An anthology of
lullabies sounds like a sleepy proposition, and while that may be the point,
bedtime music is like any other medium for the human imagination: There is
good, bad and mediocre. The women of the California
choral group Kitka have chosen their material well, focusing on the inevitably
haunting melodies of Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Caucasus.
The impetus for Cradle Songs came
from discovering the extraordinary poetry of Armenian lullabies, and the sonic
exploration fanned out from there. There is nothing cute on Cradle Songs—no bouncing purple
dinosaurs—but there is a sense for the mystery and tragedy of life amid the
lulling harmonies.
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