lajoie, a French Canadian writer, lawyer and poet who wrote this song in remembrance of the French Canadians who were exiled due to their assistance in the Patriotes Rebellion, where French Canadian insurgents arose against the English governing power. French lyrics:Un Canadien errantBanni de ses foyersParcourait en pleurantDes pays étrangersParcourait en pleurantDes pays étrangersUn jour, triste et pensifAssis au bord des flotsAu courant fugitifIl adressa ces motsAu courant fugitifIl adressa ces motsSi tu vois mon paysMon pays malheureuxVa dire à mes amisQue je me souviens d'euxVa dire à mes amisQue je me souviens d'euxNon mais en expirant,Ô mon cher Canada,Mon regard languissant,Vers toi se portera. English translation:Once a Canadian lad, banished from his home,Traveled, crying, through foreign lands. A sad and thoughtful day, sitting at the edge of the waves.To the fleeting current, he addresses these words:If you see my country, my unhappy country.Go tell my friends that I remember them.As I expire, oh my dear Canada,My languishing gaze shall turn to you.
The Tang Emperors - Epic Chinese Music Farya Faraji 2024-09-15 | Music from the historical repertoire of Tang-era music, erhu by Amanda Toh, arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is an arrangement of a historical piece of music from the era of Tang-dynasty China using modern Chinese instrumentation, known by the name Cáo Pó. Keep in mind that the melody I selected here is one of the many variations based on reconstructive methods. Described in the poem "Chasing the Past" (追昔遊) by Yuan Zhen (元稹), it was a dance piece. For more information on the melody, I refer you to this video with more exhaustive explanations: youtube.com/watch?v=CfF2PNBzlnE&list=PLm8mLM41EccCqytD8VuwCffd6cj_1NaX2&index=248Tang-era music demarcates itself from modern Chinese traditional music due to the stronger emphasis on heptatonic modes. Whilst modern Chinese traditional music has a tendency to emphasise pentatonicism relative to earlier eras, said earlier eras like the Tang-dynasty's would feature higher occurrences of heptatonic modes like the one heard here. The instrumentation consists of a modern Chinese ensemble of erhu, sheng, yangqin and pipa. The Tang dynasty ruled from 618 to 907, and it is seen by most historians as a golden of Chinese culture, some considering it the apex of many Chinese arts such as poetry.
Greek Musics Instruments - feat. Dimitrios Dallas Farya Faraji 2024-09-12 | In this video, I'm joined by musical genius @Dimitrios_Dallas to talk about the instruments that constitute the vast repertoire of Greek traditional music. Truly some Epic TalkingSource mentionned in the video:https://www.academia.edu/2154302/Westernization_of_Greek_music00:00 Intro03:09 Bagpipes and reeds16:19 Flutes and clarinet21:00 Bowed instruments35:00 Lutes47:20 Kanonaki and santouri51:20 Percussions55:10 Context of Greek music58:55 Regional diversity59:46 Rythmic patterns1:02:10 It's always changing1:03:21 Pitch in the modal traditions1:06:20 Westernisation and revival
Lament for Al-Andalus - Epic Arabic Music Farya Faraji 2024-09-09 | Vocals by Youssuf Nasser, oud by Mohab Attalah, ney and kawala by Peter Iskander, arrangement by Farya Faraji. The melody is not mine but based on traditional recitations of this poem using this melodic motif.This is a poem by Abu al-Baqa ar-Rundi, who lived in Al-Andalus in the 13th century and saw its conquest to the Catholics during the Reconquista, an event he laments in this poem, giving us an insight into the contemporary Muslim view of the conflict.The maqam used here is Bayat, and the instruments are basic ones from the Arab world and used in Andalusian music of the Middle-Ages; a frame drum, oud, and two traditional Arabic flutes; the ney and kawalla.
Cantiga 235 - Medieval Iberian Song Farya Faraji 2024-09-06 | Vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji, oud my Mohab Attalah, lyra by @stefanoskrasopoulis The Cantigas de Santa Maria are one of the most important musical works of Medieval Europe. Written during the reign of King Alfonso X of Castile in the medieval Portuguese-Galician language, they are a collection of 420 poems with musical notation. They were historically all attributed to him, but are now understood to have mostly been created by his court musicians, with some being credited to him. This is a historically informed performance that uses the musical methods and music theory of Europe at the time. The instruments are varied and range from the oud to a variety of other lutes like the gittern and citole. Psalteries and rebecs are the bowed instruments that are used, with flutes, bagpipes and a hurdy-gurdy. This selection was based on the wide variety of visual depictions of musicians of Iberia in that era. The arrangement exemplifies medieval European music in its highly heterophonic and horizontally ornamental nature, the usage of drones, modal polyphony not defined by tonal harmonic rules, and the usage of Organum in parallel fifths. The vocals employ a certain degree of ornamentation and microtonal inflection. I was more restrained and conservative in this regard, but Eduardo Paniagua's rendition goes especially in depth with these techniques after the halfway point of his performance which I suggest you check out, as it is an absolutely stellar version: youtu.be/Y_3sPICQhuU?si=sAlUqLYRnxh5acLRFor more info and sources on the elements discussed above, I refer you to my Epic Talking video playlist. The pronunciation is historically informed and in particular, employs José-Martinho Montero Santalha's hypothesis of many of the "n" sounds being representative of a voiced velar nasal "ŋ"; ultimately a precedence for the current nasal sounds found in Portuguese and Galician. For more info on the matter, consult this site: http://www.cantigasdesantamaria.com/pronounce.html
Sur la Route de Dijon - French Song Farya Faraji 2024-09-03 | Vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is a folk song from the region of Burgundy in France, and some of its typological aspects like the usage of the nonsense syllable "diguedon" are elements found across French music and that even have survived in French Canadian music.French lyrics:Sur la route de Dijon,La belle digue digueLa belle digue don bisIl y'avait une fontaine,La digue dondaine,Il y'avait une fontaineAux oiseaux, aux oiseaux.Près d’elle un joli tendron,La belle digue digueLa belle digue donPleurait comme un Madeleine,La digue dondaine,Pleurait comme un Madeleine,Aux oiseaux, aux oiseaux.Passa tout un bataillon,La belle digue digueLa belle digue donQui chantait à perdre haleine,La digue dondaine,Qui chantait à perdre haleineAux oiseaux, aux oiseaux.Comment est vous appelle-t-on ?La belle digue digueLa belle digue donJe me nomme Marjolaine,La digue dondaine,Je me nomme Marjolaine,Aux oiseaux, aux oiseaux.Marjolaine est un beau nom,S’écria le capitaine,Marjolaine, qu’avez-vous donc ?J’ai vraiment beaucoup de peine,Paraît que tout l'bataillon,Consola la Marjolaine,Si vous passez par Dijon,Allez boire à la fontaine,English translation:On the road to Dijon,There was a fountainThere was a young girl,Crying like a madeleine,A battalion passed by,Singing such they'd lose their breath,What's your name?My name is Marjolaine,Marjolaine, that's a beautiful name, said the Captain.Why do you cry so?I am very sad, Captain.They say the entire battalion comforted her.So if you go to Dijon, make sure to stop by the fountain there.
Whiskey in the Jar - Irish Song Farya Faraji 2024-08-27 | Vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is an Irish folk song, whose exact origins are unknown, but it's speculated that it descends from 17th century songs about highwaymen who roamed the many regions of Ireland. This arrangement uses the Seagull Merlin, the fiddle and the flute. Lyrics:As I was going over the far famed Kerry mountainsI met with captain Farrell and his money he was counting.I first produced my pistol, and then produced my rapier.Said stand and deliver, for I am a bold deceiver,Musha ring dumma do damma daWhack for the daddy ‘olWhack for the daddy ‘olThere’s whiskey in the jarI counted out his money, and it made a pretty penny.I put it in my pocket and I took it home to Jenny.She sighed and she swore, that she never would deceive me,But the devil take the women, for they never can be easyI went into my chamber, all for to take a slumber,I dreamt of gold and jewels and for sure it was no wonder.But Jenny took me charges and she filled them up with water,Then sent for captain Farrel to be ready for the slaughter.It was early in the morning, as I rose up for travel,Up comes a band of footmen and likewise captain Farrel.I first produced my pistol, for she stole away my rapier,I couldn’t shoot the water so a prisoner I was taken.If anyone can aid me, it’s my brother in the army,If I can find his station down in Cork or in Killarney.And if he’ll come with me, we’ll go roving near Kilkenny,And I swear he’ll treat me better than my own disporting Jenny
Peroz of China - Epic Chinese Iranian Music Farya Faraji 2024-08-23 | Music & vocals by Farya Faraji, guzheng by Yiang Ling, erhu by Amanda Toh, artwork by J.F Oliveras: jfoliveras.artstation.com/projects/NGd80JThis is me having some fun mixing together the modern Iranian and Chinese musical traditions as a thematic way to represent Peroz III, the son of the last Sasanian Emperor who went to exile in China. Promoted as a high ranking military officer of the Tang-era Chinese realm, he would, alongside his son Narsieh, try to reconquer Iran with the military aid of China from the hands of the Arab Muslims, but would ultimately fail to do so. Despite this, a Zoroastrian, Iranian diaspora would continue to exist in China for many centuries afterwards as refugees from the Islamic invasion of Iran.The main melody at the beginning was created from first writing a typical Iranian melody in the mode of Shur, and then subtracting notes from it in order to create a pentatonic effect; the principal melodic form of Chinese music. I also added my Sasanian leitmotif, played in the manner of modern Persian Classical music using the setar, tar and oud, with the tombak as the drum accompaniment. The Iranian daf provides the main percussions throughout most of the piece, and they're accompanied by the guzheng, erhu, yangqin, a Chinese dulcimer, the santour, a closely related Iranian dulcimer, and the Iranian ney flute.More interestingly, the melody that starts at 02:48 is a historical melody from circa the period of Peroz III, played on modern Chinese instruments. Called Jiu Huzi, or the Wine Puppet, this melody comes to us from Tang-era China, and was transcribed in the 70's by Laurence Picken, who found it surviving in 12th century Japanese manuscripts, where it was called Shukoshi. The reason I featured this melody goes beyond its era-appropriate nature, as it's a piece of music that is inherently linked to the Iranian world. The piece of music seems to be in reference to a tradition of puppetry that portrayed Sogdians, an Iranic people related to the Persians, whose wine seemed to have been prized by the local Chinese. An important Sogdian diaspora seemed to exist there, and these puppets would portray the exotically dressed, red-haired and blue eyed Sogdian character getting drunk and falling over. In The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T'ang Exotics (1963), Edward H. Schafer, paraphrasing the Japanese scholar Ishida Mikinosuke, writes: "The same young poets who languished over the pretty Iranian waitresses in the metropolitan wineshops laughed at the little puppets representing drunken Sogdians, with their peaked caps, blue eyes, and high noses, with which they played in houses of prostitution--when the ridiculous puppet fell over, the guest at whom it pointed had to empty his cup... These puppets were called chiu hu-tzu [i.e., jiu huzi, 酒胡子] or pu tsui hsien [i.e., bu zui xian, 捕醉仙]."The lyrics come from the Ballad of King Vahram, part of which I sang in my song of the same name from 2021. A piece of Middle-Persian Zoroastrian text from after the Islamic invasion (some scholars argue very soon after the invasion), it represent the hopes of the Zoroastrian Iranians for the return of a messianic figure from India who will drive away the Muslims and restore the native religion to the land.Middle-Persian lyrics:Be niger ka čand wad abgand ān druz pad ēn gēhān ka nēst wattar az ōy andar gēhān.Mazgitīhā frōd hilēm, be nišānēm ātaxšān uzdēszārīhā be kanēm ud pāk kunēm az gēhān, tā wany šawēnd druz-wišūdagān az ēn gēhān.Frazaft pad drōd šādīhEnglish translation:Behold how much evil that demon has cast upon the world,There is no more evil than they in the world,We will destroy the mosques, establish fires,We will raze the idol temples and blot them from the world,Til' evil gets destroyed, the daevic creature from the world,Finished with salutations and happiness.
