| "The flower of Byzantine culture was a hybrid,
enriched with leaves of gold. The 5th century invasion of the western
Roman empire by the Goths had plunged Western Europe into the Dark Ages.
Byzantium became the centre of civilization and it now laid a foundation
for the music of Christendom through a fusion of elements, religious and
secular, eastern and western. The blend of Hellenistic (Greek) with
Semitic (Jewish) and Arabic (Persian) conceptions transmitted its influence
into Russia via Bulgaria and later into Western Europe. It can be
said that not a single musical instrument of Medieval Europe was native
but that they were all imported from Asia. The migration took place
over several centuries and by various routes, of which the most important
passed through Byzantium and North Africa. The much vaunted Renaissance
in Italy was less a re-discovery of classical Greek and Roman concepts
than an embracing of the enduring cultural legacy of the Byzantine Christian
sects. The music and art of Western Europe blossomed once more upon
the opening of the gates to the Orient."
- Wellesz, Byzantine Music and Hymnography
DJ:n valinta: SPK, Zamia Lehmanni: Songs of
Byzantine Flowers, Mute Records 1992 |
| "Dem use to deal wid Rastafari an’ I deal
with Jah through Jesus Christ...I was reasoning, an’ sayin’ dat I don’t
see Rastafari as the Supreme, becaw I say the Supreme a live inside a we
as temples, as a higher heights inna Creation. A man not fi worship a next
man, is only Jehovah the true and living God! An’ it cause a big dispute
wid de whol’ a dem Rasta man. Me a hold on to my opinion, an’ dem
hold on to dem opinion, till it become boring. An’ den, all of a sudden
the rain set up, an’ dem go way, go sleep. When dem a sleep, it like I
hear someting, a sound, like a strange ting, inside a me thoughts- like
an Angel a sing. When de thunder roll, it come in like music to me, me
hear these sounds, ‘King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the
Tribe of Judah’. Me a sing along to the sounds weh me hear, an’ eventually
dem wake up an’ a listen to me. Dem say it sound like a new sound wha’
could go ‘pon record, an’ so me shoulda penetrate dat an’ go inna recordin’!"
- Vivian "Jesus Dread" Jackson
DJ:n valinta: The Orb, Adventures beyond the Ultraworld,
Big Life 1991 |
