‘PAUSIS’ new album by Pausis in Peaceful Radio Show 1550
19 July 2023 Artists
The music of Pausis on the new album PAUSIS is a sublime and subtle mix of ancient instrumentation with modern electronica. PAUSIS is blessed with the fluidity of the sea and the atmosphere of the changing sky. It really is a pleasure to be sending you this new album produced by the director of Greece’s interactive Museum of Ancient Music Instruments Seikilo in Thessaloniki, Theodore Koumartzis. May you enjoy the journey of PAUSIS.
PAUSIS – Songs + Music from an Ancient Seaport, Thessaloniki
Produced by the director of the world’s first interactive Museum of Ancient Music Instruments Seikilo in Thessaloniki, Theodore Koumartzis
The sea is a fluid road as well as a place for reflection and space. In the northeast of Greece lies Thessaloniki situated on the beautiful Thermaic Gulf embraced by the Aegean Sea. The new album PAUSIS is a journey that revolves around the ancient Greek lyre, masterfully framed by outstanding female vocalists and soundscapes that reflect the moods of the surrounding city, land and sea. Complementing the Greek lyre, duduk and ancient stringed pandura are the violin, saxophone, electronic keyboards, evocative sampled sounds and sublime vocals.
The album is both a peaceful and reflective, charming and strong musical collection of exquisite originally crafted instrumentals and songs, PAUSIS has been produced with traditional instruments accompanied and enhanced contemporary electronic soundscape that draw on the Greek, Albanian and Cypriot musical heritage of the musicians. As album producer, Theodore Koumartzis says,
“I founded Pausis to introduce the ancient Greek lyre as symbol of human heritage, this is really important to me. Pausis’s music is a meeting point of ancient world music with contemporary fusion, it has a cinematic narrative mood with original compositions by its members.”
PAUSIS explores themes of mysticism and realism. The opening track ‘Belenus’ takes its name from an ancient mythological Celtic healing god, akin to Apollo for the Greeks. Belenus was thought to ride the Sun across the sky in a horse-drawn chariot and was revered from the Italian Peninsula to the British Isles, with a main sanctuary located at Aquileia, on the Adriatic coast. The track ‘Awake’ was recorded on Muses’ Plateau at 2760 metres high, at Mountain Olympus, the summit of the old Greek Gods while out venturing with his brothers Nikolaos, and Jordan Koumartzis during the pandemic lockdown.
On PAUSIS, as on all journeys, borders are traversed, and new encounters made. ‘Boundaries’ is an original song for an ancient lyre and an Armenian duduk. It explores the margins between what is possible and what is not when composing for two ancient musical instruments. Can a melody be based almost solely on harmonics?
The folk song ‘Are Mou Rindineddha’ “I wander my swallow” (the small bird swallow) is sung in Griko, a rare and ancient dialect of the Griko people of southern Italy from the peninsula of Salento. It is a poetic lament by someone wandering lost far from home and yearning to return home.
‘Metamorphosis’ raises important questions about segregation. The song is about Nicosia’s Buffer Zone in Cyprus, an in-between state in which the city and its people have been divided for more than half a century into Greek and Turkish speaking. The song asks why do these divisions in Nicosia still remain in the heart of the capital of a European Union country?
The instrumental Campanas ‘Bells’ in Spanish is a call from one ancient instrument, the lyre to another, the sitar. A bridge between two rich ancient cultures with some amazing beats created by keyboardist and electronics producer, Evagoras Bekiaris. ‘Journey’ is a standout track sung by vocalist Yael Schonzeit, a collaborative composition of Psalm 92 in which the lyre is mentioned as one of several instruments used for prayer. The melody was inspired by the sounds of the lyre, traditionally associated with King David.
PAUSIS is a musical journey of highly aesthetic sounds and presentation, a world unto itself as Theodore Koumartzis explains,
“Our name ‘Pausis’ means a secret form of communication, a parallel form of expression behind the obvious, the unseen point where all the forms of communication (dialogue, sounds, gestures, writing) add and express something higher than their sum.”
PAUSIS was recorded in the music studio of Thessaloniki’s unique cultural institution called Seikilo Ancient World Music Museum. Founded by Theodore Koumartzis and his family, Seikilo has grown over the years to become an award-winning, interactive renowned museum. Seikilo offers history of classical Greek, Roman and other civilisations alongside the musical heritage of ancient instruments including the Greek lyre, the square-bodied stringed pandura and the traditional, triangular shaped harp or epigonion and lute. Seikilo also offers are in-depth videos on ancient music secrets, exclusive video clips, how-to tutorials, recitations of epic poems, and insights from those working on bringing back this long-forgotten legacy to wider audiences.
PAUSIS perfectly captures the ancient and modern-day spirit of Thessaloniki and is an album of strength and space with lasting depth, like the sea from whence the inspiration for the album was drawn.
PAUSIS is being self-released on 16th July, 2023 through Seikilo Ancient World Music.
Musicians PAUSIS:
Theodore Koumartzis: lyre
Eljona-Eleni Sinjari: vocals
Evagoras Bekiaris: keys and electronics
Sokrates Votskos: duduk & saxophone
Marios Podaras: pandura & violin
Album Guest Musicians:
Guest Musicians on PAUSIS:
Yael Schonzeit: vocals on ‘Journey’
Nikos Varelas: bendir, udu, percussion
Linos Tzelos: sitar
Ariana Vafadari: vocals on ‘Almanecer’
Marios Podaras: violin
Eljiona Eleni Sinjari: vocals at
‘Are Mou Rindineddha’
Manos Stratis: double bass at ‘Are Mou Rindineddha’, piano on ‘Belenus’
Tracks: Total playing time 33:21
1 Belenus 4:10
2 Almanecer 4:36
3 Boundaries 2:09
4 Journey 4:41
5 Metamorphosis 4:21
6 Are Mou Rindineddha 4:16
7 Campanas 4:07
8 Awake 4:29
Ancient Lyre – Are Mou Rindineddha by PAUSIS – YouTube