Temenos

• Artist: Original Soundtrack
• Rating:
• Release Date: January 30, 2001
• Type: Soundtrack
• Genre: Avant-Garde

Review

This CD is the soundtrack to Nina Danino's movie Temenos, an impressionistic documentary on the Virgin Mary's alleged apparitions in Medjugorje (Bosnia). It features vocal performances by avant-garde improvisers Sainkho Namchylak and Shelley Hirsch and soprano Catherine Bott, with Danino narrating, Pavlo Beznosiuk on occasional hurdy-gurdy, and in situ recordings (birds, dogs, wind, children, pilgrims' testimonies). Each performer was recorded separately improvising solos and Danino later combined and arranged the tracks into the soundtrack presented here. The whole thing translates into an extended piece of audio art, a captivating blend of environmental sounds and vocal experimentations with narration, radio, and treated sounds adding colors here and there. Temenos is mainly a showcase for Sainkho Namchylak's incredible vocal capabilities, and the listener constantly comes back to the detailed program notes to check if the sounds are really derived from a human voice or if they are something else. The soundtrack stands nicely on its own and gains from being listened to with headphones in order to catch the quieter passages (the volume range is huge). Namchylak laughs, cries, moans, and drones in ways impossible to describe. The work is split into 22 tracks, but none of them could be taken out of its context; this is the kind of CD one must listen to in one sitting, attentively, with as little distraction and ambient noise as possible in order to be literally engulfed by the sonic tapestry. Then, and only then, will Temenos reveal its hidden beauty. For the most adventurous listeners only or those fascinated by the human voice. ~ François Couture, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Opening	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	Sainkho Namtchylak	(0:12)
The Virgin's Time	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	(2:27)
The Virgin's Clearing	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	Sainkho Namtchylak	(4:43)
The Virgin's Hollow (Echo-Memoire)	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	(4:51)
Spring Grotto	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	Catherine Bott, Sainkho Namtchylak	(3:43)
The Virgin's Passage	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	Sainkho Namtchylak	(3:02)
The Virgin's Weeping	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	(3:38)
The Virgin's Hollow	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	Pavlo Beznosiuk, Sainkho Namtchylak	(4:26)
First Memoir	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	Sainkho Namtchylak	(2:59)
Second Memoir	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	Sainkho Namtchylak	(0:35)
Third Memoir	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	Sainkho Namtchylak	(1:37)
Archiropolete	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	(2:46)
The Virgin's Calling	Pavlo Beznosiuk, Sainkho Namtchylak	Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	(2:45)
The Rosebush	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	(2:12)
Fourth Memoir	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	Sainkho Namtchylak	(2:56)
Temenos	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	Sainkho Namtchylak	(0:39)
Houwa at the Site of the Apparition	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	Sainkho Namtchylak	(6:11)
The Descent of Aquero	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	Shelley Hirsch, Pavlo Beznosiuk, Sainkho Namtchylak	(1:03)
Soho Square	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	Sainkho Namtchylak	(3:51)
The Virgin's Time	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	(2:04)
La Fin	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	Sainkho Namtchylak	(1:07)
Epilogue	Catherine Bott, Shelley Hirsch, Sainkho Namtchylak	Catherine Bott, Pavlo Beznosiuk, Sainkho Namtchylak	(5:18)

Credits

Catherine Bott (Soprano), Catherine Bott (Composer), Catherine Bott (Voices), Catherine Bott (Soprano (Vocal)), Shelley Hirsch (Composer), Shelley Hirsch (Vocals), Shelley Hirsch (Voices), Shelley Hirsch (Drones), Simon Humphries (Engineer), Dave Hunt (Engineer), Dave Hunt (Mixing), Dave Hunt (Pre-Mixing), Dill Katz (Engineer), James Mackay (Producer), Dave Katz (Engineer), Dave Katz (Mixing), Pavlo Beznosiuk (Vielle), Paul Hamblin (Dub Mixing), Leo Feigin (Producer), Lora Denis (Design), Stan Wijnans (Mastering), Sainkho Namtchylak (Composer), Sainkho Namtchylak (Sound Effects), Sainkho Namtchylak (Humming), Sainkho Namtchylak (Vocal Effect), Sainkho Namtchylak (Echo), Chris Blackford (Liner Notes), David Scott (Photography), Steve Kulak (Liner Notes), Martin Cantwell (Tracking)

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)