Michael Levy: Home
WELCOME - and prepare to embark with me, on an actual "Musical Adventure in Time Travel"! On this incredible journey, I will take you back over 3500 years ago, to Ancient Egypt, Ancient Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece, & to the mystically remote, Biblical Times of the Ancient Hebrews, & to hear once more, the Ancient, Soothing, Healing Refrains, of the Music of the Ancient World...
Throughout the pages of this extensive website, there are many interesting videos to be seen! In order to watch the many fascinating videos on this site, the sample tracks from my albums on the website media player (the rectangular yellow box at the top of each web page) can be turned off by simply hitting the "pause" button on the right of the media player.
Below is my video, "Music of the Ancient World"...
This video features clips of tracks from my first 5 of my 8 unique, mystical, meditative albums of Ancient Lyre Music - available from iTunes, Amazon MP3 Store & www.cdbaby.com:
INTRODUCTION
This website is the unique story of my Three CD Albums & Five MP3 Albums of Mystical, Ancient Lyre Music, which are dedicated to restoring the actual music of Ancient Greece, evoking the sounds of Ancient Egypt & Mesopotamia, and for the first time in almost 2000 years, the actual mystical sound the two Biblical Lyres of Antiquity - the "Kinnor"( in ancient Hebrew: כנור ) and the "Nevel" (in ancient Hebrew: נבל) - the Lyres of the Ancient Hebrews, once played during the actual time of Jesus, by my very own, very ancient Levite ancestors in the Temple of Jerusalem, to accompany the legendary singing of the Levitical Choir - now that's what I call real "Roots Music"...
In addition to my albums of ancient lyre music, I have also recorded an album of Klezmer Fiddle Music, an album of Appalachian Banjo Music & an experimental album of Traditional Irish Music (performed on replica 3000 year old Biblical Lyre, "Celtic clawhammer-style" 5-string Banjo & Mandolin!)
My THREE CD ALBUMS, available anywhere in the world from www.cdbaby.com are:
1) "AN ANCIENT LYRE"
2) "KING DAVID'S LYRE; ECHOES OF ANCIENT ISRAEL"
3) "LYRE OF THE LEVITES"
Below are some brief outlines about my Ancient Lyre Music Albums - full, extensive details, including fascinating historical information, lyre-playing techniques & tunings, can be read in the section specifically about my Lyre Albums. My 8 unique albums of solo lyre music are all dedicated to restoring the long-forgotten, mystical, enchanting sound; of the Lyres of the Ancient World...
"AN ANCIENT LYRE"
"Amazing, Wonderful, Beautiful...
Not only is this historically significant,the music is really soulful & moving. I consider this one of my best musical discoveries in 2010. Highly recommended!"
Steven Goodheart - iTunes Review (USA)
"Pure Music...
This NEW CD ALBUM (with extremely detailed 8-page CD insert booklet) demonstrates how preciously rare surviving examples of the written music of the Ancient World can also be played on the replica Biblical Lyres - in my extensive research, I have discovered that the Biblical Kinnor is almost identical to the Kithara played in Ancient Greece, the type of wooden lyres played over 3000 years ago, in the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt and to the asymmetrical wooden lyres once played throughout Canaan and Ancient Mesopotamia.
The unique repertoire in this album features examples of some of the actual music of Ancient Greece (Including "Song of Seikilos", c.200 BCE - 100CE & "The First Delphic Hymn to Apollo, c.138BCE) - below is a video of a live performance of track 11; a hauntingly beautiful fragment of ancient Greek music, catalogued simply as ""Anonymous, Bellermann 97". It is in the ancient Greek "Hypolydian" mode; the equivalent intervals as heard on the scale from F-F on the white notes of the piano. The augmented 4th in this mode to me, creates the dreamy quality of the sound of this piece...
