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IN THE SPOTLIGHT
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World Weekly, IN THE SPOTLIGHT >>
Ancient Echoes (World Library Publications), the latest album from the San Antonio Vocal Arts Ensemble, is the musical equivalent of pouring old wine
into old wineskins. Ecumenically subtitled "Music from the Time of Jesus and
Jerusalem's Second Temple," it collects Aramaic prayers, Levitical music,
and Essene chants, sets them to ancient melodies and instrumentation (ouds,
guimbiris, kinnors, shabbabahs, rabbabahs, et al.), and painstakingly
authenticates them in a CD booklet that's more textbook than libretto.
Admittedly, not every tin-eared inhabitant of our world will come to such a project with ears to hear. Those willing to give this music the time it deserves, however, will not only find the mists of time dispersing but also the realization dawning that from the burnt-sienna cover art to the music's original-language lyrics (e.g., the Ten Commandments-recounting "Wa y'daber Elohim [And God Spoke]"), this album is the real soundtrack to The Passion of the Christ. 06/08/04
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