On this remarkably haunting and beautiful 1999 release, Lebanese contralto Fadia El-Hage offers creative revivals of the early Christian women's chants of the Middle East, enhanced by modern electronic settings and processing. Drawing upon the ancient music of denominations such as the Maronitic and Melchitic churches, 'the origins of these chants are traced to 4th and 5th century Lebanon and Syria, modified by later cross-pollination between Christian, Islamic and Jewish cultures... That these chants survived at all is remarkable. Despite following a period when women played a prominent role in the rituals of the early church, after the late 4th century there was an ecclesiastical ban on female singing in the liturgy.' Unusual, reverent, and recommended!

Vox: Fadia El-Hage (vocals); Wolfram Nestroy (electric guitar); Vladimir Ivanoff (synthesizer, samples).
Producers: Vladimir Ivanhoff, Ulrich Rutzel.
Engineers: Vladimir Ivanhoff, Jochen Scheffter.
Includes liner notes by Richard Henderson.
Personnel: Wolfram Nestroy (electric guitar); Vladimir Ivanoff (synthesizer, sampler).
Liner Note Author: Rick Henderson.
Recording information: Quatuor Studio, Munich, Germany (1994-1997).
Editor: Stephen Hill.
Arranger: Vladimir Ivanoff.
Bulgarian-born, Munich-based composer Vladimir Ivanoff is a composer employing electronic instruments to create a mostly neutral or subtly enhancing background to the sounds of antique tradition. On Divine Rites, Ivanoff turns to 11th and 12th century chants of the Jewish and Muslim religions from the Middle East. The focus is on the seeds of medieval Christian women's chants. Liturgical words dating back to the 4th and 5th century A.D. were adapted to fit the growing needs of a rising church. Ivanoff's contributions are often overwhelmed (as may indeed have been his desire) by the often multi-tracked beauty of Fadia El-Hage's voice as if this were a magnificent a cappella work later ornamented by Ivanoff. This Lebanese woman, a classically trained Arabic vocalist, is an immensely gifted and expressive contralto. Her deep, powerful voice is also imbued with a transcendent spirituality when intoning these potent works. Atmospheric tone coloring is the backdrop to Fadia's verses, while near harshly strummed electric guitars fill in the space left by the absence of her voice. Sampling, synthesizers, and electric guitars are the instrumentation employed here on a recording of ancient beauty that comes through best on the most spare and unadulterated exhibitions of the active vibrato of opera-trained Fadia El-Hage. ~ Tom Schulte

Dirty Linen (8-9/99, p.71) - "...On DIVINE RITES, Vox forges a unique, unforgettable alloy between ancient sacred mysteries and contemporary recording technology."