Je Vivroie Liement - Medieval French Song Farya Faraji 2024-08-19 | Music & lyrics by Guillaume de Machaut, vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is a 14th century French song and one of my favourite songs of all time, from one of my favourite composers of all time: Guillaume de Machaut, a monument of not only French but Medieval music as a whole. As a leading figure of the Ars Nova, the emergent style of polyphony in France of the 1300's, he would secure his place as one of the most important musicians of the era. My goal with this arrangement was to provide a bridge to the gap between Renaissance and earlier medieval music. When comparing historically informed renditions of French music of the early modern era to that of the 1200's and prior, the difference is obvious; one can sense the shift from modality to tonality. However, the 1300's and 1400's mark a more subtle liminal state between both eras. Modality is slowly giving way to the emergent fundamentals of what would become tonality, aka what we now recognise as Western music. My goal was to create a completely monophonic rendition of this song, as pure monophony was still very much the norm of medieval music and of the virelai genre such as this song's; but the monophonic style here is ostensibly less modal than that of earlier songs like "E Dame de Montpellier," or "Chevaliers Mult Estez Guariz." The vocal style here is less florid and free with pitch inflection; microtonal inflections are gone, the entire attitude towards with pitch is far more strict and closer to our familiar idea of more recent Western music. As the Middle-Ages draw to an end, Western European music has changed into a different paradigm that becomes the recognisable proto-template for tonal music, which is what I wanted to illustrate here, by showing that even when dealing with monophony and a general lack of polyphony and verticality, the broader psychological-musical framework of Western European music has changed from earlier era's. Contrasting this piece with my Renaissance performances and earlier French piece should yield a fuller picture of the gradual shift from a fully modal tradition to the one we now know as Western music. The instruments used are the harp, the hammered dulcimer, and the vielle. Lyrics in Middle-French:Je vivroie liement,Douce creature,Se vous saviés vraiement,Qu′en vous fust parfaitement ma cure.Dame de meintieng joli,Plaisant, nette et pure,Souvent me fait dire 'ai mi!′Li maus que j'endurePur vous servir loyaument.Et soié seüreQue je ne puis nullementVivre einssi, se longuementMe dure.Je vivroie liement,Douce creature,Se vous saviés vraiement,Qu'en vous fust parfaitement ma cure.Je vivroie liement,Douce creature,Se vous saviés vraiement,Qu′en vous fust parfaitement ma cure.Car vous m′estes sans mercyEt sans pité dure.et s'avés le cuer de miMis en tel ardureQu′il morra certeinnementDe mort trop obscure,Se pour son aligementMerci n'est procheinnementMeüre.Je vivroie liement,Douce creature,Se vous saviés vraiement,Qu′en vous fust parfaitement ma cure.English translation:I should lead a happy life,sweet creature,if only you truly realizedthat you where the cause of allmy concern. Lady of cheerful bearing,pleasing, bright and pure,often the woe I sufferto serve you loyallymakes me say 'alas!'And you may be surethat I can in no waygo on living like this, if it lastsany longer. For you are merciless to meand pitilessly obdurate,and have put such longinginto my heart,that it will certainly diea most dismal death,unless for its reliefyour mercy is soonready.
Ó Meu Amor - Portuguese Song Farya Faraji 2024-08-14 | Vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. It was about time I finally tackled the last major Romance language left, and I wanted to start with a more obscure folk song from the area of Fundão, in Beira Baixa. This is originally a field work song, as evidenced by it being referred to as "tosquias," aka shearing. The earliest recording we have of it is in this album tradisom.com/en/produto/michel-giacometti-uma-longa-militanciaI wanted to bring together different aspects of the music in the area surrounding Fundão, namely of the Beiras and the general Centro region. The main percussive drive is provided by the adufe, a square frame drum said to be of Moorish origin, and most often associated with religious music, though it also had secular uses, specifically for field work. I modelled the rythm after a simple triple metre pattern heard in this recording: youtu.be/mKEPeq26raQ?si=t5Itv50NLxigjBD8I also brought in the sound of a bagpipe, the gaita-de fole de Coimbra, which has affinities with its northern sibling, the Northern Portuguese-Galician gaita, and of an accordion, an instrument commonly heard in the region. Lyrics in Portuguese:Ó meu amor, se tu fores,Leva-me, podendo ser!Eu quero ir acabarOnde tu fores morrer.Eu hei-de morrer cantando,Já que chorando nasci,Já que as glórias deste mundoSe acabaram p’ra mim.English translation:O my love, if you go,Take me, maybe!I want to endWherever you are going to die.I will die singing,Since I was born crying,Since the glories of this world,Are over for me.
Hoy Memo - Kurdish Song Farya Faraji 2024-08-10 | Bağlama by Ido Romano, vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is an Anatolian Kurdish folk song. The arrangement employs an array of instruments used in Anatolia such as the bağlama played by Ido Romano, the kopuz I'm seen playing in the video, a duduk, commonly played by Armenians, Kurds and Turks in the eastern parts of Anatolia, and a daf drum, mostly Iranian in usage, but commonly used by Kurds in Anatolia and synonymous with the geographical presence of Sufis. The time signature is in five, a relatively uncommon rythmic structure in most music around the world, but one of the most common ones in Anatolian and Balkan music. The maqam is Bayat, identical to the Western minor with the exception of a half flat second interval.Kurdish lyrics:Hoy hoy hoy Memo,Mem Ebasî Ebasî ,Jahro dilo Memo,Mem Ebasî, Ebasî.Hoy hoy hoy Memo,Kurtekî ser kirasî,Jahro dilo Memo,Kurtekî ser kirasî.Hoy hoy hoy Memo,Mem' em te ji Diyarbekir,Jahro dilo Memo,Mem' em te ji Diyarbekir.Hoy hoy hoy Memo,Wi ani barek şekir,Jahro dilo Memo,Wi ani barek şekir.Hoy hoy hoy Memo,Tîrê cerge du kerkir,Jahro dilo Memo,Tîrê cerge du kerkir.Hoy hoy hoy Memo,Hespê Memê min boz e,Jahro dilo Memo,Hespê Memê min boz e.Hoy hoy hoy Memo,Meydanê dike toz e,Jahro dilo Memo,Meydanê dike toz e.Hoy hoy hoy Memo,Sefer dayikê pîroz e,Jahro dilo Memo,Sefer dayikê pîroz e.Once again as if often the case with Anatolian folk songs, a translation is exceedingly difficult to perform due to the highly esoteric and metaphorical use of language in the original songs, and the translation I found on the Internet doesn't seem to do the song justice, so I'd rather let a Kurdish commenter with a good grasp of translation provide a better one.
Re Gilardin & Le Roi Renaud - Italian & French Song Farya Faraji 2024-08-07 | Vocals by Aurora Aguilar & Farya Faraji, arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is an arrangement of two different but related folk songs, one in the Piedmontese language, one of the many Romance languages of Italy, closely related to Italian, and the other in French. I grew up familiar with the French version, and would later learn that there exist multiple versions of this same tale in Occitan, Catalan, Piedmontese, and other Romance languages of that area. The Piedmontese and French version, however, share in common a very similar starting melody, which is why I wanted to arrange them together. According to scholar Georges Doncieux, the song's motifs would have Celtic and Scandinavian origins: https://www.persee.fr/doc/roma_0035-8029_1900_num_29_114_5625 Whatever the exact origin of this continuum of related folk songs, they all share in common the same motif of a king dying. My purposefully uses the overlapping aspects of modern Italian and French folk music, using instruments found in both traditions: a mandolin, accordion, and dulcimer. Some versions of the French song are in duple metre, but I used the version in triple metre to match the Italian one. Interestingly, the triple metre French song shows perfect syllabic and metric correspondence with other royal-themed historical French ballads like "La Fille au Roy Louis," which likely dated to the 1600's, showing at least continuity with earlier centuries, if not roots from that era.
