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Salt Lake Tribune , Music >>
"Sacred Bridges," by The King's Singers
World Village Records
Jews, Christians and Muslims have a long and bloody history of war and persecution. But one thing the three religions have shared is the Psalms, those poetic celebrations of divine power and goodness, prayers for strength and calls for godly vengeance.
Here the male vocal sextet The King's Singers teams up with Sar- band, a vocal and instrumental quintet that specializes in Middle Eastern music, in a fascinating melange of European and Islamic musical treatments of the Psalms.
Genevan Psalter hymn tunes from the 16th century are heard in original versions and in decidedly "Eastern" arrangements by the Polish-born Islam convert AM Ufki (1610-1675), with slithery wind and string instruments and hollow-sounding drums. (Seventeenth- century Turkey apparently was a hotbed of mingling European Protestant and Islamic cultures.)
The musical results here alternate between forthright and fragrantly evocative, and the performances are polished and beautifully recorded. But the program book, in minuscule type, raises more questions than it answers.
Scott Cantrell 11/05/05
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