[Insert Language Here]

March 25, 2018 9:11 PM

In 1995, Karl Jenkins developed a language-free, yet sung, project called Adiemus that feels classical and also very modern. Adiemus is worth a listen. Cassette Side A:Adiemus, Tintnnnabulum, Cantus Inaequais, Cantus Insolitus, In Caelum Fero

Cassette Side B: Cantus Iteratus, Amatë Adean, Kayama, Hymn

posted by hippybear (11 comments total)

This is great!
posted by umber vowel at 9:46 PM on March 25, 2018

Oh man these pop up on my pandora a lot and always stop me in my tracks.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 10:14 PM on March 25, 2018

I own the CD and have played it a lot, but the fake ethnic, “tribal” sound makes me a little uncomfortable. The sleeve notes make it clear that Jenkins was consciously seeking this kind of sound. Everyone involved appears to be white; Miriam Stockley, the main vocalist, was born in South Africa, but I’m not sure that really makes a pastiche of “tribal” singing OK.
posted by Segundus at 1:14 AM on March 26, 2018 [3 favorites]

I don't have any problem with it. Music is just music, and it spans a great many leagues of styles and I don't think there is any monopoly on any specific style based on where one is born or what color of skin you wear. Are you outraged when a Japanese orchestra plays Mozart? Of course not. That this specific composition is in this specific style? Yeah, let go of that.
posted by hippybear at 3:41 AM on March 26, 2018 [5 favorites]

There was a spell in the '90s where TV commercials were all jumping on the bandwagon of using this ethereal sort of music. I can recall an advert for British Airways using the Flower Duet from Lakme that was very popular, and a car commercial with Maire Brennan and Clannad. I think I first heard Adiemus in a Delta Airlines commercial from that era. I've had this album for a long time and I love the sound, but the made-up language is a little silly.
posted by briank at 5:19 AM on March 26, 2018 [2 favorites]

Vocalese has a long and varied tradition. Modern artists such as Sigur Ros and Enya have used it quite a bit. Jenkins' "lyrics" are specifically designed to not distract from the music to which they are set. I wouldn't call it silly at all, but YMMV.
posted by DrAstroZoom at 7:01 AM on March 26, 2018

The title song was the intro music for a series of lovely bible story animations on UK TV (not long after it was written, it turns out). Teenage me loved the song and I've been trying to remember anything that would help me identify it for ages so I could find it again, so I'm so happy to see this! Thank you for posting, hippybear.
posted by Otto the Magnificent at 9:03 AM on March 26, 2018

And if you like these, there are, apparently, a number of follow-ups on Spotify, including in live, orchestral and sequel flavors.
posted by the sobsister at 10:09 AM on March 26, 2018

There was a spell in the '90s where TV commercials were all jumping on the bandwagon of using this ethereal sort of music. I can recall an advert for British Airways using the Flower Duet from Lakme that was very popular, and a car commercial with Maire Brennan and Clannad. I think I first heard Adiemus in a Delta Airlines commercial from that era. I've had this album for a long time and I love the sound, but the made-up language is a little silly.
posted by briank at 8:19 AM on March 26

Funny you should say that, as Karl Jenkins was a prominent composer of music for commercials during the '80s and '90s. You've probably heard his best-known piece...
posted by ZaphodB at 10:19 AM on March 26, 2018 [5 favorites]

I just listened to the second Adiemus album tonight on the commute home from work. It’s not as good as the first, except for one song (Song of the Plains). The original “Adiemus” can still make me stop and listen after all these years.
posted by lhauser at 7:02 PM on March 26, 2018

Vocalese - thank you for finally giving a name to something that I have always enjoyed: voice as instrument, rather than as a carrier of language and message via lyrics. Thanks to my church-music upbringing, my stand-in word for voice-as-instrument has always been "alleluia". Pretty word! Rolls off the tongue! Lots of open vowels!

As I got older I began to appreciate bands that used the voice-as-instrument: Soul Coughing for one. Some psychedelic lyrics make practically no sense (e.g. China Cat Sunflower by the Grateful Dead) but they just sound great.
posted by Elly Vortex at 2:51 PM on March 30, 2018