On their new CD, Cappella Romana performs Byzantine musical treasures from the cathedrals and monasteries of the Eastern Roman Empire which were preserved from destruction in the Egyptian desert at the Greek Orthodox Monastery of St. Catherine at Mt. Sinai.… This music speaks to a higher self: its target is the divine and focuses the soul in direct union with God. One of its hallmarks is the luxurious usage of time. Time seems to be suspended as you listen. Crescendos, suspensions, and intensity are not lacking but the spirit of calmness is suffused as one enters into a reality that is purely spiritual. As in many oriental musical forms the repetition of notes has a proto-hypnotic effect but in this timeless musical system one does not space out but holds the musical vocabulary and deeply embedded symbolic intentions in an alert and focused gesture of containment. One thinks of cupped hands gently supporting the most perfumed and beautiful of flowers in a meditation without end.…” —Paul-James Dwyer, Catholic Insight
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