This album also features "Echoes of Ancient Egypt" - an improvisation on 3500 year old ancient Egyptian scales, and a unique example of the music of Ancient Mesopotamia, in my arrangement for solo lyre, of the 3400 year old "Hurrian Hymn no.6", from c.1400BCE...possibly the oldest written music so far discovered, in History! Below is a video of a live performance of this incredible piece, which I later recorded at studio quality for track 2 of this album:
CDs available from CD Baby - simply click on the link below:
The album is also available to download from iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/an-ancient-lyre/id338195640
The album is also available from Amazon MP3 Store:
"KING DAVID'S LYRE; ECHOES OF ANCIENT ISRAEL"
"Micheal Levy is a genius and his music , be careful, is a magic spell"
Veronica Naudascher - CD Baby Review
"This is a mystical, ancient sounding constellation of lyre music that is both deeply spiritual and organic. Michael Levy has mastered his craft & lovingly shared his gift on this first CD - I can't wait to experience the next one! Brilliant. Deeply touching. Organic. Spiritual"
Mary Starr - CD Baby Review
This, my debut CD album, consists of a selection of 22 tracks of haunting, ancient, sacred Jewish melodies and mystical Klezmer music, corresponding to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet...
The sacred tracks include "The Music of Moses" (an improvisation on a 3500 year old ancient Egyptian scale!),"Shalom Aleichem", "Ose Shalom", "Yigdal", "Hatikvah", "Hine Ma Tov", as well as mystical music from the Klezmer repertoire, such as "Odessa Bulgar" and "Kandel's Hora"...
CDs available from CD Baby - simply click on the link below:
The album is also available to download from iTunes:
The album is also available from Amazon MP3 Store:
"LYRE OF THE LEVITES"
"Absolutely a joy to listen to. Michael Levy has resurrected an ancient music form that brings such joy to the spirit and warmth to the heart. Levy is a scholar, historian, and a fabulous artist"
Jeffrey Friedman - CD Baby Review
This album, the sequel album to "King David's Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel", features my arrangement for replica 3000 year old Biblical Kinnor, of both sacred Jewish melodies and exhilarating Klezmer music. There are 12 tracks, corresponding to the 12 gems worn by the Levitical Priests in the Temple of Jerusalem, which represented the Twelve Tribes of Israel...
The sacred tracks include "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav", "Artza Alinu", as well as Klezmer classics, such as "Chusen Kalah Mazeltov" & "Sherele".
CDs available from CD Baby - simply click on the link below:
The album is also available to download from iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/lyre-of-the-levites/id305037082
The album is also available from Amazon MP3 Store:
"THE ANCIENT BIBLICAL LYRE"
This NEW MP3 ALBUM is dedicated to restoring the sound of the elusive skin-membrane replica Biblical "Nevel" Lyre (in ancient Hebrew: נבל)...
The beautiful sacred Hebrew melodies on this album include "Kol Nidre", "Ma Tovu", "V'Shamru", "Adon Olam" & "Ashir Shirim" - an exhilarating Ancient Babylonian Jewish Wedding Song.
The album is available from CD Baby - simply click on the link below:
The album is also available to download from iTunes:
The album is also available from Amazon MP3 Store:
"APOLLO'S LYRE"
"A first-rate reconstruction of ancient Greek Music...
Mr. Levy, an amateur and self-taught lyrist, set about with the task of re-constructing and essentially re-creating the lyre music of ancient Greece, in a style that may be similar to what the ancients were to enjoy. The compositions on the album were composed in the Hypophrygian mode. In my opinion, he seems to have captured some of the essence of this almost forgotten art-form. The high-light of the album is the opening song, which is also the album's name-sake. It has a wonderfully soothing flow to it, which you can here in the mp3 sample provided by Amazon. This album also re-creates some of the ancient Hebrew kinnor compositions from the biblical era. My own personal interests are in the Greek kithara, but I can appreciate and enjoy his performance with the Hebrew lyre, as well as comment that it was artfully done.
This is an album for listeners that have more eclectic tastes, but it is definitely a wonderful addition to add to any music collection. Mr. Levy has done a wonderful service by helping to resurrect this ancient art-form, which has a-lot of history attached to it.
