Castle Classics Other Far-Eastern Traditional & Classical Music

Anon: Tembang Sunda - Sundanese Classical Songs - Imas Permas & Asep Kosasih, singers; Gan Gan Garmana Gardea, Kacapi Indung (Long Zither); Kondin Herdinan, Kacapi Rincik (Short Zither); Endang Sukendar, Suling (Flute)

Label - Nimbus

Cat. No. - NI5378

Including Bubuka, Rajah Kunasari; Pasieup Narangtang, Papatat Ratu, Pangapungan, Goyong - Papantunam; Pasieup Narangtang, Toropongan - Panambih; Pasieup Narangtang, Jemplang Panganten, Jemplang Cidapap, Jemplang Pamirig - Jejemplangan; Pasieup Narangtang, Selabintana - Panambih; Liwung Jaya - Rarancagan; Panyileukan - Panambih; Catrik - Panutup; Sekar Manis - Panambih; Ceurik Rahwana - Rarancagan; Kulu Kulu Bem - Panambih; Eros - Rarancagan; Lara-Lara - Panambih; Senggot - Panambih; Sekar Duaan - Panambih

Sundanese Classical Songs are unique in Indonesia. They are part of the very rich musical repertoire of the province of West Java, inhabited by about 35 million people, comprising the second largest Indonesian ethnic group and about a third of the Javanese population. They are sung texts, from Hindo-Buddhistic times and from the beginning of Islamization. The manuscripts are from the 16th, 19th and 20th centuries
Price: £12.98 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

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Various: The Music of Southern Laos - Molam Lao

Label - Nimbus

Cat. No. - NI5401

The performers on this disc are the best musicians in Laos. Since settling in France in 1976 they have given concerts and taken part in many international festivals throughout Europe. This recording features the alternating style of singing know as Lam, and the quintessential Laotian bamboo mouth organ, the khen.
Price: £12.98 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

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Various: Vietnam - Court music and Hue songs

Label - Inedit

Cat. No. - W260073

From Hue, classical court music and chamber vocal and instrumental music performed by a traditional ensemble.
Price: £13.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

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Various: A Taste of Asia - Various Artists, See Below

Label - Nimbus

Cat. No. - NI7025

Artists / Ensembles: Wu Man; Lamoon Phuakthongkham; Imas Permas; Asep Kosasih; Molam Lao; Fong Naam; Tianjin Buddhist Music Ensemble; Prasit Thawon Ensemble

Nimbus Records has lifted the lid on some of the most fascinating musical cultures in the world. Its recordings of Indian music remain some of the finest available. Since the late 1980s and early 1990s the catalogue has widened its horizons ever further to encompass the musical traditions of China, Java, Thailand and Laos. This disc takes you on a 77 minute tour through the musical traditions of these countries and provides a springboard for further exploration through this varied and exciting catalogue
Price: £9.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

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Various: Buddhist Music of Tianjin - Tianjin Buddhist Music Ensemble

Label - Nimbus

Cat. No. - NI5416

This recording introduces an exquisite form of Chinese ensemble music for wind and percussion instruments, still popular in the villages of northern China. Derived from the temple music of imperial times, it is still a distinctive part of folk rituals today. This is also a rare opportunity to savour the art of the guanzi, a double-reed pipe like an oboe, played by the great Li Jinwen, a former Buddhist monk. The music that the group play on this disc is still commonly performed for funerals and God's birthdays, throughout the area south and west of Tianjin. The majority of the musicians are over the age of 60 and all have had a long association with Buddhist temple music. Pan Shizhong, the oldest musician in the ensemble, was born in 1919
Price: £13.00 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

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Various: Buddhist Music of Tianjin - Various Artists, See Below

Label - Nimbus

Cat. No. - NI7064-5

2 CD Set

Artists: Tianjin Buddhist Music Ensemble; Li Jinwen; Wang Fengrui; Zhang Shicai; Zhang Shenglu; Pan Shizhong; Zhang Yujie

The Cultural Revolution in China, which lasted for ten years (1966-76) brought with it many horrors. Music-making like that heard here - with its roots in the religious ceremonies of the temples and of ritual societies - had, like many other activities, been precarious since the 1950s. Come the Revolution, such activities were completely proscribed, but since 1978 more liberal policies have allowed traditional culture, including religious practice, to make a substantial revival. The discs in this collection present two very different musics, but bound by the thread of ceremony, be it Buddhist, Taoist or Confucian
Price: £13.00 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

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Sunda Song - Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan

