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Thierry Zaboitzeff — Llibre Vermell Revisitat
(Bandcamp no#, 2025, DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2025-07-31

Llibre Vermell Revisitat Cover art

The origins of Llibre Vermell go back to an earlier time, clean back to the Fourteenth Century in fact; Le Livre Vermell is a collection of hymns, songs, and dances that comes with a strong festive medieval atmosphere, and though the original composers of these pieces are anonymous, they were collected by monks in the late 1300s, only to be rescued from a fire at the monastery in Montserrat (Catalonia) several hundred years later. The pieces are religious as well as danceable, such as music tended to be in the Middle Ages, and lyrics are in Latin, Occitan, and Catalan. These have long been of interest  to Zaboitzeff, and in early 2004 he took these songs and gave them contemporary arrangements for an intended performance at Schauspielhaus Salzburg in April 2004 as a duo with vocalist / percussionist Sandrine Rohrmoser, with TZ handling all of the arrangements, additional vocals, cello, bass guitar, acoustic and electric guitars, looping, sampling, and soundscapes, plus backing tracks. This is a live recording of the performance, though in 2025 Zaboitzeff restored some of the tracks to better meet today’s listening standards and remastered all. The original Llibre Vermell contained ten songs, though only nine are presented here. How to describe this? Although I don’t understand more than a few words of any of the three languages (if even three!), it’s clear from the style that what is being presented is centuries old and is of a reverent or sacred nature, clearly conveyed through the vocals and medieval dance rhythms. It’s also pretty clear with that said, that the arrangements at hand employ ideas that are informed by modern classical and baroque influences, as well as rock and electronics. Rohrmoser is a great singer, and Zaboitzeff’s vocals, while not always present, do contribute a strong element of mysticism and dark mystery when he harmonizes with her. All taken, Libre Vermell is a most beautiful, unusual and unique collection that sounds like nothing else one is likely to have heard.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Thierry Zaboitzeff

More info
http://thierryzaboitzeff.bandcamp.com/album/llibre-vermell-revisitat
http://youtu.be/2iDjd2IR4r8
http://youtu.be/HZeCfhR6818
http://youtu.be/yEshc6TFNM4
http://youtu.be/qmKE0qkpC8s
http://youtu.be/xcYL0Jf2HIA
http://youtu.be/k--E4GuhQAk
http://youtu.be/-61rQ4TPofc

 

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