With their new CD “Seikilos” Corvus Corax present an interesting new interpretation of medieval music. Maybe it has to be highlighted that it is not only music from the Middle Ages that the band performs, but pieces of music spanning 2 millennia (!) played on medieval instruments. This means that, except for the odd instrument from the Far East or from ancient times, the band members have stayed true to their already “classic” sound, that is, bagpipes and lots of drums.

This CD was named after the Seikilos Song, the oldest known piece of European music, which was found carved in the column of a grave in Tralles (Asia Minor). According to the CD booklet, a 15th Century troubadour knew and played this song and called himself Seikilos II. The ways these old documents had to travel to reach us today are often bizarre. Many medieval or antique documents were burned, lost or stolen… sometimes showing up far away from their places of origin. Even today, every once in a while parchments from the Middle Ages or older are found in church archives, in private collections, or hidden on the backs of old documents or within the bindings of archaic manuscripts. It is no news either that medieval troubadours traveled around a lot, gathering their inspiration from the various places they visited. Towards the end of the medieval period, even the great thinkers started to develop an interest in antiquity; it is therefore safe to assume that a 15th Century troubadour would have been interested, too. With all this in mind, Corvus Corax have prevailed in a risky game on their new CD. We can hear the old Greek song of the lively Seikilos next to a Chinese imperial march from even older times, various medieval dances and songs up to Francois Villon – all of them done the Corvus Corax way. The band has researched, compiled and revised music that no human ear has ever heard – at least not in 500 years. Unlike what happened to the listeners of old Seikilos II, whose “ears were beset by strange melodies…”

“Seikilos” is a modern-sounding album, something we have also come to expect from Corvus Corax. The meaning of medieval in the 21st Century is not regression, inquisition or pestilence, it means catchy, infectious music. No museum sounds here – but music that is very much alive!

1. SEIKILOS
Inscription on the grave of Seikilos, it is the oldest known piece of music in the area of influence of the European culture. This song is an invitation to enjoy the short life:

As long as you live, show yourself
Don’t worry too much about anything
There is a short time left to live
Time will bring about the end

Step out of anonymity, lethargy, and confinement. Do what you do consciously, and enjoy the moment. Don’t waste time worrying about things…

This song is the oldest piece of music known in European culture written as “notes”, even though these notes aren’t the small black devils with long necks. The instructions noted for the melody are signs that bear a relation to the hand signs used in music class in the first years of school: do, re, mi, fa, sol, etc. with the corresponding hand movements…

The column on the grave of Seikilos is dated between the second century before Christ and the first century after Christ. Nothing is known about the person Seikilos that isn’t carved in this column.

2. SUAM ELLE IRES
We don’t know a lot about this melody. Andalusian-Arabic influences can be heard, and we presume it originated around the 8th – 9th Century – after the Moslems invaded Spain, anyway.

3. SATYRICON
You can imagine this piece as the music to an orgy. After eating and vomiting, the participants would revel in dance. The name stems from Petronius’ Satyricon. Petronius lived in the first century after Christ and described the everyday life in decadent Rome in this collection of sketches and fragments. Emperor Nero drove him to suicide because of his acid criticism of the Roman society. Petronius celebrated his demise with a huge orgy.

TITENKA
A dance for the Trakish Princess Titenka, who lived in the 5th Century BC. The dance was taken from a 16th Century manuscript which united melodies from already old sources.

CHOU CHOU SHENG
This Chinese Imperial March comes from the Chou Dynasty and is therefore around 3,000 years old. To this music, the emperor would move into the temple. We think we can make any temple shake with our interpretation…

BALADE DE MERCY
Francois Villon’s “Plea For Forgiveness“ is probably one of his best known songs. Even Brecht cited it in his Three Penny Opera. Many might know Kinski’s interpretation. Villon was a lover of life, too. With this song he confronted anyone who would oppose his way of life: the envious, the sneaks, the moralizers, and the hypocrites, only to ask them for forgiveness afterwards. Not so the police dogs… may they be beaten and kicked… but well, in the end he asks them for forgiveness, too.

PARA BAREI
A “classic” Corvus Corax medieval piece from the 13th Century.

ORO SE VIE
Song for the grape harvest from the 14th Century, also “classic” Corvus Corax.

CHEIRON
The lyrics are cited from Longinus’ “Vom Erhabnen“ – around 100 BC. Cheiron is the main centaur. This song is about a centaur getting ready to fight, it rears up, whips itself… looks in the mirror and prepares to… go out ;-)

AIA
Aia is a writer from the 10th Century – we found this saying from the Alemanni troubadours in his writings. The basis of the melody is a fragment from the 6th – 7th Century.

This saying is probably the oldest document in German language describing the endless theme of lawless, prowling troubadours. The Bible already classified the harp and zither players as sons of Cain and living in tents with the shepherds, merchants and warriors, i.e. the

BASILEUS
Saint Basileus lived in the 3rd Century. His is the sentence “Dancing is the most elegant pastime of the angels in heaven”. We dedicate this 13th Century dance to him.

HYMNUS APOLLON
Hymn dedicated to Apollo. Apollo is the beautiful young god of light (sometimes next to Helios), of wisdom and augury, who took over the site of the Delphi oracle after Themis. He is the leader of the muses and the god of expiation and averter of evil… Apollo – son of Zeus and Leto – is a shining figure in the gods’ firmament.

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