Stock: 
Format: 
Release Date: 26-10-1998
Label: Celestial Harmonies
Catalog Number: 13037-2
Barcode: 13711303728
Musical Style: New Age
Track Listing:
| Disc 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Time Ice [03:04] | 8 | Through the Ice [01:04] |
| 2 | Blue Sheep [02:53] | 9 | Herald of Sh'ang Sh'ung [01:58] |
| 3 | Track of the Yeti [04:01] | 10 | In the Valley of Sh'ang Sh'ung [02:44] |
| 4 | Cliffs of Crystal Cliffs of Ice [02:56] | 11 | Transmigration I [04:26] |
| 5 | Snowblind [05:13] | 12 | Serenade [07:43] |
| 6 | Blackwind [01:37] | 13 | Transmigration II [06:00] |
| 7 | Altitude 27000 [05:20] | 14 | Gates of Sh'ang Sh'ung [05:19] |
Description:
With Tibetan Bells IV: The Bells of Sh'ang Sh'ung, new trails are blazed by the musicians who created the classic Tibetan bells trilogy. Sh'ang Sh'ung is the Tibetan name for the fabled lost kingdom where the most precious teachings of Buddhism were conceived, are concealed and remain preserved to this day. On this recording, Henry Wolff and Nancy Hennings weave a metaphor in music, a sound–poem depicting a journey to the mythic precincts of Sh'ang Sh'ung. Legends surrounding this remote and lost terrain tell of the punishing hardships that must be overcome to reach the city. Wolff and Hennings succeed in depicting the physical, mental and spiritual tribulations of such a pilgrimage and the awe–inspiring spectacle of the Himalayan wilderness. The recording opens with the travelers striking across ranges of crystal cliffs and steep snowfields haunted by the Yeti, the legendary abominable snowmen. Seemingly insurmountable dangers are briefly forgotten at the sight of the sun rising over rose–tinted glaciers and wind funneled plumes of snow careening against an azure sky - the first hint of a spiritual splendor to come. The pilgrims continue to endure extreme mental disorientation, a breakdown of the time–space continuum and the repeated shattering and reassembling of consciousness before they finally reach their goal. The recording closes with a rejoicing populace escorting the newcomers triumphantly through the great gates of Sh'ang Sh'ung. While the purity of tone and long haunting echoes of the Tibetan bells remain central to the artists' vision, The Bells of Sh'ang Sh'ung makes use of other instruments, both Eastern and Western. The synthesizer, long considered the natural electronic counterpart to the magic resonance of the bells, adds additional depth and atmosphere to this ambitious venture. Consistent with previous Tibetan bells recordings, the studio itself is exploited as an ultra–modern instrument in its own right.
Biography:
Mickey Hart, best known for his work with The Grateful Dead, has collected and performed on many unusual percussion instruments found throughout the world. He has put both traditional and little–known instruments to new and unexpected uses in his own compositions. At the same time, he has worked diligently to preserve the wisdom of ancient musical cultures through his recordings of indigenous artists. His research into the ritualistic roots of percussion is chronicled in his 1990 book, Drumming at the Edge of Magic. In 1969, Henry Wolff and Nancy Hennings traveled to India and Nepal where they studied with the Kagyu branch of Tibetan Buddhism and discovered the transcendent music of the Tibetan bells. In 1972, they became the first Western artists to make use of the then unknown Asian instruments in a 20th century Western idiom. The resulting album, Tibetan Bells, led to a succession of recordings featuring these instruments.
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