Arză-l Focul Dascăl - Romanian Song Farya Faraji 2024-08-01 | Vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is a reupload from a 2021 version to correct some technical mixing errors, as well as amend the overly present emphasis on counterpoint in that original version, the latter technique not being particularly representative of Romanian music, during the 19th-18th centuries when this song seems to emerge.This rather humorous folk song is a fascinating memory of a time when the Phanariots, a Greek elite class of the Ottoman Empire who resided in the Phanar district of Istanbul, hence their name, and who would occupy important positions as rulers of the Voivodes of Moldova and Wallachia in the 1700's. This presence as the ruling elite of those lands meant that Greek influences were pronounced at the time, with many of the educated having to learn Greek as a result, hence the existence of this song decrying having to learn Greek, and describing the language as unlearnable gibberish. The image on the picture is a portrait of the Mavrokordatos family who were distinguished Phanariots, with some of their family members like Nicholas having ruled over a Voivode in what would ultimately become the modern countries of Romania and Moldova. The song was collected by the musician, psaltist and folklorist Anton Pann in the 1852 book, Anton Pann, Spitalul amorului sau Cântătorul dorului, București, 1852. tiparituriromanesti.wordpress.com/2013/09/18/anton-pann-spitalul-amorului-sau-cantatorul-dorului-bucuresti-1852This arrangement owes much to the works of Trei Parale and the artists featuring in the film Aferim! by Radu Jude, and represents a soundscape found in Wallachia at the time with the rise of Westernising influences in Romania, one decried by the great Barbu Lautaru in one of his songs. Unlike some of the more archaic interpretations of the song, this one is more recent and would best fit in the 1800's, with the țambal and violin appearing alongside the kaval, a more archaic instrument in the region. This arrangement foreshadows the appearance of Muzică Populară, the current commercialised form of traditional music found in Romania, whilst still retaining some of the more archaic, modal and non-harmonic language of pre-Westernisation music of the region.Lyrics in Romanian: Arză-l focul dascăl,Cum mă necăjește,Umblă să mă-nvețeGrecul păsăreșteTipto tiptis tipto tiptisTipto tiptis tipto tisAh! Ce foc pe mine!Of! Ce supărare!Să strig toata ziuaTot în gura mareTipto tiptis tipto tiptisTipto tiptis tipto tipAh! Ce bucurieE pân’ țară mieCând văd pe câmpie,Mi se-arată mie:Căprioare mâncătoare,Prepelițe zburătoare,Păsărele cântătoare,Ce mă chem la vânătoare. I haven't managed to find any word for word translations that would do the lyrics justice, so if any of our Romanian friends could provide one, I would be happy to add it to this description.
To Vapori Ap Tin Persia - Greek Song Farya Faraji 2024-07-27 | Vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is a Greek song from the Rembetiko repertoire. Rembetiko is a form of music that came to crystallise in the way that we know of in the 1930's, and its origins are deeply intertwined with the music that Greeks from Greece called Smyrneika, that is, the music of the Greek cafés in Asia Minor. That "early" chapter that precedes Rembetiko proper was played on local Anatolian instruments such as the oud, qanun, santouri, etc, and the best examples of those are the recordings by Rosa Eskenazi, and I also highly recommend the modern recordings by Αρετή Κετιμέ: youtube.com/watch?v=rH3MYqTKSCwFollowing the population exchanges and the arrival of the 30's, however, the arrival of the Anatolian Greeks into Greece proper would cause a massive syncretism which would give birth to Rembetiko as we know it today, as Smyrneika came to be syncretised with local Greek mainland elements at the time when Greece was undergoing a massive Westernisation of its culture. The instruments that came to dominate were instruments like the bouzouki, or the tzouras, instruments fretted according to the Western temperament system, and capable of playing chords. This crystallisation of Rembetiko in the 30's coincided with the growing Westernisation of Greek culture, and gives us the sound of Rembetiko heard here, a syncretism of the native Greek modal system with Western harmonic imports. Rembetiko cafés were often centres of hashish, hookah, drugs, alcohol, and other more taboo parts of society, and therefore the music genre has garnered a legendary status as the music of outlaws and outcasts, with many of the lyrics being centred on drug use. My arrangement reflects the highly Westernised post-population exchange sound of Rembetiko, with the instruments I used being the bouzouki, accordion and tzouras, the latter being the instrument I play in the video. As a nod to the reference to Iran in the song, I included a short segment using the tar and Iranian santour, with the melody being changed to the Shur mode of Iranian music, instead of the Phrygian that the rest of the song is played in.Lyrics:Το βαπόρι απ’ την ΠερσίαΠιάστηκε στην ΚορινθίαΤόννοι έντεκα γεμάτοΜε χασίσι μυρωδάτοΤώρα κλαίν’ όλα τ’ αλάνιαΠου θα μείνουνε χαρμάνιαΒρε κουρνάζε μου τελώνηΤη ζημιά ποιος τη πληρώνειΚαι σ’ αυτή την ιστορίαΜπήκαν τα λιμεναρχείαΤώρα κλαίν’ όλα τ’ αλάνιαΠου θα μείνουνε χαρμάνιαΉταν προμελετημένοιΚαρφωτοί και λαδωμένοιΔυο μεμέτια, τα καημέναΜεσ’ στο κόλπο ήταν μπλεγμέναΤώρα κλαίν’ όλα τ’ αλάνιαΠου θα μείνουνε χαρμάνιαEnglish translation:The ship from Persia,Got caught in Corinth,Loaded with eleven tons,Of nice-smelling hashish,Now all the vagabonds are crying,For they are left smoke-starving,Υου smart-ass officer,Now who gets to pay for the damage,In this story even port authorities snooped-into,It was all well set up,A bought-off betrayalTwo poor Turkish guysWere involved in this.Now all the vagabonds are crying,For they are left smoke-starving,
Küffar Sanur - Ottoman Turkish Song Farya Faraji 2024-07-24 | Saz by Ido Romano, vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is a song that dates back to Ottoman times, some say to the end of the 16th century, during a war with the Austrian Empire. The lyrics describe the efforts of the Austrians to recapture European territories after the fall of Eger fortress, and also allude to the Battle of Mohacs a few decades earlier, one of the greatest military victories in the history of the Ottoman Empire.The arrangement consists of a baglama saz played by Ido Romano, an additional, more simple layer of the divan saz which I played underneath Ido's masterful and florid delivery, and tambourine drums as well as a bendhir drum. The time signature is 9/8, one very common in the Balkans and Anatolian music.Lyrics in Turkish:Küffar sanur hüccet almış Eğri'ye,Hali benzer nefes çekmiş bengiye.Bire sorun Nemçelüyle Lehliye,Ne de çabuk unuttular Mohaç'ı.Yağız atın dikelince yelesi,Başımızdan esti gaza nefesi.Bre sorun nerde Nemçe kölesi,Dayanır mı Zülfikare kellesi?Haberler iletin Beç Çasarı'na,Durmasın kılıcın sarsın donuna.Er ise buyursun er meydanına,Ne de çabuk unuttular Mohaç'ı.English translation:The Infidels thought that Eger belongs to them,They look like they have smoked opium.Ask those Austrians and Poles,How quickly did they forget Mohács? When his gallant horse reared up,The breath of jihad blew over us,Ask now, where is the Austrian slave?Can his head resist to the blade of Zulfiqar? Send news to the Emperor in Vienna,Tell him to don his sword.Tell him to come to the battlefied if he's man enough,How quickly did they forget Mohács?
Legio VI Ferrata - Epic Roman Music Farya Faraji 2024-07-21 | Vocals & music by Farya Faraji, including aulos melodies by specialists of Ancient Greco-Roman music. Please note that this isn't reconstructed historical music, but modern music which uses Ancient Roman instruments and aspects of their music theory.The VI Ferrata (ironclad) was a legion raised by Caesar in Cisalpine Gaul, and then became a mainstay in the later Imperial armies of Rome. It fought in many important battles such as Alesia and Actium, and was attested as far as the era of Diocletian. The instruments used are different aulos models, the pan flute, as well as drums and cymbals. The melody is based on the modal principles of Roman music, switching between the Diatonic Phrygian and Dorian modes, as well as using the Chromatic genus of their music.The Latin is pronounced using Classical pronunciation. Latin lyrics:Mors et Mars et mūrī sumus,Audīte inimīcī! Sanguīs mel et vīnum'stAudīte inimīcī! Canimus et canimus,Carmen ferrī canimus,Carō nostra ferrum est,Audīte inimīcī! Fātum nostrum glōria'stAudīte inimīcī! Sumus sextus ferrāta, Audīte inimīcī! Superbia Rōmae sumus,Audīte inimīcī! English translation:Death and Mars and walls we are,Listen, enemy!Blood is honey and wine,Listen, enemy!We sing and sing,We sing the song of iron,Our flesh is iron,Listen enemy!Our fate is glory,Listen, enemy!We sing and sing,We sing the song of iron,We are the Sixth Ironclad,Listen, enemy!We are Rome's pride,Listen, enemy!We sing and sing,We sing the song of iron,
Gusta Mi Magla Padnala - Serbian Song Farya Faraji 2024-07-20 | Kaval and gaida by @Dimitrios_Dallas, saz by Yorgos Mourkousis, vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is a Serbian folk song said to hail from the southern part of Serbia, namely the Kosovo and Metohija region. One of the most popular Serbian folk songs, it's often arranged in a more modernised form using contemporary instruments such as the accordion, but I wanted the instrumental soundscape to hearken to an older time circa the 1500's to 1700's, with more archaic but still utilised instruments such as the kaval flute, the gaida bagpipe, and the saz. The music is structured in a 7/8 time signature, one of the most common ones in Serbian music. I was also careful to render the vocals with intonation that is deliberately archaic: instead of matching the modern 12 tone equal temperament notes found in Western music, some traditional Serbian vocalists still sing notes that fall outside of that spectrum, notably with the second interval being a little sharper, and the fourth being somewhat flatter, giving this rendition a more archaic flavour that is neither perfectly minor nor phrygian, which are commonly the notes now utilised in much of more modernised Serbian folk music. Typical drone harmony accompanies the vocals, with the secondary voice switching from tonic to subtonic as a form of pedal note underneath the main melody.One interesting aspect to note is the line "Кол’ко су sвезде на небо, море, Кол’ко су sвезде на небо. Тол’ко су шарке на њега, море, Тол’ко су шарке на њега," which translates to "as many stars as there are in the sky, there are hinges/patterns on this vest." This turn of phrase is a common one found in many Slavic songs of the Balkans, also found in Bulgarian music, with the phrase "as many leaves as there are in the forest, that much happiness be bestowed upon this house," or similar alternatives, etc.Lyrics in Serbian:Густа ми магла паднала, море,Густа ми магла паднала.На тој ми рамно Косово, море,На тој ми рамно Косово.Ништа се живо не види, море,Ништа се живо не види.До једно дрво високо, море,До једно дрво високо.Под њег ми седив терзије, море,Под њег ми седив терзије.Они ми шијев јелече, море,Они ми шијев јелече.Кол’ко су sвезде на небо, море,Кол’ко су sвезде на небо.Тол’ко су шарке на њега, море,Тол’ко су шарке на њега.English translation:A dense fog has fallen down,Upon this plane Kosovo field.Nothing can be seen,but one tall tree.A tailor is sitting under (the tree).He is sewing a vest for me.As many stars there are in the sky,that many colours are on the vest.
