Album Info
| 1. Initiation Ceremony… | Year of Recording: 1995 | 2. Offering of Tea… | Record Label: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings | |
| Producer: Mickey Hart | ||||
| Engineer: Tom Flye, Jeff Sterling, Rudson Shurtliff | ||||
| Photography: Scott Harrison, John Werner, Bob Seidemann | ||||
| Series Ethnomusicology Consultant: Fredric Lieberman, Ph.D. | ||||
Description
The Gyuto Monks offer excerpts from their most important chants, selected by the monastic order’s chant master for their power and beauty. These multiphonic chants, passed down over generations by Tibetan monks, are not intended as entertainment, but for prayer. Excerpts include ceremonial chanting for exorcism and blessing, praise and evocation of deities, and meditation during which monks and nuns visualize themselves as deities in order to gain enlightenment. The chants feature a variety of sounds including solo and choir voice, drilbu (small bells), damaru (small drum), nga (large drum), kangling (short trumpets), dungchen (long trumpets), rolmo (horizontal cymbals), and silnyen (vertical cymbals). The Perfect Jewel: Sacred Chants of Tibet was recorded in 1995 and issued in 2002 as part of “THE WORLD” series (now part of the Mickey Hart Collection made available by Smithsonian Folkways).
Quotes
It was twenty-five years ago that, on the full moon night of October, high on the foothills of the Himalayas, there first broke upon my ears the holiest sound I have ever heard. The solo chords of the Gyuto monks have impounded Tibet’s mystery into sound-a sound so awesome, so ethereal, that it verges on a vocal miracle.
— Huston Smith
©2011 360° Productions, Inc.
