BLOOD AXIS / ANDREW KING – The Dream / Fröleichen so well wir – 7″ NEW!IN STOCK NOW!
VNYBSTRM09 | STORM [USA]
Ltd.ed. of 500. The 1st new track by Blood Axis after many years, here sharing a 7″ with the English ballad singer and radical traditionalist Andrew King. The unifying theme of this release is the poetry of the German Middle Ages. Blood Axis interprets a startlingly modern existential lament by the Minnesinger Walther von der Vogelweide (12th-13th centuries), who is considered to be the most important German-speaking poet of the period. Andrew King interprets a tortured love song by the Austrian figure Oswald von Wolkenstein (14th-15th centuries). Both lyricists can be seen as examples of a distinctive and long-enduring southern Germanic courtly poetic tradition. Unique to each track is the fact that the modern artists are presenting songs in the original “Mittelhochdeutsch,” or Middle High German, the language spoken during the time of the Hohenstaufen emperors and an ancestor of modern German. It is fascinating to hear how well both interpreters are able to pronounce this difficult old language, and how closely their own music suits these painfully romantic lyrics from other times and places. An outstanding release that shows how it is possible to work with tradition in a way that is both illuminating and entertaining. The cover features the famous medieval portraits of the poets Walther and Oswald, and a detailed insert sheet provides the original lyrics along with faithful translations into modern English by Michael Moynihan.
From the Blood Axis MySpace page;
Two songs sung in Middle High German
Michael Moynihan, Annabel Lee and Andrew King have been studying Old Germanic languages at universities.We were all interested to discover that both bands had recorded songs with lyrics from Middle High German poets and decided to offer them together on a split 7″. It is always a nice thing to find a friend interested and working on similar things.The 7″ includes the entire texts in Middle HIgh German along with excellent translations by Michael into English.ENJOY!!!!-Annabel Lee
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Blood Axis Archives 
Should be interesting. I do, however, hope that Moynihan’s pronunciation of any form of German is much improved. Having studied German at university, including Mittelhochdeutsch, I must say, neither are particularly difficult to pronounce… but 99% of Americans who speak foreign languages really do have very poor pronunciation.