Maid on the Shore - Canadian Song Farya Faraji 2024-07-18 | Vocals by Farya Faraji and Aurora Aguilar, arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is a song that's quite popular in the U.S and especially Ireland, and despite the common misconception that this song is originally Irish, its actual origins are found in Newfoundland, attested for the first time in the 1933 book “Ballads and Sea Songs of Newfoundland”, collected and edited by Elisabeth Bristol Greenleaf, and was collected from a certain Annie Walters of Rocky Harbour, Newfoundland in 1929. Only later did the song make its way into Ireland when it became a popular folk song.The instrumentation uses the Seagull Merlin, a very recent instrument created here in Québec, as well as an accordion. Lyrics:There is a young maiden, she lives all a-loneShe lives all a-lone on the shore-oThere is nothing she can find to comfort her mindBut to roam all a-lone on the shore, shore, shoreBut to roam all a-lone on the shore‘Twas of the bold Captain who sailed the salt seaLet the wind blow high, blow lowI will die, I will die, the bold Captain did cryIf I don’t have that maid on the shore, shore, shore …I have lots of silver, I have lots of goldI have lots of costly wares-oI’ll divide, I’ll divide, with my jolly ship’s crewIf they row me that maid on the shore, shore, shore …After much persuasion, they got her aboardLet the wind blow high, blow lowThey placed her a chair in his cabin belowHere’s adieu to all sorrows and care, care, care …They replaced her away in his cabin belowLet the wind blow high, blow lowShe sung charming and sweet, she sung neat and completeShe sung Captain and sailors to sleep, sleep, sleep …Then she robbed him of silver, she robbed him of goldShe robbed him of costly wares-oThen took his broadsword instead of an oarAnd paddled her way to the shore, shore, shore …Why me men must be crazy, me men must be madMe men must be deep in despair-oFor to let you go ‘way, with your beauty so gayAnd to paddle your way to the shore, shore, shore …Your men was not crazy, your men was not madYour men was not deep in despair-oI deluded your sailors as well as yourselfI’m a maiden again on the shore, shore, shore...
Ljubav Se Ne Trži - Croatian Song Farya Faraji 2024-07-15 | Violin by Mikhail Bugaev, vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is a folk song from the region of Međimurje, the northenmost region of the country. Music in this region reflects the typological features of Central and Eastern European music rather prominently. Similarly to Hungarian or Transylvanian music, melodies are defined by densely packed chord progressions that switch between consonance and dissonance, creating a lighter tone that would otherwise make the minor melodies far more sombre. The instruments used are the violin, played skillfully by Mikhail Bugaev using a style often heard in music of the region with little vibrato and a slightly freer pitch intonation that one found in Classical forms of Western Europe. I played a mandolin in lieu of a Croatian tamburica due to their similar sounds, supporting the underlying harmonic progression with maintained tremolo, something heard across most of the country's music, even in regions with fundamentally different music such as Dalmatia on the West coast. Similarly to a lot of Romanian and Hungarian music, arpegiatted chords accompany the melody with the use of a very muted technique on the cimbalom.Lyrics in Croatian:Ljubav se ne tržiNiti ne kupujeKo ljubiti ne znaNek se ne hapljujeAko nam je ljubavIskrena i pravaZ srca ju ne spereMura niti DravaLjubav ne raspariŽbiri ni žandariNiti poglavariEnglish translation:Love isn't up for sale, nor can be bought,Love isn't up for sale, nor can be boughtWho can't love, ought not to beginWho can't love, ought not to begin. If our love is sincere and true.If our love is sincere and trueOff my heart it can't be washed offNeither by the Mura nor the Drava.Love isn't up for sale, nor can be bought,Love isn't up for sale, nor can be boughtWho can't love, ought not to even try loving.
Jarnana - Albanian Song Farya Faraji 2024-07-13 | Clarinet by Dimitrios Dallas, check out his excellent music on his channel youtube.com/@Dimitrios_Dallas, vocals by Kelareh Kabiri, Sumru Ağıryürüyen and Farya Faraji. This is a reworking of an earlier version I had made in 2021. This is a traditional song sung by the Tosk Albanians, one of the two main Albanian ethnic groups and the one that resides in the parts of Southern Albania. This piece of music's pentatonic nature sets its origins firmly in the southern parts of the country, most probably Epirus, a historical and geographical region now shared between Greece and Albania. This style of music is one shared by multiple ethnic groups, namely Greeks, Albanians and Aromanians, resulting in much disputes over accusations of stealing and claims that the style belongs solely to one's own group, as is common in regions of the world with a strong sense of hostile nationalism. I refer the reader to the comment section for proof of that claim.The music of Epirus is one defined by the region, and much like the music of Thrace, the music is largely the same no matter the ethnicity that resides in it. The same way Bulgarian Thracian music and Greek Thracian music transcend national borders to instead reflect the historical reality of those regions where the two distinct language speakers developed a common musical culture, so does the music of Epirus historically connect both Greeks and Albanians within a connected, singular musical tradition in this region. Epirotic music is defined by its pentatonic nature, a most peculiar oddity in a region of the world that is almost entirely heptatonic in nature and defined by the usage of very small clustered intervals, as is usually the case in the modal traditions of the region. Whilst most versions available on YouTube are highly modernised, I wanted to bring this one back to a more traditional, 1900's sensibility by focusing on the usage of the clarinet, the main instrument of the genre, played expertly by my colleague Dimitrios Dallas. The chord progression is provided by the laouto, a Greek instrument adopted by Albanians in this region, a double bass gives the bass line, and traditional tambourines provide the percussions. Harmony is also an important of this region's music. Called the polyphonic song of Epirus or Iso-Polyphony, two concepts that are largely overlapping and interchangeable; Epirotic harmony consists mainly of drone harmonies, and the one most often heard in the rendering of this song is the usage of the "dredhes," voice, called "κλώστη," in Greek, which translated to "spinner," an allusion to the voice that this vocalist "spins" the music from a steady drone of the tonic to the subtonic during moments of melodic cadence; something I consider one of the most basic forms of overall Balkan harmony found in Bulgaria and Serbia too, despite their tradition being distinct from Epirotic harmony.Lyrics in Albanian:Me jep nje pik uje moj baluke e prer Me se te te jap o trendafil me ereJarnana jarna ne jarnan moj te keqen eJarnana jarna ne jarnan moj te keqen eO me doren tende moj baluke prer Dora mu ndodh zen o trendafil me erJarnana jarnana ne jarnana moj te keqen eJarnana jarnana ne jarnana moj te keqen e Me se tu ndodh zene moj baluke prere Me unazen tende trendafil me er English translation:Give me water with your hands, oh girl with cut bangsWith what do I give it to you, scented rose?La la la, may I take all your misfortunes upon me.With your own hands, oh girl with cut bangsMy hand happens to be busy, scented rose. What’s making your hand busy, oh girl with cut bangs?The ring you gave me, scented rose.
Kol Dodi - Sephardic Song Farya Faraji 2024-07-08 | Oud by Oğüzhan Özkılıç, vocals by Kelareh Kabiri and Farya Faraji, arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is another song from the Sephardic musical repertoire, the community of Jews expelled from Iberia at the end of the Reconquista and who settled around the Mediterranean, principally in the Ottoman Empire.The first challenge in providing an ethnomusicologically informed rendition is of Sephardic songs is determining what context the rendition should exemplify. Indeed, Sephardic music is a repertoire, not a style, which means it's a collection of shared songs, but the playing style is geographically determined: Serbian Sephardic Jews would have Serbian sounding music, those in Rhodes would have music sounding like Rhodes', etc. I decided my rendition would have the typological features of West Anatolian and Aegean music of circa the previous two centuries. Therefore, I used an oud, a saz, qanun, kaval, and percussions of the area. It's important to note that I'm unsure whether the song was actually performed in that region or not, as some songs were historically more localised and very few songs of the Sephardis actually date back to their common Iberian roots pre-dispersion. Unlike most Sephardi songs, this one is not in the Ladino language, but instead in Hebrew, a language that was long dead, or rather dormant for much of Jewish history, and only survived has a liturgical and prestige language before being fully revived recently. The lyrics come from the Book of Songs.Hebrew lyrics:Kol dodi, kol dodiKol dodi hineh ze baM’kaltez al heharimM’daleg al hagva’otEnglish translation:My lover's voice, my lover's voice,My lover comes!Leaping on the mountains,Skipping on the valleys.
Dacw Nghariad - Welsh Song Farya Faraji 2024-07-05 | Vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is a folk song in the Welsh language I arranged in a contemporary style that would fit how the song would have been heard in the previous two centuries, using the harp and hammered dulcimer, two instruments used in Welsh music. The song is said to have been collected in 1908 at the earliest.Lyrics in Welsh:Dacw 'nghariad i lawr yn y berllan,Tw rym di ro rym di radl didl dalO na bawn i yno fy hunan,Tw rym di ro rym di radl didl dalDacw'r tŷ, a dacw'r 'sgubor;Dacw ddrws y beudy'n agor.Ffaldi radl didl dal, ffaldi radl didl dal,Tw rym di ro rym di radl didl dal.Dacw’r dderwen wych ganghennog,Tw rym di ro rym di radl didl dalGolwg arni sydd dra serchog.Tw rym di ro rym di radl didl dalMi arhosaf yn ei chysgodNes daw 'nghariad i 'ngyfarfod.Ffaldi radl didl dal, ffaldi radl didl dal,Tw rym di ro rym di radl didl dal.Dacw'r delyn, dacw'r tannau;Tw rym di ro rym di radl didl dalBeth wyf gwell, heb neb i'w chwarae?Tw rym di ro rym di radl didl dalDacw'r feinwen hoenus fanwl;Beth wyf well heb gael ei meddwl?Ffaldi radl didl dal, ffaldi radl didl dal,Tw rym di ro rym di radl didl dal English translation:There is my sweetheart down in the orchard,Oh how I wish I were there myself,There is the house and there is the barn;There is the door of the cow house open.There is the gallant, branching oak,A vision, lovingly crowned.I will wait in her shadeUntil my love comes to meet me.There is the harp, there are her strings;What better am I, without anyone to play her for?There’s the delicate fair one, exquisite and full of life;What nearer am I, without having her attention?
