Eremos by Valentina Bellanova

Entirely recorded in home studio, "Eremos" embodies my various musical and cultural backgrounds and experiences, including early western and modal music, experimentation and tradition, medieval music, radical improvisation, maqamat and deep investigation of their respective languages.
"Eremos" symbolizes the journey of the hermit through different worlds and ages, a journey accompanied by recurring female figures from Mediterranean mysticism, feminine archetypes present in many cultures, such as the Christian Madonna, compassionate mother of all mothers, beloved and adored in the medieval laudas, bringing consoling guidance and the highest light; and such as Magdalena, a symbol of human imperfection, worthy of being praised because of her truth.

The album takes a solitary path back to the origin, following the steps of Rumi, who, like nobody else, was able to describe the pain of separation from the source.
"Fire, not wind, fire of Love (Aşk) is the sound of the ney“ : the ney flute slowly acquires a central role in the album, as well as in my life, eternal and imperfect, a primal and limitless instrument.

Nature, the hermit's companion, is present in various sounds, colors and scents: whispering of leaves, quarreling bees, Mediterranean sounds and echoes of the forest, fires, winds. And as in the ancient pilgrimages, here you will also find moments of levity and self-irony, of dances and songs, of flutes and drums. As the pilgrims lose and find themselves, even the most ancient fears may be exorcised.

Tracklist

1.	Altissima Luce	1:48

2.	Creta	3:43

3.	Bayati Insonne	2:33

4.	Eremos	4:12

5.	Fuoco d'Amore	5:54

6.	Gita sull'Etna	5:30

7.	Magdalena	7:03

8.	Ich fürchte mich	1:04

9.	In Pro	7:37

10.	Ney Hijaz Taqsim	2:42

11.	Dal ciel	4:08

12.	Esorcismo di Maria	8:49

Credits

released December 29, 2021

Alexey Kochetkov (technical & spiritual support), Damian Press (mastering), Midakuk Leuphana Universität Lüneburg (some of the equipment), Neustart Kultur Berlin (funding), Udo Demandt (percussion track 9), Borys Slowikowski (percussion track 2) Azin Zahedi (farsi voice track 5), Gülin Mansur (turkish voice track 5)

License