Label - Naxos World

Cat. No. - 76061-2

Including Anjeun (You) (arr. Evergreen Club) • Arang Arang (arr. A. Timar) • Jeruk Bali (Sweet Grapefruit) - Kunang Kunang (Fireflies) (arr. Evergreen Club) • Kalangkang (Illusion) (arr. M. Dugan) • Pengkolan (On the Corner) (arr. B. Parsons) • Samagaha (Solar Eclipse) (arr. Evergeen Club) • Sorban Palid (Turban Floating Away) (arr. Evergreen Club) • Tina Jandela (From the Window) (arr. B. Parsons
Price: £5.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

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JIANGNAN CLASSICS: The Jiangnan Ensemble

Label - Naxos World

Cat. No. - 76008-2

Including SONG OF HAPPINESS; STROLLING IN THE STREETS; THREE SECTIONS (MEI HUA SAN LONG); PLEASING QUADRANGLE; SONG OF A WARM SOUTHERLY BREEZE; MAN LIU BAN (SLOW SIX ACCENTUATED BEATS); CLOUD CELEBRATION
Price: £5.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

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Various: Ca Trù - The Music of North Vietnam - The Hanoi Ca Trù Thai Ha Ensemble

Label - Nimbus

Cat. No. - NI5626

The northern Vietnamese tradition of Ca Tru dates from the fifteenth century. In the first half of the twetieth century the music became very popular as entertainment in bars, but due to its association with drinking and flirtation it recieved a bad name, was discouraged by the communist government of Vietnam and was rarely performed
Price: £13.00 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

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The Piphat: Fong Naam

Label - Naxos World

Cat. No. - 76010-2

Including Chatri Overture; Sathukarn, Tra Yapakkok And Tra Jomsri; Cherd Nawk; The Great Cambodian Suite - Phleng Reuang Kamen Yai

"In the late 60s, a young American by the name of Bruce Gaston arrived in Thailand: his ambition, to avoid the draft. During his stay, Gaston became captivated by the music of Thailand, studied its techniques, and decided not to return to the United States. Together with Boonyong Kethong he formed an instrumental ensemble known as Fong Naam, which is now one of the best known pi-pha ensembles in the nation. Although the music Fong Naam plays is rooted in classical tradition, it is also porous and accepts absorbs outside influences. - All Music Guide
Price: £5.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

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Various: Music of Laos

Label - Inedit

Cat. No. - W260118

Including music of the Khmou', Oï, Brao, Lao, Phou-noï, Kui, Lolo, Akha, Hmong and Lantene Traditions
Price: £13.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

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Various: Traditional Music from Central Java - Banyumas Bamboo Gamelan

Label - Nimbus

Cat. No. - NI5550

Banyumas, in Central Java, is home to a unique gamelan ensemble known as calung (pronounced chalung). All the instruments in the ensemble, including a kind of trumpet which imitates the gong, are made entirely of bamboo. This village music is melodic, simple in form and structure, yet played with an energy and sense of fun rarely found in other types of gamelan music. The bamboo xylophones provide a dynamic rhythmic backing to the enticing melodies of a female vocalist; while accompanying her the male musicians also shout and sing short melodic fragments or rhythmic patterns which fit in with the complex drumming style. In Banyumas the music would accompany lénggér, an all night event combining dance, music, singing and comedy
Price: £13.00 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

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Various: Jakajan - Music from New Siam - Fong Naam

Label - Nimbus

Cat. No. - NI5486

Fong Naam is not only a remarkable ensemble of the very best Thai musicians, it is also at the forefront of modern composition, both in traditional and experimental styles. This disc presents Fong Naam as innovators and developers in an area that their leader, Bruce Gaston, calls "New Siamese" music, as a way of distinguishing it from traditional Thai music. Here, Thai riffs and motifs encircle, and sometimes collide head-on with, western linearity in an intriguing collaboration. Paradoxically, Fong Naam's contemporary work has won respect in Thailand whilst causing controversy in the west
Price: £13.00 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

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Sacred Tibetan Chant - The Monks of Sherab Ling Monastery

Label - Naxos World

Cat. No. - 76044-2

GRAMMY AWARD WINNING RECORDING. 2004

Including Mahamudra Lineage Prayer & Meditation; Mahakala Puja - Invocation and offering to Mahakala

02. Mahakala Puja - Invocation and offering to Mahakala; Mahakala Puja - Receiving blessings & dedicating the merit to world peace & harmony
Price: £5.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

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