Through Eternity
Persian Devotional Music
Homage to Molavi (Rumi)

Dastan Ensemble with Shahram Nazeri

CD - 54 minutes

$16.98

Jallalidin Mohammede Balkhi Molavi (1207-1273 - best known in the West as Rumi), considered the greatest of Iranian mystical poets, was born in Balkh in N. Kharassan (modern Afganistan) and died in Konya, Turkey. In his lifetime, Molavi produced

- 2500 ghazals (a form of Persian poetry), dedicated to his beloved
- The Masnavi, about 25,000 rhyming couplets
- The Rubaiyat of about 1600 quatrains.

Molavi's vision was cosmic, universal, panenthiestic - Creation could not be bound by any one form of worship, love renders a world without division, and every atom carries its own divinity.

Through Eternity comprises a live performance of classical Persian modal systems celebrating the life and poetry of Molavi. The performance focuses on Molavi's "Intertwined in Love" and on "My Heart is Slipping from My Grasp" by Molavi's poetic heir, Hafez (d. 1389). I was struck when listening by the deep love I could hear in the voices of the singers, and by the way the instruments, rather than just accompanying the singers, rather danced with them - sometimes, playfully, sometimes solemnly, always beautifully. This recording is truly an homage of deep respect and gratitude, an upliftment from the mundane into a remembrance of who we really are.

If you have enjoyed Rumi's poetry in print in English, you'll want to listen closely and often to Through Eternity.

B'ismillah
Highlights from the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music, vol. 1

Various Artists

2 CDs - 139 minutes

$21.98

The Fes Festival of World Sacred Music in Fes, Morocco, is the point of convergence for the planet's most heartfelt and exalted sacred music. Each year, the religious world's most celebrated performers come together in this ancient city to extol the divine in song, music, and dance.

B'ismillah (in the name of God) was recorded live at the second Fes Festival. Selections include:

• Islamic songs
• Christian prayers
• Sufi chants
• ecstatic Berber dances

Their shared passion for the music in the sacred and the sacred in music echoes a longing buried deep in every human heart: a longing for spiritual unity that transcends artificial boundaries of nationality, religion, and time.

I was especially moved by the opening Call to Prayer with the Radio-Television Symphony Orchestra of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Between orchestra and caller there was such a heartfelt interplay, such an expression of joyful longing that I found myself both smiling and crying by its end. The Sufi chants brought me to my feet to dance; other pieces evoked quiet reflection, gratitude and a deep longing to reach beyond the superficial and into the real. We live in a very beautiful world.

Hamdulillah (Hallelujah!)
Fes Festival of World Sacred Music, volume 2

Various Artists

2 CDs - 145 minutes

$21.98

The Fes Festival of World Sacred Music was established in 1994 by the Association Fes Saiss, a nongovernmental organization and "peace messenger" dedicated to artistic preservation, international cooperation, and other humanitarian causes. A symbol of these efforts, the Fes Festival represents a common ground for people of good faith from diverse cultures and traditions. The Festival was born in the spirit of respectful tribute with an underlying inspiration to release the ancient spiritual wisdom so painfully needed in today's world. By weaving a spell of many traditions and religions that communicate - beyond words - through sacred music and art, the festival strives to make this wisdom tangible, broadcasting to the world the message of universality that Fes itself personifies.

In this second wondrous volume, you will hear:

• Arab-Andalusian Music of the Gharnati Tradition
• Music from Morocco's Rif Mountains
• Spiritual Music of Hindustan
• Music and Songs from Medieval Andalusia
• Spiritual Union in Song (by the Children of Abraham - a choir of Jewish, Muslim and Christian Children)
• Sufi Chants and Music
• Jewish Sephardic Songs
• The Jewish Tradition of Moroccan Piyyout
• Malhoun Verses of Fes
• Sufi Songs of Central Asia
• Iraqi Mystical Texts and Poetry
• Medieval Muslim and Moorish Songs
• Javanese Gamelan Music
• Spiritual Songs from Iran
• The Whirling Dervishes from Konya

I feel certain that you will find, as I did, that gathering of musicians and Lovers of God goes straight to the heart of what it means to be human. If it is possible to break open the heart with joy, these singers, musicians and dancers do just that.

Under the Moroccan Sky
Fes Festival of World Sacred Music, volume 3

Various Artists

1 CD - 72 minutes

$16.98

Joel Davis of Sounds True offers a bit more insight into the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music and to the city which gives it a home:

This indescribably vibrant city, the spiritual heart of North Africa, has, through the centuries, served as the home to a diverse array of traditions and cultures, and has seamlessly integrated all of these influences into the rich fabric of daily life. That alone makes it a suitable site for a festival welcoming artists and attendees from around the world. In Fes, there is no separating the sacred from the profane. From the stirring prayer call issued five times daily to a waiter's whispered "B'ismillah" (in the name of God) when he serves your mint tea, one is never far removed from the touch of the divine.

In any other city, this would be just another festival. But in Fes, the event and the city illuminate each other, reflecting the Fassis' ingenuity and fascination for life, and the musicians' various expressions of the mystical secrets we share, all framed by a reverence and willing surrender to God's will.

On this third vibrant volume from the Fes Festival, you can rejoice in:

• West African Sufi Songs
• Sufi Music and Songs of Morocco
• Berber Sacred Song
• Sacred Music and Song of the Middle Ages and Renaissance
• Gypsy-Catalan Songs of the Evangelical Church
• Devotional Songs form Southern India
• Sacred and Classical Music of Iran
• Traditional Maddah Music from Upper Egypt

As with the previous two volumes resulting from the Fes Festival, this one is sheer joy to listen to - it is as though we were seated at Babette's Feast, carried into the world of sound. The fastest way from our heads to our hearts may be through music such as this! Enjoy and be glad!