Rashid Khan - Iranian Song Farya Faraji 2024-07-02 | Vocals by Kelareh Kabiri, arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is an Iranian folk song said to hail from the Kurmanji Kurdish community of Khorasan, in Iran. Rashid Khan was a military man who served under Nasseredin Shah in the 19th century, and fought the Russian Empire on his orders; he was given the title Shojaodolleh, meaning roughly "the brave one." However, a truce was declared at some point in which a part of Iran in the Caucasus would be given over to the Russians. He was forced under royal pressure to sign the truce, and he died two days later as he was on the way back home; some say he was grief stricken and therefore passed away. Legend says this song arose in his native home in Khorasan, as a lament begun by his wife and his kin. The arrangement is based on typical features of Iranian folk, using the tanbour, santour and kamancheh as main instruments, all playing the melody in Shur, a mode akin to the Western minor but with a microtonal second interval. The drums are the tombak, playing the typical triple metre rhythm found across all of Iran. Lyrics in Khorasani Persian:امروز دو روزه للو فردا سه روزه لورشید نیومد للو دلم میسوزه لووای وای رشید خان سردار کل قوچانرفتی نگفتی للو یک یاری دارم لودر شهر غربت للو دلداری دارم لووای وای رشید خان سردار کل قوچاناین رخت کِیَه للو رخت یارمه لومی خوام بشورم للو با آب گلها لووای وای رشیدخان سردار کل قوچانرخت حاکمه للو با چشم بشویم لوگل بهارمه للو با چشم بشویم لووای وای رشید خان سردار کل قوچانEnglish translation of the lyrics:Today is two days, tomorrow will be three,Rashid has not come, my heart burns,Oh, oh, Rashid Khan, captain of all Ghouchan.You left, you did not think to yourself, "I have a lover,"That I'll be leaving in this city, all alone,Oh, oh, Rashid Khan, captain of all Ghouchan.Whose clothes are these? These are my lovers'I want to clean them with the water of flowersOh, oh, Rashid Khan, captain of all Ghouchan.These are the clothes of the captain,I will clean them with my eyesOh, oh, Rashid Khan, captain of all Ghouchan.
Bardcore & Neo-Medieval vs Actual Medieval Music Farya Faraji 2024-06-28 | Sources:Ian Pittaway's excellent articles on Medieval music found on his blog:earlymusicmuse.com/emm-blog-indexOrganum Duplum aux 12ème et 13ème siècles, Alban Thomas, https://academia.edu/resource/work/84526550Organum, Encyclopedia Britannica, britannica.com/art/organumThe Ancient Art of Organum: youtu.be/N37SWKrUz0w"The Sound of Medieval Song, Ornamentation and Vocal Style According to the Treatises"Timothy J. McGee, Latin translations by Randall A. Rosenfeld"Ornamental" Neumes and Early Notation" Timothy J McGeehttps://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1168&context=ppr“Microtones and neumes”, Leo Lousberg: https://www.medieval.eu/microtones-and-neumes/amp/“Microtones as rhetorical tools”, Leo Lousberghttps://www.academia.edu/27388625/160729_Microtones_as_rhetorical_tools_pdf“Microtones according to Augustine” Leo Lousberghttps://www.academia.edu/44336775/MICROTONES_ACCORDING_TO_AUGUSTINE_NEUMES_SEMIOTICS_AND_RHETORIC_IN_ROMANO_FRANKISH_LITURGICAL_CHANT_Volume_IIHyeronimus de Moravia: Ornamentation and Exegesis in Gregorian, Old Roman, and Byzantine Chant: https://academia.edu/resource/work/853498"On Microtones in Gregorian Chant," Ted Krasnicki: https://academia.edu/resource/work/10914162500:00 Intro03:10 Disclaimers06:29 Tonality : Modern Western Theory19:06 Modality : Medieval Music Theory33:08 Medieval Harmony46:00 The Psychology of Bardcore
The Princes of Lazica - Epic Byzantine Music Farya Faraji 2024-06-25 | Music from the traditional repertoire of Laz music, with improvisations by Dimitrios Dallas who recorded the Pontic lyra and tulum bagpipe, be sure to check out his awesome work here youtube.com/channel/UC3SwRGRooZwTLssMrweWeAQ. The Epic Byzantine Music series is a musical project where I explore various sounds from the ethnomusicological ecosystem of modern traditional music, using sounds from modern folk traditions as they are today as a framing device for themes pertaining to the history of the Eastern Roman Empire. In this case, I wanted to tackle the theme of the Trapezuntine Empire, a rump state of the Eastern Roman Empire after its temporary collapse following the sack of Constantinople by the Latin Crusaders. The Empire of Trebizond was formed in the Northeastern extremities of Anatolia, close to Georgia, and a massive portion of its population consisted of the Laz people, a Kartvelian people closely related to Georgians who inhabit the region known as Lazica. For this reason, the rulers of the empire were titled Princes of the Lazes. Therefore, this song consists of a mixture of Pontic Greek and Laz traditions.Laz music of Anatolia and Pontic Greek music overlap significantly, being essentially the same broad musical tradition and using the same fundamental features. The Black Sea fiddle is a primary instrument of the region, as is the tulum bagpipe, with the primary drum being the davul, all of them used here. I also employed a Georgian pandouri, an instrument commonly featured nowadays in Laz music, even of Anatolia, as a nod to their common kinship with Georgians. Much of the music in this region is primarily dance music, and often structured in asymmetrical rythmic structures, such as a 5 based beat in this song. I really wanted to feature the Laz language in this composition, so I simply featured a Laz love song called Furt'unaşen Gebulur that me and my mom sang in the Laz language, and my colleague Dimitrios Dallas played expertly using the Black Sea kementze and the bagpipe, adding to it his own improvisations in the style of Pontic Greek music. A form of drone harmony is also found in Laz music, something shared with their Georgian neighbours, switching from tonic to subtonic. All in all, this composition shows an example of Pontic Greek and Laz music with Georgian elements added in, showing the fascinating musical landscape of Lazica at the junction of the Greek, Anatolian, and Kartvelian worlds.Lyrics in Greek and Laz:Έλα! Γιε της Ρώμης,Η Ρωμανία ζει,Ζει στα μαύρα κύματα,Στα τραγούδια των Λαζών. Furtunaşen gevulur Nena momçi mevulurE bozo skani şeni P'anda çveri govulur Rak'anis mot geladgir Limçişi xvala xvalaMoxti mendegiyona Mulurna çkimi k'alaVar megocan e biç'iVar malen skani k'ala Ubas mu mologidzin Muç'o mzuğaş kvanç'ala Mtel dadepe hak renan Çkva heşo var barbala Ma şkurina va miğunMet'k'oçi bincubala English translation:Come! Son of Rome,Rhomania lives,She lives in the black waves,In the songs of the Lazes.I'm coming down from the storm stream. Give me a sound, I'm coming.Girl for you,I'm always walking around with burns.Why are you standing on the hill?In the evening, all alone.Come let me take you,If you come with me.I don't trust you, young man.I can't come with you.What are you hiding in your bosom?It looks like a stone from the sea.All my sisters are here,Don't be so stupid.I have no fear,Let me shut you up.
Vla lbon Vent - French Canadian Song feat. Michael Burnyeat Farya Faraji 2024-06-21 | Vocals by Farya Faraji & Aurora Aguilar, fiddle by @MICHAELBURNYEAT, whose channel I highly recommend you visit here for more fiddle tunes: youtube.com/user/MICHAELBURNSTREATThis is a traditional French Canadian song most closely related to the Acadian community and the Eastern coasts of Québec around the St-Lawrence Gulf. Some claim it goes back all the way to 300 years ago, when the coureurs des bois would sing it on their travels. This is one of the many versions with differing lyrics one can find across the regions where it's played.The arrangement is typical of French Canadian music and features a classic rythmic pattern generated by podorythmie, the usage of feet to create percussions, as well as cuillères, musical wooden spoons. A Seagull Merlin, an instrument made in Québec, provides the chord progression. The main instrument is the fiddle, played expertly by Michael Burnyeat, a talented fiddler and fellow Canadian from British Columbia who plays in the various regional styles of Canadian music. The overall rhythm and fiddling style is owes much to the historical influence Irish influence had over Québec, now making up the second most important aspect of ancestry and cultural influence in the province after the original French settlers.I filmed this video across the coasts of the Côte-Nord region, the region of Québec north of Tadoussac that follows the widening St-Lawrence river as it turns into the St-Lawrence Gulf, and ultimately, pours into the open Atlantic. Acadian communities have some marked influence in towns such as Havre-Saint-Pierre, and the land is the historical homeland of the Innu people, one of the First Nations of Canada. The video features landscapes from the southern parts of the Côte-Nord all the way to Kegaska, the northernmost settlement where the roads stop.Lyrics in Canadian French:V’là l’bon vent, v’là l’joli ventV’là l’bon vent, ma mie m’appelle,V’là l’bon vent, v’là l’joli ventV’là l’bon vent, ma mie m’attend.Derrière chez nous y'a un étang,Le fils du roi s’en va chassant.Le fils du roi s’en va chassant. Avec son grand fusil d’argent.Avec son grand fusil d’argent. Visa le noir, tua le blanc.Visa le noir, tua le blanc. Ô fils du roi, tu es méchantÔ fils du roi, tu es méchantD’avoir tué mon canard blanc.D’avoir tué mon canard blanc.Par-dessus l’aile, il perd son sang.Par-dessus l’aile, il perd son sang. Par les yeux lui sort des diamants.Par les yeux lui sort des diamants.Et par le bec l’or et l’argent.Et par le bec l’or et l’argent. Toutes ses plumes s’en vont au vent.Toutes ses plumes s’en vont au vent.Trop d'hommes s'en vont les ramassant.English translation:There goes the good wind, there goes the pretty windHere comes the good wind, my friend is calling me,There goes the good wind, there goes the pretty windHere comes the good wind, my sweetheart is waiting for me.Behind our house there is a pond,The king's son goes hunting.The king's son goes hunting.With his big silver rifle.With his big silver rifle.Aim at the black, kill the white.Aims at the black one, kills the white one.O son of the king, you are wicked.O son of the king, you are wicked.For killing my white duck.For killing my white duck.Over the wing, he loses blood.Over the wing, he loses blood.Diamonds come out of his eyes.Diamonds come out of his eyes.And through the beak gold and silver.And through the beak gold and silver.All his feathers blow away in the wind.All his feathers blow away in the wind.Too many men go and collect them.
