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Northern Harmony & Village Harmony
Best of Village Harmony 2003-2004
2005, Village Harmony. 2-CD set, with live recordings of twelve different ensembles with music from Bulgaria, Georgia, Corsica, South Africa, Nigeria, Germany and America.
Liner notes follow the track lists, below.
Disc One
Songs from Bulgaria, Corsica, Georgia and Africa
- Ma viyo viyo - trad. South Africa
- Sevdalino maloj mome - Bulgarian. arr. V. Dimchev
- Bre petrunko - Bulgarian. arr. Filip Kutev
- More aresah si milaj mamo - trad. Bulgaria
- Zaspala li si jagodo - Bulgarian. arr. Nikolai Kaufman
- Vasilke, mlada nevesto - Bulgarian. arr. Kiril Stefanov
- Jantra na struma - Bulgarian. arr. Kiril Stefanov
- Prochu se moma nedelja - Bulgarian. arr. Stefan Kunev
- Kaval sviri - Bulgraian, arr. Petar Liondev
- Lux aeternam - trad. Corsica
- Era ‘m un campu - trad. Corsica
- Tantum ergo sacramentum - Corsica. 17th c Franciscan.
- Mravalzhamier - Georgia. trad. Imereti
- Meureme - Georgia. trad. Samegrelo
- Gakhovs turpav - Georgia. trad. Guria
- Kalos khelkhavi - Georgia. trad. Guria
- Lile - Georgia. trad. Svaneti
- Oskhunuri - Georgia. trad. Samegrelo
- Sopleli glekhis shvili var - Georgia. trad. Kakheti
- Gushin shvidi gurjaaneli - Georgia. trad. Kakheti
- Tsmida ninos kondaki - Georgian Orthodox chant, Guria
- Namgalo - Georgia. trad. Kakheti
- Yelele - trad. Nigeria
- Denko - West Africa. arr. Nitando Casel
Disc Two
Songs from America, Germany and Africa
- Indonga se jeriko - trad. South Africa
- Prayer - Ysaye Barnwell
- Middleton - Jacob Kimball
- The Earth - Chandler York
- Hallowell - Abraham Maxim
- Hallowell - Stephen Spitzer
- Shine hallelujah shine - Bluegrass Cardinals
- Sinner man - as sung by R. & L. Williams
- Time's winding up - Fairfield Four
- Great dream - arr. Val Mindel
- Swannanoa - Ken Shimizu
- Retribution - Patrick McMahon
- Immensity - Eliakim Doolitle
- Taunton - William Billings
- The day is past andn gone / Sky Meadow - trad. Appalachian / Toby Tenenbaum
- Glacier - Dennis O'Brien
- O ewiger Gott - Stefan Trenner
- O felix templum - J. Ciconia
- Searching for lambs - arr. David Bieri
- Le nna ke arata - trad. South Africa
- Alu wasiu - trad. Benin
- Hallelujah - Birmingham Sunlights
- Working on a building - John Harrison
About Village Harmony
It is easy enough to describe Village Harmony as a program of traveling singing camps for musical teens and adults who have an interest in world music, choral expression and performance, held in locations across New England and countries throughout the world. What is more difficult to describe is the sheer power of the music they create — the exuberence and honest and ultimate musicality of their performances, which regularly make audiences cry, laugh, whoop and applaud loudly.
The facts are these: A group of 20-25 singers — mostly un-auditioned but self-selected because they’ve chosen to spend three weeks of their summer singing 6-8 hours a day — meet in a retreat center in Vermont, a church retreat in Germany or monastary in Corsica, or a historic inn in Bulgaria, and rehearse for eight days. After this the camp goes on the road to do a series of nightly concerts. The concerts take place for the most part in chruches and theaters and halls in small towns and villages, where a sizeable proportion of the residents turn up to feed the singers, attend their performances, and take them into their homes for the night. At the end of these three weeks, the group is a cohesive unit built on the solid foundation of good friends, good music, hard work, and the joy of having produced something of beauty and power.
In addition to these summer sessions, Village Harmony has a school year group, also un-auditioned but highly self-selected, which draws teens from Vermont and nearby neighboring states. The group comes together for two day weekend rehearsals throughout the year and a two week performing tour. In both 2003 and 2004 this group toured through New York state and Ontario.
The overall musical programming reflects our commitment to exploring music from community singing traditions throughout the world. Each summer we put together new combinations of leaders for the different sessions who bring music reflecting their particular specialties. Participants are frequently transformed by the experience and a high proportion of them return year after year, helping to transmit the exhilarating Village Harmony culture.