a r t i s t : Herbert Stanley Littlejohn
t i t l e : 17th and 18th Century Works Of Funerary Violin
d a t e : 2007
l a b e l : GOFV (Guild of Funerary Violinists)
g e n r e : Classical
r l s. d a t e : Feb/2008
t r a c k s : 06
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 13,7 MB
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Ripper's note: It's so hard to say what's real and what's
fabricated nowadays! First, check out the website at:
http://www.guildoffuneraryviolinists.org.uk/
And then read this review from Aquarius:
Another installment in the convoluted and lost history of the
Funerary Violin. A mysterious body of work, attributed to the
equally mysterious Guild Of Funerary Violinists, all of which
was lost to history until quite recently. A book has been
published, and a handful of recordings were discovered,
illuminating this amazing, and surprisingly, entirely
fictitious movement.
We've reviewed two other unearthed recordings from this
historically valuable series, one a compilation called
Babcotte, Sudbury And Eaton: The English School Of Funerary
Origin, the other by Wilhelm Kleinbach called The Funerary
Notebooks Of Herr Gratchenfleiss. Check those reviews more a
more detailed description of the Guild and its contentious
history. Both were recorded before the advent of modern
recording, preserved with the fuzz and whir and scratchiness
of old wax cylinder recordings, gorgeous, mournful, beautiful,
delicate and wistful, each a heart wrenching funereal lament,
but all of it a massive hoax.
Not that it takes away from the brilliance of the music, or
the incredibly detailed liner notes, if anything it makes it
even more amazing. That someone could create what is
essentially an entire alternate history, complete with sound.
These recordings, supposedly performed Herbert Stanley
Littlejohn in 1956, were taken from a book of music discovered
in a dusty corner of a church in 1954, dating back to the late
1600's! In the process of recording the pieces, Littlejohn
tripped on a cat, fell down a flight of stairs and smashed his
skull dying instantly. This disc collects the finished pieces
from that session.
As with all the Funerary Violin releases, the liner notes are
extensive, names, dates, events, the notes to this disc are
particularly humorous commenting on, among other things, "the
poor technical performance standard amongst guild members in
what remains one of our darkest periods." And like the other
discs, the music is exquisite, genuine or not, utterly lovely,
the melodies are mournful and sad, the playing smooth and
refined, the notes drifting dreamlike into the starry night,
the recording lo-fi, but warm and shimmery. Even without the
amazing backstory and fabricated history, this would still be
entirely recommended!
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01-Orlando Addleston From Funerarius For Michael Wise [02:39]
Esquire (1681) I Grave
02-Michel Meunier From Pompes Funebres No. 2 [02:32]
(1693) Pompe I
03-Michel Meunier From Pompes Funebres No. 2 [03:50]
(1693) Pompe II
04-Michel Meunier From Pompes Funebres No. 2 [03:38]
(1693) Pompe III
05-Kaspar Ignaz Faustmann From Todesmusik (1722) Intrada [03:13]
06-Kaspar Ignaz Faustmann From Todesmusik [02:42]
(1722) Trauermarsch II
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18:34 min