Ai Vist Lo Lop - Medieval Occitan Song Farya Faraji 2024-06-17 | Arrangement by Farya Faraji, vocals by Ila Rodriguez, Aurora Aguilar and Farya Faraji. This is a reworking of a version I had initially uploaded in 2021; the reworking introduced more historically accurate performance practices based on more thorough research. This is a historically informed rendition of an old medieval song from Occitania, today's southern France where the Occitan language was historically predominant. It's widely believed that this song's origin and its melody may have roots in liturgical music that was repurposed in a comedic and parodic manner to fit the reality of the pastoral commoners. The arrangement is historically informed and uses the known features of Medieval European music, namely the fact that the song is primarily monophonic in nature, driven by a constant drone on the tonic provided by the hurdy-gurdy, and the harmony used is accurate to the time period, taking the form of transposition to consecutive parallel fifths throughout the melody, as well as a drone harmony consisting solely of the perfect fifth. Both these forms of harmony are very much alien to today's Western triadic and tonal harmony, but were the norm from the 800's to the 1300's, when harmony began to take on a more polyphonic shape that would soon crystallise into today's tonal harmony of Western music. One thing to note however, is that I included an anachronism that is unfortunately quite common in many otherwise historically informed renditions of medieval music: the hurdy-gurdy provides a rythmic buzzing sound that only came about in the early 1500's as far as earliest attestations are known; the components necessary for this sound did not exist physically on these instruments in the era this song originates in; so do note this oversight.The instrumentation consists of a hurdy-gurdy, a flute, lute, and cittern, with drums serving as percussions.Lyrics in Medieval Occitan:Ai vist lo lop, lo rainard, la lèbreAi vist lo lop, lo rainard dançarTotei tres fasián lo torn de l'aubreAi vist lo lop, lo rainard, la lèbreTotei tres fasián lo torn de l'aubreFasián lo torn dau boisson folhat.Aquí trimam tota l'annadaPer se ganhar quauquei sòusRèn que dins una mesadaAi vist lo lop, lo rainal, la lèbreNos i fotèm tot pel cuolAi vist lo lèbre, lo rainal, lo lop.English translation:I saw the wolf, the fox, the hare,I saw the wolf, the fox dance.All three were circling round the treeI saw the wolf, the fox, the hare,All three were circling round the tree,They were circling round the sprouting bush.Here we slave away all the year roundSo we can earn a few coinsAnd just in a month's timeI saw the wolf, the fox, the hare,We shove it all in our asses,I saw the hare, the fox, the wolf.
Bordeiaș Bordei Bordei - Romanian Song Farya Faraji 2024-06-13 | Music by Anton Pann, vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is a song by Anton Pann, one of the most renowned figures of Romanian music. Born in the 1800's, Pann was a folklorist and musicologist, as well as a talented musician and composer himself, and many of his songs were known for their often lewd humour and emphasis on pastoral scenes and themes, such as this one. My arrangement uses the țambal to provide the basic rythmic foundation of the song as do most modern Romanian folk songs, and a violin string section provides the main melody. I forwent the usage of more modern, Western based harmonic progressions to emphasise the largely monophonic and modal nature of music Pann belonged to as a Romanian of the 19th century.Lyrics in Romanian:Bordeiaș, bordei, bordeiBordeiaș, bordei, bordeiOf, of, of,Cu mărtăceii de teiSa-ncuibat dragostea-n eiOf, of, of, Bordeiaș fără gârliciBordeiaș fără gârliciOf, of, of,Tu mă faci să viu p-aiciDesculț și fără opinciOf, of, of,Bordeiaș întunecosBordeiaș întunecosOf, of, of,Mult imi ești tu drăgăstosCând mă faci să vin pe josOf, of, of, Întâi p-aici când veneamÎntâi p-aici când veneamOf, of, of,Patru junci eu înjugamȘi acum niciunul n-amOf, of, of, Apoi venii și cu caiApoi venii și cu caiOf, of, of,Dacă beu îi și mâncaiNuma-n cămașă plecaiOf, of, of, Vai maica mea-n ce-ncăpuiVai maica mea-n ce-ncăpuiOf, of, of,Că și căciula-mi băuiȘi de basmu mă făcuiOf, of, of,English translation:Little hut, hut, hut, Little hut, hut, hut,Oh, oh, oh, oh,With small linden pillarsInside which love has found its nest,Oh, oh, oh, oh,Little hut without a porch, Little hut without a porch,Oh, oh, oh, oh,You make me come hereBarefoot and without my peasant sandals on,Oh, oh, oh, oh.Dark little hut,Dark little hut,Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,I love you so muchThat you make me walk on foot to come to you, Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.In the beginning, when I came to youIn the beginning, when I came to youOh, oh, oh, oh, oh.I would yoke four calves And now I don't even havea single one, Oh, oh, oh, oh.Then I also came with my horses,Then I also came with my horsesOh, oh, oh, oh,But if I drank and if late, I left wearing only my shirt,Oh, mother, what have I got myself into,Oh, mother, what have I got myself into,Oh, oh, oh, oh,I even gave my hat for a drinkAnd so l made a fool out of myself,Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
Mes Pas Semez - Renaissance French Song Farya Faraji 2024-06-09 | Instrumentation by Tommaso Tarsi, vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is a 16th century French song arranged by Adrian Le Roy, a renowned music publisher, composer and lute player of the 1500's. I use the term arranged, since this melody is found in many different variations of the era, such as the song Pavana con su Glosa from Spain, bu Antonio de Cabezón. It seems that this melodic formula was a common one in the era, a form of early Follia found in different iterations.This song is a perfect encapsulation of what defines early modern music: a polyphonic, multi-part structure in which four independent melodic lines move in parallel in order to create harmony. At this stage of European music, we see the rise of modern, classical, tonal harmony that still defines the bulk of modern Western music. One of the individual lines, for example, moves in parallel thirds in relation to the main voice, something we're very used to now and would have been completely alien to the French of the 1100's. For more information on how Western European harmony developed, you can watch my in depth video essay on Medieval Organum and its rise into tonal harmony through the centuries: youtube.com/watch?v=rNY4b0aRLcQTommaso, an early music expert, plays the theorbo, two different lutes, and a baroque guitar, and I also added a cornetto, a Renaissance era reed instrument with a texture similar to that of a trumpet, as well as a period trumpet. I chose to sang this primarily in falsetto, a vocal posture that was quite usual at the time for men to sing with. Lyrics in Early Modern French:Mes pas semez et loing allezPar diuers solitaires lieux:Sont de pensers entremellez,Qui rendent humides mes yeux,Et tant plus i’ay ma voix haucée,Tant moins ie me sens exaucée,Et si ne sçay quand i’aurai mieux.Je n’ai tenu mes pas si chers,Ny mon esprit tant endormy,Que par montaignes et rochersIe n’aye cherche mon amye:L’oeil au guet, l’aureille ententiue,La parolle prompte et naïfue,Mais d'elle n’ay mot ne demy.Quand quelqu’un parle il m’est auisQue Narcissus ha quelque ennuy,Je me presente vis à visPour tenir propos à celuyQue telle parole prononce,En luy faisant mesme response,Mesme propos et mesmes dicts.Narcissus, respons s’il te plaist,Ois tu mon cry, ie croy que non:Rien ne sera mon piteaux plaid,Fors par tout espandre ton nom.Donce ie te pry ne me nieTa bien amée compaignie,Et tu seras en bon renom.Ton bon sçauoir ny parler promptNe m’acquierent aucun plaisir:Car l’absence de l’amye, romptTout ce qu’en espere mon desir:Mais plus que c’est ma destinée,Que ie soye amante obstinée,Ie quitte propos et plaisir.Respondant á plusiurs parleuses,Je n’en y sceu trouuer aucun,Qui s’aprochast de tes valeurs:Pour cela i’entretiens chacune,C’est en attendant ta presence:C’est ie suis en ferme constance,Parler á tous, et n’aimer qu’une.English translation:My steps, wandering and scattered,Through many lonely places,Are mingled with thoughtsThat wet my eyes with tears.And the more I’ve called out,The less I’ve felt I was heard.Yet I do not know when I shall have things better.I have never found my steps so precious,Nor my mind so benumbed,As in this searching among mountains and bouldersFor my beloved.My eyes watchful, my ears alert,My tongue ready and open --But not a word or syllable of herWhen someone speaks, it seems to meThat Narcissus is vexed at something --I turn to face himWho says this thingAnd talk with him,Answering him with the same answer,The same subject, the same words.Narcissus, answer me, please.Do you not hear my cry? I fear not;Nothing will come of my woeful plea, exceptTo spread your name everywhere.I beg you not to deny meYour affectionate company,And then you will be well spoken of.Your learning, your ready speechBring me no pleasure;For the absence of my beloved shattersEverything my longing hopes for.But since it’s my destinyTo be a stubborn lover,I abandon my purpose and my pleasure.Answering several suitors,I’ve not found anyWho came near to your value --And I entertain each of themOnly in awaiting your return;For I am constant;To speak to all and love only one.
