WEB FLAC (tracks) – 338 Mb | MP3 CBR 320 kbps – 164 Mb | Digital booklet | 01:10:19Classical, Vocal, World | Label: Naxos RecordsExaltation is the third recording in a trilogy by singer Yaniv d’Or with Ensemble NAYA.

It follows Liquefacta est released in 2013, which contained settings of the Song of Solomon, and Latino Ladino in 2015 (8.

573566), which focused on music of the Sephardic diaspora after the 1492 expulsion of Jews and Muslims from Spain.

Exaltation is an essentially joyful album celebrating the spirit that binds the wandering communities, the gods they worship and the hopes they share for loving co-existence.

The contents are connected in twos and threes.

D’Or speaks of three themes – distance, humanity and religion – interweaving through the tracks.

The first song is the title track, Exaltation, composed by d’Or himself with elements of the three faiths, Judaism in the Hebrew prayer Shema Israel (‘Hear, O Israel’), Islam in the Arab affirmation Allah Hu (‘God is’) and Christianity in the opening words of Psalm 89, Misericordias domini (‘The Mercy of the Lord’).

The psalms of David are sacred in all three beliefs.

A meditative drone enters this opening number, played by Marvin Dillman on the didgeridoo, an instrument native to Australia and dating back almost two thousand years, distant both in place and time.

The group NAYA is an aural representation of the diaspora, combining instruments of different cultures and ages.

Authenticity is not a consideration here.

Nor is it a case of wandering exiles for whom any instrument will do.

The didgeridoo’s fellow wind instrument is the ney flute which was played by the Sumerians of Mesopotamia three thousand years ago. It is played here by Murat Cakmaz. The ney’s plaintive tone features in the second track, Rosa das Rosas (‘Rose of Roses’) alongside the Flamenco guitar (Eyal Leber) and the viola da gamba (Amit Tiefenbrunn), both of Spanish origin and both indebted for their dissemination to migrating communities leaving Spain. Their origins lay in an enlightened culture which in the second half of the 13th century was the norm at a Spanish court comprising equal numbers of Christians, Jews and Muslims under Alfonso X el Sabio (‘the Wise’), king of Castile from 1252 to 1284. Musical instrument manufacture thrived in the peacefulYaniv d’Or, countertenorEnsemble NayaTracklist:Yaniv d’Or (1975 – ):1 Exaltation (Arr. Ensemble NAYA) 05:17Alfonso X (1221 – 1284): Cantigas de Santa Maria:2 No. 10, Rosa das rosas 02:57Jean-Baptiste Besard (1567 – 1625):3 Ma belle, si ton âme 03:43Salamone Rossi (1570 – 1630):4 Praise the Lord 02:12Traditional:5 God of Awe 03:106 Haven’t I Told You? 06:437 A la Nana y a la Buba 02:27Girolamo Alessandro Frescobaldi (1583 – 1643): Arie musicali per cantarsi, Book 1:8 Se l’aura spira tutta vezzosa02:36Traditional:9 La Mañana de San Juan 04:0010 With Your Eternal Love 04:3811 Ya viene el cativo 05:3712 Days of My Winter (Arr. Shem-Tov Levi) 05:1913 Mummy, Dear Mummy, Don’y Make Me Cry 05:2214 On the Way to Oskudara 04:2115 When I Saw My Love 04:38Manuel de Falla (1876 – 1946): 7 Canciones Populares Españolas:16 No. 5, Nana 07:13