Emahoy Tsege Mariam - Jerusalem

Emahoy Tsege Mariam - Jerusalem

cat: MRI200LP

From beloved composer Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru, an insightful new album of piano pieces previously unreleased or virtually inaccessible!

Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru is a true original - an Ethiopian nun whose recordings have funded orphanages in her homeland since the early 1960s. Her compositions and unique playing style move somewhere between Erik Satie, Debussy, the liturgical music of the Coptic Ethiopian Church, and traditional Ethiopian music. It is some of the most moving piano music you will ever hear. This is the first archival release of the great composer's recordings since the Éthiopiques series reintroduced her music to the world in 2006.

Drawing from the original master tapes and an almost untraceable vinyl release, Jerusalem reveals profound new facets of Emahoy Gebru's performance and compositions. The record picks up where the last two Mississippi releases left off, with tracks from her 1972 album Hymn of Jerusalem, of which only a handful of copies are known to exist. These include "Home of Beethoven", "Aurora" and a true masterpiece that is among her greatest compositions, the moving "Jerusalem" "Quand La Mer Furieuse" is the first release to feature Emahoy's vocals, a foretaste of a vocal album planned for 2023.

The B-side brings us the artist's house recordings - tracks like "Farewell Eve", "Woigaye Don't Cry Anymore" and "Famine Disaster 1974" mark a bridge from liturgical work to dark and intense classical material, a new kind. This album will be released in celebration of Emahoy Gebru's 99th birthday on December 12, 2022. Mississippi is honored to partner with Emahoy Tsege Mariam Music Publishing to continue to introduce this visionary composer to the world.