Cumberland Gap - American Song Farya Faraji 2024-06-06 | Vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji, banjo by TheSessionGuy. This is an Appalachian folk song attested as early as the late 1800's, with many diverse variations, not only in melody but in lyrical content, some being war songs from the Civil War, others telling the story of the first Englishman to set foot in the Cumberland Gap, etc. My arrangement is a pretty minimal one using the basic sounds of Appalachian folk and Bluegrass music, with the banjo reflecting the complex, melodically and harmonically rich forms of playing found in these traditions.Lyrics:Lay down boys and take a little nap,We’re all goin’ down to Cumberland Gap.Lay down boys and take a little nap,Snow knee-deep in Cumberland Gap.Cumberland Gap’s a devil of a place;Couldn’t find water to wash my face.Me and my wife’s pap,Walked all the way from Cumberland Gap.Pretty little girl if you don’t care,I’ll leave my demijohn a-sittin right thereIf it ain’t there when I get back,I’ll raise hell in Cumberland Gap.Lay down boys and take a little rest,We’ll all wake up in a whippoorwill’s nest.Me and my wife and my little chapMade a good living on Cumberland.Saved my money and bought me a farmRaised sweet taters as long as your arm.
Eh Dame de Montpellier - Medieval French Song Farya Faraji 2024-06-03 | Vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji, oud by Ido Romano. This is a relatively obscure song written in Old French found in the Manuscrit de Montpellier, a collection of songs from the 13th century. It follows the form of the Virelai, a common form poetical form in Western Europe at the time.The arrangement is historically informed and follows the conventions of Medieval music found in the treatises: a continuous drone consisting of the tonic and perfect fifths played on a rebec provide the acoustical pillar of the performance, the rendering of the melody is highly heterophonic, adorning the written down melody with spontaneous ornaments and embellishments, a secondary, independent polyphonic voice accompanies part of the main melody, as this era sees the gradual shift of Western European music from a monophonic musical language to a vertical one rooted in more complex verticality, and the vocals also follow evidence of contemporary treatises describing vocal styles that would have been far more ornamental and melismatic in nature, something I explain in more detail in this video essay: youtube.com/watch?v=hxcH7S2BaiQThe instruments used are the oud, the early form of the lute that was adopted in the Southern Mediterranean from the Arabs, before it underwent independent development to become a distinct form of lute with a much different sound by the Renaissance, a rebec, and tambourine percussions.As always with the pronunciation of Old French songs, take the pronunciation with a mountain of salt, it's probably not perfect. I based my pronunciation on that of other recordings, but Old French is infamous for being not particularly well represented in Medieval recordings and resources on it are exceedingly difficult to find. Old French lyrics:E dame jolie,Mon cuer sans fauceirMet an vostre bailieKe ne sai vo peirSovant me voix conplaignantEt an mon cuer dolosantD'une malaidieDont tous li mons an amantDoit avoir le cuer joiantCui teilz malz maistrieSi formant m'agrieLi dous malz d'ameirKe par sa signorieMe covient chanteirJ'ain de cuer an desirantDou monde la mués vaillantEt la plus prixie;Plus saige ne mués parlantN'a honor mués antandantOn mont ne cuit mie.Ne sai ke j'an die,Mais a droit loweirC'est la muez ensaignieC'on puxe trover.Bien sai ke fellon cuxantM'ont estei souvant nuxantVer vostre partie.Tres douce dame a cors gent,Por Deu ne's croiez pas tant,Ces gens plain d'anvie. Si formant m'agrieLi dous malz d'ameirKe par sa signorieMe covient chanteirI haven't found many translations, and though I can understand bits and pieces of Old French as a contemporary French speaker, I'll refrain from trying to translate it altogether as the language is far too different to be entirely intelligible.
Aras Han Aras - Turkish Song Farya Faraji 2024-05-31 | Vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is a Turkish folk song from the eastern regions of Anatolia, mostly around Erzurum. This version is in Maqam Huseyni, a mode similar to the Western minor, but with a second interval that's flatter, often not as flat as the Maqam Bayat used in Arabic music, or Shur in Iranian music. The instruments consist of a short neck bağlama and a kopuz, with davul drums, the most popular drums in those regions of Anatolia. The triple metre of this song is also something characteristic of those regions, being often found from Tokat to the easternmost parts, and being somewhat less popular in Western parts of the country. As often with Turkish folks songs, lyrics are steeped in complex, difficult to translate esotericism, and English equivalents may lack to the point where I don't feel adequately experienced to offer my own translation lest I mangle the meaning, so I'll let one of my Turkish subscribers offer one in the comments. The lyrics generally speak of a painful love story centred around a location called Aras.Turkish lyrics:Aras Aras han ArasBingöl'den kalkan ArasAl başımdan sevdayıHazar'da çalkan ArasYar beni yara beniÖldürür yara beniAras kurbanım olamAl götür yara beniDağlar siz ne dağlarsınızKardan kemer bağlarsınızGül sizde bülbül sizdeDaha neye ağlarsınızYar beni yara beniÖldürür yara beniAras kurbanım olamAl götür yara beniAras'a vurdum teştiAras bulandı geçtiMuhannet emmim oğluSenin de vaktin geçtiYar beni yara beniÖldürür yara beniAras kurbanım olamAl götür yara beni
Füzuli Kantatası - Azerbaijani Song Farya Faraji 2024-05-27 | Vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji, additional vocals by Kelareh Kabiri, duduk by @AliFarbodnia This is a reworking of a version I had created in 2021, which you can find here: youtu.be/19y64Y08O5k1959 song by Azerbaijani composer Cahangir Cahangirov. The lyrics are from Fuzuli's poem Şeb-i Hicran. Fuzuli (1483-1556) was a 16th century Oghuz Turk poet and widely regarded as one of the national poets of Azerbaijan.As the title suggests, this is a cantata written with Western influences in the heyday of Soviet influence in Azerbaijan, which brought in Western orchestras and conservatory musical techniques, changing the musical landscape of the country's music, where once it had been one strictly rooted in the Mugham, modal form of music. Most versions of the song, therefore, tend to use a Western orchestra, but I wanted to bring this back to a more traditional Azerbaijani sound with a purely modal approach. The instruments used are the tar, the oud, and the duduk, three instruments widely utilised in Azerbaijani music.Lyrics in Azerbaijani:Məni candan usandırdı, cəfadan yar usanmazmı, usanmazmı?Fələklər yandı ahimdən, muradım şəmi yanmazmıMuradım şəmi yanmazmı?Fələklər yandı ahimdənMuradım şəmi yanmaz, şəmi yanmazmı?Qəmu bimarinə canan dəvayi-dərd edər ehsanNeçün qılmaz mənə dərman, məni bimarı sanmazmı?Qəmim pünhan tutardım mən, qəmim pünhan tutardım mənDedilər yarə qıl rövşən, desəm, ol bivəfa, bilməmİnanırmı, inanmazmı?İnanırmı, inanmazmı?Şəbi-hicran yanar canım, tökər qan çeşmi-giryanımOyadar xəlqi əfğanım, qara baxtım oyanmazmı?Oyadar xəlqi əfğanım, qara baxtım oyanmazmı?Güli-rüxsarına qarşı gözümdən qanlı axar, qanlı axar suHəbibim, fəsli-güldür bu, axar sular bulanmazmıAxar sular bulanmazmı?Həbibim, fəsli-güldür bu, axar sular bulanmazmı, bulanmazmı?Deyildim mən sənə mail, sən etdin əqlimi zailMənə tən eyləyən qafil səni görcək utanmazmı?Füzuli rindu şeydadır, Füzuli rindu şeydadırHəmişə xəlqə rüsvadırSorun kim, bu nə sevdadır, bu sevdadan usanmazmı?Bu sevdadan usanmazmı?Sorun kim, bu nə sevdadır, nə sevdadırBu sevdadan usanmazmı?English translation:She made me tired of my life, doesn't my love get tired of her cruelty?Heavens burned from my sigh, doesn't the candle of my will burn?My soul burns at the night of separation, my crying eyes shed tears of blood,My cries make people wake up, does my ill fortune not wake up too?She gives the cure of trouble to every patient of hers,Against your rose like cheek, water falls like blood from my eye,My love, this is season of the rose, do rivers not blur?Fuzuli is a crazy bohemian, ever shameful in the eyes of all,What kind of love is this? Is he not sick of it?
Aurelian - Epic Roman Music Farya Faraji 2024-05-22 | Music & vocals by Farya Faraji, bagpipe by @Dimitrios_Dallas, aulos and syrinx by @stefanoskrasopoulis, with additional improvisations by the them, and translation by Demetrios Paraschos. Please note that this isn't reconstructed historical music, it's modern music using Ancient Roman instruments and the framework of their music theory.Aurelian was a Roman emperor who reigned from 270 to 275 during the Crisis of the Third Century. Rising through the ranks first as a soldier and then as a general, he was hailed Caesar by his troops and took command of a divided empire on the verge of dissolution, uniting it all, which has earned him the title Restorer of the World.The instrumentation consists of the Vergina model of the aulos, played by my colleague Stefanos Krasopoulis whose channel I highly recommend you visit for more music using ancient Greco-Roman instruments. He has also accompanied the melody with a syrinx, a traditional flute used to this day in parts of Greece, especially in the north. Dimitrios Dallas, whose channel I also urge you to visit for examples of Greek music, plays the askomandoura, an old bagpipe played to this day in Crete, and almost identical to the bagpipes used in the day by the Ancient Romans and Greeks.The lyrics use Classical pronunciation and adhere almost completely to the vowel length and subsequent penultimate stress rule of Latin.Lyrics in Latin:Ex fīnibus vēnī,Ex antīquā terrā Moesiae,Ubi Sōl Invīctus lūcet,Sanguis meus est sanguis Illyriae. Mīles factus sum,Sub calōre sōlis,Cum equīs Dalmatiae,Sanguinem Gothōrum effūdī. Claudius mortuus est, et Quintīlius surrēxit,Sed legiōnēs meae mē Caesarem nōmināvērunt,Vīcī Quintīlium, usurpatōrem,Factus sum sicut sōl in caelō. Imperium dīvīsum vīdī,In Orientem et Occidentem,Zenobiam punīvī,Factus sum Parthicus Maximus et Restitūtor Orientis. In Occidentem intuitus sum,Ad usurpatōrēs Gallicōs,Illos totōs absorbēbam,Ut leo ovem dēvorat. Sīcut in caelō sōl ūnus est,Ita in mundō imperium ūnum est,Deus et dominus natus sum,Cum meō sanguine et gladiō mundum restituī. Servus Sōlis Invīctī sum,Restitūtor Orbis sum.English translation:I have come from the frontiers, From the ancient land of Moesia,Where Sol Invictus shines,My blood is the blood of Illyria,I am the servant of Sol Invictus,I am the Restorer of the World.I became a soldier,Below the warmth of the sun,With the horses of Dalmatia,I shed the blood of the Goths,I am the servant of Sol Invictus,I am the Restorer of the World,Claudius died, and Quintilius rose,But my legions named me Caesar, I defeated Quintilius, the usurper,I became like the sun in the sky.I am the servant of Sol Invictus,I am the Restorer of the World,I saw an empire divided, In the east and the West,I punished Zenobia,I became Parthicus Maximus and Restorer of the East,I turned my gaze to the West,To the Gallic usurpers,I swallowed them whole,Like the lion swallows the sheep,I am the servant of Sol Invictus,I am Restitutor Orbis.Just like there is only one sun in the sky,So is there only one empire in the world,I am Master and GodWith my blood and my sword, I have restored the world,I am the servant of Sol Invictus,I am the Restorer of the World.
