Listening Recommendations: Past Life Melodies by Sarah Hopkins

Hi all!

Sorry for the late post. "Listening Recommendations" usually comes out every Wed. Been a little 'tied up' haha.

This week's recommendation's Past Life Melodies by Australian Composer Sarah Hopkins, highly acclaimed for her visionary music and inspiring performances for cello, harmonic overtone singing, handbells, choir and the celestial Harmonic Whirlies of her own creation.

Anyway on to the piece. It is, imo, one which forces introspection, transporting you into another realm, and in the midst of doing so offers you fleeting glimpses of our world.

Within those few minutes, one can almost listen and see Aborigines playing the didgeridoo, singing and dancing around a bonfire; in another moment, in Medieval Europe whilst priests worship in Gregorian Chants, and suddenly standing on the mountain tops, peeking into the temples of the Himalayan monks, chanting away the troubles of the world.

The piece incorporates overtone singing and whistling. Due to the drone, it may be a little monotonous and thus not everyone's cup of tea. However, it is unique and showcases the cultures of the world. It's technically very difficult as you need to be really precise with your pitching in order to get the overtones going.

I have two videos below, one's by world-renown group Chanticleer, and the other's by a South African youth Choir, Pro Cantu. Personally I prefer the Chanticleer version, as i feel there's more depth to it.