Every once in awhile, you stumble across a recording that's just so different from anything else you've ever heard it shakes your perceptions of music.
Mille Anni Passi Sunt, a tribute to the legend surrounding Vlad the Impaler, is one of those recordings.
A collection of re-created medieval tunes mixed with more modern instruments such as a synthesizer and drum machine, this 14-track, almost hour-long disc fascinates from the first track.
It's bold, it's passionate, it's frightening ... and it doesn't slip easily into any musical genre.
But that's something to which Corvus Corax has become accustomed. Their name is Latin for raven, a bird long associated with dark deeds and superstition. For about 10 years, this German group has been unearthing scraps and snippets of medieval music, piecing together what they can and re-creating the rest, performing it on instruments that were built based on originals that likely turned to dust before the end of the Dark Ages.
According to their Web site, "Venustus Oleriasticus" -- the band's founder and instrument-maker-- plays bagpipes, shawm, (a double-reed instrument that sounds a little like an oboe, only more shrill) bombarde (another double-reed instrument; this one also sounds a bit like an oboe, but has a deeper tone than the shawm), and cornet. Meister Selbfried" was apparently the second member of the band, and plays bombard, shawm, flute and bagpipes. "Castus Rabensang" is the band's vocalist, and also plays bagpipes, shawn, bombard, and percussion. "Teufel" plays shawm and bagpipes, and "Der Heilige Sankt Brandanarius" plays bagpipe, shawm, bombard and fills in on background vocals. All apparently have a hand in researching their material.
Their work is far from easy. Scores of secular medieval music aren't exactly sitting around on shelves, waiting for someone to rediscover them. The church had a dim view of dancing, singing and merry-making, believing such pastimes brought one closer to eternal fire than everlasting light. One can imagine, then, that Gregorian chants, rather than drinking tunes, were more likely to be stored in the libraries and vaults of the day.
Still, the group manages to persevere, with interesting results. Along the way, they've released nine other albums: Viator, Live, Tanzwut, Tritonus, Inter Deum Et Diabolum Semper Musica, Congregatio, Ante Casu Peccati, and Tempi Antiqui. In between releases, they've done an impressive number of European performances that include concerts, TV appearances and festivals.
Mille Anni Passi Sunt, their 10th release, is a collection of 14 tunes; a mix of songs, dance melodies and ballads from the 11th to the 15th century. It all falls under -- and in line with -- the title track, Mille Anni Passi Sunt, which, very roughly translated, means "a thousand years have passed." (The 15th track is a CD-ROM game that features Dracula dodging garlic and crosses and earning points for soaking up blood and catching fair maidens. But don't let this fool you into thinking this disc is a trivial work. Far from it.)
Mille Anni Passi Sunt is a collection of 14 tunes; a mix of songs, dance melodies and ballads from the 11th to the 15th century. It all falls under -- and in line with -- the title track, Mille Anni Passi Sunt, which, very roughly translated, means "a thousand years have passed." (The 15th track is a CD-ROM game that features Dracula dodging garlic and this fools you into thinking this disc is a trivial work. Far from it.)
The vocals are performed in Latin, Italian, German and Romanian. Although there's a translation in the liner notes, it's very rough and does not cover each track. I found I had to rely heavily on the Internet and various foreign language-to-English dictionaries to figure out what's going on (and I cursed myself for paying more attention to the girl sitting next to me than to the blackboard in my Latin and German classes so many years ago.).
Like so many good things, Mille Anni Passi Sunt came about by chance, after members of Corvus Corax met a descendant of Vlad Tepes III during a party.
For those of you not familiar with Tepes III, (also known as Vlad Dracul,) he was the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula. In Romanian, Dracul means both dragon and devil ... fitting nicknames for the man who became known as Vlad the Impaler. His father carried the Dracul title first, though; earning the nickname because his armor bore the likeness of a dragon, which at the time was a sign of a special "Dragon Order." The order was dedicated to fighting off the invading Muslim Turks.
Depending on which version of history you believe, Vlad III was either a savior or a scourge. Some legends say he impaled captured Turks and criminals on stakes, delighting in their screams and sometimes holding banquets on the execution fields so he could feast as he watched the victims suffer. Other legends say he is the savior of Romania, a man who fought off invaders and brought order to the land, a protector who will rise again to rescue his country in its time of need. Whatever the case, all indications are that his life was a violent one.
Corvus Corax weaves their version of the tale with strands taken from Stoker and a mix of legends, adding their own thread to the mix: In this version, Dracula is in love with his victims. It's actually a bit of wordplay with "dracul" and "dragul," the latter meaning dearest."
And to make things even more interesting, that descendant of Tepes --a man named Ottomar Rodolphe Vlad Dracula Prince Kretzulesco -- sings on the album.
The album opens with the title track, a darkly sensual piece that begins with a synthesized super-bass tone that rattles a set of speakers not up to the challenge. The overtly sexual moans of a woman call out to the count as he passes on the gift of immortality. Soon, the keening wail of bagpipes and a single drum take over the melody, driving it above the synthesized background. The woman and Dracula trade lyrics, she proclaiming her passion for him, he telling her that she will become what he is now; that her life is forever changed.
It's a powerful introduction to a disc that continues to deliver. The instrumentation relies heavily on bagpipes -- the band boasts five pipers on stage at one time -- percussion (with three drummers), anda litany of other stringed, wind, and electronic instrumentation. Despite the inclusion of modern instruments, there's no doubt this isn't "modern" music.
The next track is a segue of sorts. Called "Avanti," (Italian for "forward" or "ahead"), it's a rhythmic, mesmerizing tune from the 12th or 13th century that could easily inspire swaying and a good deal of swooning. It lilts along on the power of the bagpipes while the drummers relentlessly pound out a tattoo in the background.
Mille Anni Passi Sunt is full of songs like this: hypnotic, exciting, bewitching works that call to mind a time in history rich with conflict, sorrow, terror, superstition, and an almost desperate fascination with the pleasures of the flesh and the escape of drink. Some of the titles alone invoke an air of mystery if you're not multi-lingual: "Saltatio Mortis A.D MM," "Bucca," "Nominalto."
Two of the titles may even sound familiar: "In Taberna" and "Estuans Intrinsecus" from Carmina Burana. But these aren't taken from Carl Orf'fs masterpiece 1937 work. Instead, they are taken from the original manuscript that inspired Orff -- a collection of secular poems and melodies from the 13th century.
Corvus Corax, who on some Web sites are called the kings of medieval music, surely fit the billing. Mille Anni Passi Sunt is a masterpiece in its own right, a treasure fit for kings and queens. And it's most assuredly worthy of a Romanian prince.