Darius Words - Epic Iranian Music Farya Faraji 2024-05-19 | Music & vocals by Farya Faraji. Please note that this isn't reconstructed Achaemenid era music, it's entirely modern Iranian music sung to Old Persian lyrics from that era.The lyrics are part of the Behistun inscriptions in Kermanshah, Iran, a monumental set of rock reliefs and inscriptions written inside Mount Behistun not long after the coronation of Darius I as emperor of the Achaemenid Empire. The music uses a variation of Segah, one of our traditional modes and one of our most microtonal ones. The melody modulates between Segah and Shur from time to time. I also employed a technique of playing the tanbour found most often in Eastern Iran and especially Iranian Turkmenistan, the latter region in which I grew up as a child. Iranians in these regions play the dotar using parallel fifths, which gives it a distinct sound to the purely monophonic forms of playing found in other parts of the country. The instruments used are the tar, the dotar, the oud, the ney and the daf drums.Lyrics in Old Persian:Thâtiy \ Dâra yavauš \ xšâyathiya \ imâ \ dahyâva \ tyâ \ manâ \ patiyâita \ vašnâ \ Auramazdâha \ manâ \ badakâ \ âhatâ \ manâ \ bâjim \ abaratâHya \ âgariya \ âha \ avam \ ubartam \ abaram \ hya \ arika \ âha \ avam \ ufrastam \ aparsamEnglish translation:King Darius says: These are the countries which are subject to me; by the grace of Ahuramazda they became subject to me; they brought tribute unto me. Within these lands, whosoever was a friend, him have I surely protected; whosoever was hostile, him have I utterly destroyed.
Orientalism: Desert Level Music vs Actual Middle-Eastern Music Farya Faraji 2024-05-15 | Human talks at camera then video ends.avi00:00 Iranians react to Orientalist music03:45 Defining Orientalist music11:44 Disclaimers17:44 "Indian, Arab, same thing"37:50 How to write orientalist music43:28 The OBSESSION with the Double Harmonic Major54:52 Why the Double Harmonic Major?1:00:42 The limitation of digital instruments1:08:33 The vicious circle of Orientalism1:12:24 Westerners CAN write Eastern music1:21:00 How Orientalism sucks for Easterners1:26:34 How Orientalism sucks for Westerners
Misirlou - Greek Song Farya Faraji 2024-05-06 | Vocals, video & arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is the one Greek folk song of them all, the most internationally well known and most often heard one across the world. Originating in the Eastern Mediterranean's late Ottoman Empire, this melody is found across a plethora of cultures of that region, but the oldest and most well known version is the Greek language one. Its lyrics express the plight of a Greek man in love with the exotic Misirlou, "Egyptian girl," a black eyed beauty from the land of "Arabia."The melody emerges in the Rembetiko repertoire, a style of music emerging out of the Greek communities in the urban centres in Western Anatolia, whose music was closely tied to the tavernas where opium and alcohol usage was prevalent. The earliest recording of the melody is from 1927, by Teto Dimitriades, an Ottoman-born Greek composer who immigrated to the United States in the 20's. However, the most prominent rise of the melody to Western fame occurs when Dick Dale, an American guitarist of partial Lebanese origin, turned the tune into a fast paced, rock n'roll surf song in the 60's. This recognisable, tremolo based, electric guitar version enters Western zeitgeist, becoming Pulp Fiction's main theme, and later being sampled in the Black Eyed Peas' song "Pump It." As per the ethnomusicological goal of my channel, I wanted to reassess the origin of the song by arranging it in its original ethnomusicological context. The instrumentation is monophonic, without any of the complex modern Western harmony that is often used in modern renditions of the song, accompanied by basic power chords as per traditional Greek music of the late 19th century onwards, and uses the Greek lavta and the saz, two instruments representative of the late 19th century urban centres of Western Anatolia, and copiously used back then by the Greek community. Whilst the usul rythmic pattern of the song is generally a tsifteteli-type one, I changed it to a malfoof based one, commonly used in the region. The mode modulates between Hijaz and Hikazkiar. Greek lyrics: Μισιρλού μου, η γλυκιά σου η ματιάφλόγα μου 'χει ανάψει μες στην καρδιά,αχ γιαχαμπίμπι, αχ γιαλελέλι, αχτα δυο σου χείλι στάζουνε μέλι, αμάν. Aμάν, Μισιρλού, μαγική ξωτική ομορφιά,τρέλα θα μου 'ρθει, δεν υποφέρω πια,αχ, θα σε κλέψω μέσ' απ' την Αραπιά. Μαυρομάτα Μισιρλού μου τρελήη ζωή μου αλλάζει μ' ένα φιλί,αχ γιαχαμπίμπι, μ' ένα φιλάκι, αχαπ' το δικό σου το στοματάκι, αμάν.English translation: My dear Misirlou, your sweet eyesHave burned a flame in my heartAh ya habibi, ah ya leleli*, ahHoney drips from your lips, Aman*, Misirlou, your magical fairy beautyWill drive me crazy, I can’t stand it anymoreAh I will steal you from ArabiaMy black-eyed crazy MisirlouMy life changes with a kissAh ya habibi, with a little kiss, amanAh Misirlou, your magical fairy beautyWill drive me crazy, I can’t stand it anymoreAh I will steal you from Arabia*Habibi is the Arabic word for "my beloved, my love," "leleli is an interjection, and so is Aman, an Arabic word roughly meaning "woe to me," usually used as an interjection and filler lyric from Iran to Anatolia, the Arab countries and the Balkans.
Malan Bar Kir - Kurdish Song Farya Faraji 2024-05-03 | Vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is a traditional Kurdish song in memory of the victims of the Dersim massacre. The arrangement is entirely Anatolian in nature and revolves around the saz family of Anatolia. A short neck bağlama is used with a divan saz, the largest member of the saz family, a cura saz, its smallest member, and the current contemporary form of the kopuz. The Maqam is Bayat, and a subtle Western chord progression in the form of arpeggiated chords is provided by the kopuz as the song goes on.Lyrics in Kurdish:Malan bar kir lê lê çûne waran lêDînê lê dînê lê Dînara minGoştê me xwar lê lê mişk û maran lêKeçê lê rîndê lê Hewala min Ez sewî me lo lo ber desta me loDelalo delalo delalê minBrîndar im lo lo bê xwedî me loHewalo hewalo hewalê min Malan bar kir lê lê koç bi rê ket lêDînê lê dînê lê Dînara minDilêm eşiya lê lê agir pê ket lêKeçê lê rîndê lê bermaliya minEnglish translation:They moved, moved to foreign landsYou crazy, crazy, crazy of mine,Mice and snakes ate the meat of our bodies,You girl, you beauty, friend of mine I am an orphan, I am a captive,You handsome, handsome one of mine,I am wounded, I am forlorn,You friend, friend of mine They moved, moved to foreign landsYou crazy, crazy, crazy of mineMy heart aches and is set on fireYou girl, beauty, my companion
The Crusader - Epic Symphony feat. The Skaldic Bard Farya Faraji 2024-04-30 | Music by Farya Faraji, featuring the Latin rendition of the Palastinälied by @SkaldBard, an exceedingly talented linguist and musician I urge you to subscribe to if you enjoy history, music and old languages: youtube.com/@SkaldBard?si=2aS1po6A02iuW5E7; Walther von der Vogelweide, Theobald of Navarre, and various anonymous composers of the Medieval European, Greek Medieval and Anatolian Turkish traditions. Featuring kanun by Oğuzhan of the Bym Recording Group, and lyra by Stefanos Krasopoulis. More information available in the pinned comment. .00:00 Overture - 1095 A.D01:18 The Plea From the East06:00 The West Hears09:36 The Sinner13:16 The Call17:40 The Voyage24:52 The Land of Rûm28:10 Nicaea33:50 The Battles of Anatolia38:30 The Long March43:00 Antioch48:14 The Holy Land53:10 The Last Prayer57:12 The Battle for Jerusalem01:04:56 The City Falls01:10:00 The Crusades Have Begun
Dance of the Asens - Epic Slavic Music of Bulgaria Farya Faraji 2024-04-15 | Music by Farya Faraji. Please note that this isn't reconstructed medieval Bulgarian music, only modern music. The melody is modeled after Thracian melodies in triple meter, and the instruments used are the kaval, the gaida, and a saz, with percussions.
Instruments of Iran - Epic Talking Farya Faraji 2024-04-11 | An introduction to the main, staple instruments of Iranian music. For further reading on the subject, I suggest Jean During's "Art of Persian Music." https://www.academia.edu/7229425/The_Art_of_Persian_music00:00 Introduction00:42 The lute family19:32 Other stringed instruments25:09 Wind instruments29:44 Bowed instruments31:48 Percussions33:28 Western instruments
