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Release Date: 26-10-1998
Label: Celestial Harmonies
Catalog Number: 11074-2
Barcode: 13711107425
Musical Style: Medieval
Description:
Renowned German composer Peter Michael Hamel turned his focus to the pipe organ for his dramatic composition, Organum. The four–part score is based on the medieval music form, the organum. In Latin, the term organum has two meanings; it either refers to the organ or to the polyphonic Gregorian chant. Hamel combines the two meanings as he masterfully performs on the grand pipe organ at the Academy of Music in Munich, his instrument taking the place of the human voice. The polyphonic form of organum came to its height in 12th century Paris, with composers associated with the Notre Dame Cathedral. Their settings contained contrasting sections; voices rhythmically patterned, discantus style, alternating with sections in which the chant notes were prolonged to accommodate the many notes sung above them, organal style. Hamel incorporates these contrasting sections in the four parts of Organum, an inspired and moving performance by this artist and composer.
Biography:
Award–winning artist and composer, Peter Michael Hamel, has written music for stage, radio plays and silent movies, as well as orchestral pieces and an opera. In addition to receiving formal musical training in Munich, where he also studied psychology and sociology, Hamel spent time in Asia exploring the Eastern musical traditions. He has authored a book entitled Through Music to the Self which discusses the effects on the human psyche of various Far Eastern improvisational techniques, relating them to Western music's harmonic approach. Hamel's focus on the meditative and spiritual qualities of music, his interest in new improvisational techniques and his decisive talent as a musician and composer are evident in this collection of masterpieces.
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