Enjoy!"
P. Alther - Amazon (USA) Review
This album features entirely original compositions, arranged for the replica wooden & skin membrane Lyres of Antiquity, using actual scales/modes once heard throughout the Ancient World, including some of the original Ancient Greek Modes, once written about in Antiquity by Plato & Aristotle...
The album can be downloaded from CD Baby. Simply click on the link below:
The album is also available to download from iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/apollos-lyre/id368158420
The album is also available from Amazon MP3 Store:
"THE ANCIENT GREEK MODES"
"Another Wonderful Album of Lyre Music...
Composed in various ancient Greek music modes, Mr. Levy performs another fantastic set of his own original lyre music, inspired by the music of antiquity. This is very relaxing music and beautiful to listen to. It's also nice to know that such an ancient art-form is still being practiced and is appreciated by people today. This type of music really needs much more public support.
My only complaint is that the album is a bit short, running at just under 19 minutes. Understand, though, that producing an album takes a lot of time and money, especially when it's an album that will knowingly not receive a huge amount of support. It's a labour of love. I completely recommend this album and one can hope that Apollo concurs :) "
P. Alther - Amazon (USA) Review
This newly released EP album, features 7 original compositions for replica lyre, in each of the 7 original Ancient Greek Modes - as described in the writings of Plato & Aristotle...
The album is available from CD Baby - simply click on the link below:
The album is also available to download from iTunes:
The album is also available from Amazon MP3 Store:
My next album - due for release on iTunes, Amazon MP3 & CD Baby in October 2010...WATCH THIS SPACE!
This unique album features 12 tracks - 6 tracks of my arrangements for solo replica ancient Greek "Kithara" style lyre of examples of some of the actual surviving music of Ancient Greece, & 6 original compositions for replica lyre, in a selection of some of the original Ancient Greek Modes...
"ANCIENT TIMES -
MUSIC OF THE ANCIENT WORLD"
This is an incredible compilation album, featuring a selection of my own personal favourite tracks from my first 3 albums of lyre music, masterfully remixed by my "Audio Mixing Magician", Dominik Johnson, with reverb authentically sampled from actual mystical, Middle Eastern caves! This album also features "Ancient Times" - an epic 10 minute improvisation on an ancient Indian Scale, featuring a totally unique duet, of Dominik's enchanting Sitar and my replica 3000 year old Biblical Kinnor...
The album is available from CD Baby - simply click on the link below:
The album is also available to download from iTunes:
The album is also available from Amazon MP3 Store:
HOW TO NAVIGATE THIS WEBSITE
All the richly detailed historical and spiritual background research to my albums, including all my research into finding authentic tunings for my lyre, can be found in the "History of the Lyre" section of this website...this monumentally extensive section, could best be described as a "Website within this Website"!
To read detailed reviews of my unique albums of Ancient Lyre Music, from actual customers who have either purchased the CDs or downloaded the MP3s of my albums from CD Baby & iTunes, please see the "Album Reviews/Press" section.
There are clips of many sample tracks from my 8 albums of Ancient Lyre Music available to hear on the Media Player (the small, narrow yellow rectangular box at the top of each web page of this website). Full details about these clips of tracks from my 8 albums of Ancient Lyre Music can be read in the "Sample Tracks" section of this website.
If you have enjoyed hearing some of these sample tracks from my 8 Albums of Ancient Lyre Music, I would be immensely grateful if you could please "spread the word"! Every single web-page on this extensive site can be shared on a whole host of networking sites anywhere around the Globe, (including Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Myspace etc), simply by clicking the small blue "Share" icon at the bottom of each web-page...
All the complete tracks featured in these sample track clips heard on the website media player, can be downloaded individually from any of my albums listed on both iTunes & cdbaby. The URLs to purchase each of the specific sample tracks to download (as listed on my CD Baby web-pages), is listed in the descriptive details provided in the "Sample Tracks" tab.
ONLINE LYRE LESSONS,HOW TO ACQUIRE A LYRE & HOW TO CONSTRUCT YOUR OWN LYRE FROM SCRATCH!
