Jerusalem

Description

Jerusalem is a groundbreaking new album by beloved Ethiopian composer Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru, featuring previously unheard or nearly inaccessible piano pieces! Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru is a unique artist - an Ethiopian nun whose recordings have funded orphanages in her country since the early 1960s. Her compositions and distinctive playing style sit somewhere between Erik Satie, Debussy, the liturgical music of the Ethiopian Coptic Church, and traditional Ethiopian music. This is the first archival edition of her recordings since the Éthiopiques series reintroduced her music to the world in 2006. Drawn from original tapes and an almost unobtainable vinyl version, Jerusalem reveals new facets of Emahoy Gebru's interpretations and compositions. The record, released to mark the composer's 99th birthday, includes pieces from her 1972 album Hymn of Jerusalem, of which only a handful of copies are known. It features "Home of Beethoven," "Aurora," and the moving "Jerusalem." For the first time, we hear Emahoy sing on a track, "Quand La Mer Furieuse." The B-side presents the artist's home recordings, with titles such as "Farewell Eve," "Woigaye Don't Cry Anymore," and "Famine Disaster 1974" bridging the gap between liturgical work and dark, intense classical material, a new mode. Newly remastered edition pressed on 160g black vinyl, thick sleeve with reproduction of the 1972 artwork, artist notes.