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Ankh: Sound Of Ancient Egypt
 
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Ankh: Sound Of Ancient Egypt

Micheal Atherton (Artist) | Format: Audio CD
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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Product Details
1. Atum (Creator Sun God) Song
2. Atum (Creator Sun God) Instrumental
3. Atum (Creator Sun God) Instrumental
4. Atum (Creator Sun God) Instrumental
5. Atum (Creator Sun God) Instrumental
6. Maat (Truth, Balance, Order) Song
7. Maat (Truth, Balance, Order) Instrumental
8. Maat (Truth, Balance, Order) Instrumental
9. Maat (Truth, Balance, Order) Instrumental
10. Maat (Truth, Balance, Order) Instrumental
11. Khet (The Physical Body) Song
12. Khet (The Physical Body) Instrumental
13. Khet (The Physical Body) Instrumental
14. Khet (The Physical Body) Instrumental
15. Shen (Eternity) Song
16. Shen (Eternity) Instrumental
17. Shen (Eternity) Song
18. Shen (Eternity) Instrumental

Product Description

From Amazon.com

This album is based on a challenging idea: Try to recreate a musical form from a culture and period that left behind no recordings or musical notation, using only history, a description of the instruments, and some historical artifacts. It takes intuition as much as scholarship and craftsmanship to recreate the ancient instruments of Egypt--from simple percussion and flutes to boat-shaped and triangular harps and trumpets. Atherton, with his musicians and singers, exhibits both innovation and skill, offering not so much a look at how the music actually was, but more an intuitive guess at how it might have been, keeping the music first and history a close but well-heeled second. It can be frantic one moment and somber the next, as each of these lengthy song suites develops organically around a song or a piece of poetry--offering both early music and improvisational music aficionados something unique. Excellent recording quality is augmented by well-documented notes on history and instrumental research. --Louis Gibson

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Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
Effective In Part -- Not Quite Enough Parts July 16 2001
Format:Audio CD
Atherton starts with a splendid idea and certainly enough talent to carry his idea off. Despite some fine moments in a couple of the vocal selections, the rest is very forgettable. Having done his bit for research, Atherton seems to succumb to the temptation to ride the CD out using a lot of faux-Near Eastern musical riffs that simply get tedious. Adding to what others have already said, I also wonder if the ancient Egyptians had such a paltry knowledge of musical form. This recording might have worked as an evocation of dockside bar music, New Kingdom, but that's about it. The vocal areas, unlikely as they seem, get the CD three stars. For too-brief but still shining moments, Egypt is evoked pretty well. Pity the rest was so blah.
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the sound of ancient egypt April 12 2001
Format:Audio CD
as you can see i didn't like this cd. i am very interested in ancient egypt. i didn't like this cd because it was filled with mostly flutes and soft drums. there is hardly any singing and the singing sounds more like music from my church. and of the 18 tracks 13 of them are instrumental. i found this cd to be a waist of my money and i believe it will be for you as well.
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Could Have Been Done Better Jun 10 2000
Format:Audio CD
Michael Atherton's "Ankh" is a good showcasing of the instruments of the ancient world - however the vocals leave alot to be desired. Although he uses "ancient Egyptian" words in the spoken chants and singing in some of the songs, his choice of vocalists is incorrect for the subject matter. In short they sound far too "Western". The vocalists were far better suited to hymns with the Sunday Choir in a cathedral than in the columned halls of Ancient Egypt. Had Atherton used vocalists with a touch more passion and ethnicity, along the lines for example of Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance(Soundtrack for Gladiator) or Azam Ali ofthe group Vas, this album would have worked.
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