Volume Three
is another eclectic sampling of vintage "ethnic" recordings taken from the storerooms at
The Secret Museum of Mankind
. A Rhodesian hymn of praise precedes a 1948 recording of an Uzbeki diva, while the serpentine melodic lines of a Greek clarinetist follows the contemplative resonance of a 1939 solo performance on the Chinese qin or chin (a plucked zither). Though one may think that the enormous musical breath of the CD might make listening to it a scattered and unsatisfactory experience, this is not the case. The historical context within these works presented -- worldwide recordings made between 1925 and 1948 -- give this and the other
Secret Museum
works a cohesion that allows for disparate musical examples to be placed side by side. All in all, this CD gives the listener a window into another time, when recording technology was young and Western popular music had not invaded every corner of the globe. ~ John Vallier