Lament From Epirus: An Odyssey Into Europe's Oldest Surviving Folk Music

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Odyssey into the soul of ancient, haunting music.

If you're intrigued by the power of music to transcend time and cultural barriers, "Lament from Epirus" will be like a siren's song to you. King's passion for Epirus folk music weaves history with personal narrative, offering a perspective on music that's as deeply emotional as it is educational. It's a literary excavation of humanity's oldest tunes, bound to resonate with anyone who appreciates the rich tapestry of global music traditions.

Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.

Lament From Epirus: An Odyssey Into Europe's Oldest Surviving Folk Music

Regular price $6.90
Unit price
per
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ISBN: 9780393248999
Date of Publication: 2018-05-29
Format: Hardcover
Related Collections: Music, History, Art, Sociology, Travel
Goodreads rating: 4.2
(rated by 331 readers)

Description

In a gramophone shop in Istanbul, renowned record collector Christopher C. King uncovered some of the strangest—and most hypnotic—sounds he had ever heard. The 78s were immensely moving, seeming to tap into a primal well of emotion inaccessible through contemporary music. The songs, King learned, were from Epirus, an area straddling southern Albania and northwestern Greece and boasting a folk tradition extending back to the pre-Homeric era. To hear this music is to hear the past. Lament from Epirus is an unforgettable journey into a musical obsession, which traces a unique genre back to the roots of song itself. As King hunts for two long-lost virtuosos—one of whom may have committed a murder—he also tells the story of the Roma people who pioneered Epirotic folk music and their descendants who continue the tradition today. King discovers clues to his most profound questions about the function of music in the history of humanity: What is the relationship between music and language? Why do we organize sound as music? Is music superfluous, a mere form of entertainment, or could it be a tool for survival? King’s journey becomes an investigation into song and dance’s role as a means of spiritual healing—and what that may reveal about music’s evolutionary origins.
 

Odyssey into the soul of ancient, haunting music.

If you're intrigued by the power of music to transcend time and cultural barriers, "Lament from Epirus" will be like a siren's song to you. King's passion for Epirus folk music weaves history with personal narrative, offering a perspective on music that's as deeply emotional as it is educational. It's a literary excavation of humanity's oldest tunes, bound to resonate with anyone who appreciates the rich tapestry of global music traditions.

Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.