Please also see my unique series of instructional videos on how to play the lyre - these can be found in the "Blogs" section.
The blogs I have posted in this section also describes in detail, all the tunings & ancient lyre playing techniques used throughout my recordings...
For all would-be "Lyre Luthiers" out there, interested in building a lyre, also in the "Blogs" section of this website, I have also included all the measurements required to construct a replica 3000 year old Biblical Lyre, from scratch!
If you are interested in Buying a Lyre please see my article "How To Acquire a Lyre!", also under the "Blogs" section - this section includes my reviews on all the quality lyre makers around the world...
CDs & MP3s OF MY LYRE ALBUMS
1) The limited number of physical CDs I have of my albums "An Ancient Lyre", "King David's Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel" & "Lyre of the Levites" are available, anywhere in the world, from: www.cdbaby.com
2) All of my albums are available to instantly download from iTunes, cdbaby.com & Amazon MP3 Store - tracks from all my albums can also be streamed on Rhapsody! For a totally unique "Ancient Lyre Music Ringtone" for your mobile, any track from any of my albums are also now available to purchase as ringtones from Nokia!!!
3) Full details of my other recording projects, "The Klezmer Fiddle", "The Appalachian Banjo" and my unique arrangements of Irish folk music for replica Biblical Lyre in my experimental album, "The Northern Emerald - Traditional Irish Music", can also be found in the "Albums" section, which describes in detail, each of my 11 Albums...
Voyage with me now, on my Magical, Mystical Musical Journey, back to those Distant Days of the Ancient Hebrews, the Lyres of the Levites and to hear once more, the Healing, Haunting Refrains, of King David's Lyre...
THE ANCIENT LYRE PHOTO GALLERY
REPLICA OF THE GOLDEN LYRE OF UR, c.2500BCE. The first known lyre, these instruments were as large as harps...
ANCESTORS OF THE HEBREWS IN ANCIENT EGYPT?
Dating from c.1900BCE, this is the famous Mural from the tomb of Khnumhotep II, known from his tomb at Beni Hasan. The parallels to the Biblical narrative describing the patriarch Jacob, the ancestor of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, is astonishing - these ancestors of the ancient Hebrews, as depicted in the Beni Hasan Mural, can clearly be seen to be wearing their distinctive "coats of many colours"...
By this time, the lyre, as seen in the top left of this amazing illustration, had become portable...evidence of an adaptation made to the instrument, specifically to suit the nomadic lifestyle of the ancestors of the ancient Hebrews? A fascinating possibility...
JEWISH LYRE PLAYERS FROM THE TIME OF SOLOMON'S TEMPLE, BEING LED INTO CAPTIVITY IN NINEVEH, AFTER THE CONQUEST OF ISRAEL BY THE ASSYRIANS, c.721BCE "For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion"- Psalm 137:3
CANNANITE LYRE PLAYER - ivory inscription from Megiddo c.1300BCE
THE BIBLICAL LYRE OF THE LEVITES - depicted on coins from the Simon Bar Kochba Revolt against the Romans, c.134CE. The text on the coin, in archaic Hebrew, poignantly reads "For The Freedom of Jerusalem"...
THE ANCIENT GREEK KITHARA LYRE - strikingly similar to the Lyre of the Levites...coincidence, or evidence of ancient cross-cultural influence?
CLOSE-UP OF AN ANCIENT SEMITE LYRE PLAYER IN ANCIENT EGYPT, c.1900BCE (as seen in the Beni Hasan Murial from the tomb of Khnumhotep II )...DOESN'T HE LOOK JUST LIKE ME?!?!
IN THE STUDIO...
SOLOMON'S FIRST TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM, c.900BCE
LEVITE MUSICIANS IN THE FIRST TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM...
HEROD'S SECOND TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM c.30BCE
THE MYSTICAL SOUND OF THE ANCIENT LYRE OF THE LEVITES - RESTORED...
© 2010 Michael Levy