"Self-laudatory hymn of Inanna and her omnipotence" -- James Bowman

To say this is for James Bowman sounds a little pretentious, but well, ... it is for James Bowman. Overall, he is much appreciated, but still underestimated, I feel, as an artist, and as a human being. This is a piece written for him by Michael Nyman.
Inanna was the ancient Sumerian goddess of ... well not really love, rather sex and destruction. Also, some claim that the way she is pictured, there is evidence that the Sumerian gods were in fact extraterrestians. Whatever the case, the "self-laudatory hymn" shows an ego too big to be contained in a regular human being. Inanna rules heaven, earth, and does as she pleases. She can also appear in male or female form, which goes without saying.
The pictures I took for the video include ...
some pictures of the booklet
some flying around the web (sorry for the resolution)
HD wallpapers from the Hubble space telescope, from the NASA website.
Enjoy!
"Self-laudatory hymn of Inanna and her omnipotence"
Michael Nyman (composer)
James Bowman (countertenor)
Fretwork
from Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament,
trans. S.N. Kramar, ed. James B. Pritchard
(3rd edition with supplement: Princeton University Press, 1969)
My father gave me heaven, gave me earth,
I, the queen of heaven am I!
Is there one god who can vie with me?
Enlil gave me heaven, gave me earth,
I, the queen of heaven am I!
He has given me lordship,
He has given me queenship,
He has given me battle, given me combat,
And he gave me flood and tempest.
He has placed heaven as a crown,
He has tied the earth as a sandal,
He has fastened the holy me-garment about my body.
The gods are my vassals: I, a queen am I,
The Anunna scurry about, I, a life-giving wild cow am I,
The life-giving wild cow of Father Enlil am I,
His life-giving wild cow that walks at the head.
When I enter the Ekur, the house of Enlil,
The gatekeeper puts not his hand against my breast,
The vizier says not to me, 'Stop!'
Heaven is mine, earth is mine,
In Erech, the Eanna is mine,
In Zabalom, the Giguna is mine,
In Nippur, the Duranki is mine,
In Ur, the Edilman is mine,
In Girsu, the Eshdam is mine,
In Adab, the Eshara is mine,
In Kish, the Hursag Kalam is mine,
In Dev, the Amashkuga is mine,
In Akshak, the Anzaka is mine,
In Agada, the Ulmash is mine.
Is there one god who can vie with me?
If you like the music, I recommend buying this CD, available still from Amazon, e.g..
www.amazon.com/...
Copyright disclaimer: All rights to the music and pictures belong to their legitimate owners. I believe this publication serves the standards of fair use - for educational and research purposes.

[@crescentsi]

Wonderful melodies, harmonic changes and rhythmic alterations! The timbres of the voice and strings complement each other really well. The pop, minimalism and baroque influences are all clear and work really well together. The cascading flow of melodic ideas are exciting and evocative, redolent of the historic yet earily contemporary!

[@kershawmusic8603]

The ending, when it finally arrives, is truly orgasmic.

[@Anvanho]

I fell in love with this piece back in the 90's.

[@LookAwaaay]

It is. I am not even an overall fan of everything Nyman, but this piece kind of haunts me since it was released. Also it's quite special amongst Bowman's usual repertoire, not really what you would expect him to sing if you only knew his Händel and occasional Britten. Plus, the fact that he sang it in the first place - and performed it live, too - shows that he's really on top of things, in many ways.

[@kymbawhitelion2603]

Interesting...

[@anaalmeida33]

Beautiful!

[@LookAwaaay]

I'm not at all convinced of that theory; I just encountered it flying around the web quite often, and I found it kind of inspiring. Thanks for your comment ;)

[@sjuli17]

Wow, what an interesting piece!

[@LookAwaaay]

Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu - I wouldn't consider myself an overall Nyman-fan, no. I love some of his pieces though and always come back to them somehow. "Memorial" is fantastic of course. Also a huge homage to Purcell.

[@dbadagna]

Who are the string players?

[@LookAwaaay]

I put in captions - In Firefox you will have to switch them on, I think. Just click the caption button blow the video frame.

[@toshi292929]

Why aren't you a fan of Nyman...time lapse/memorial no? thank you for the upload though. :)