Neshima

NESHIMA is Orí Harmelin's exciting debut solo lute and theorbo album. Orí explores a new realm of possibilities for personal creation as a modern musician using the musical language of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The album contains Orí's arrangements of Madrigals, Motets and Chansons by Cipriano de Rore, Josquin des Prez and Thomas Tallis, alongside his own compositions of variation pieces such as La Monica, the passacaglia and Ballo del Granduca as well as original compositions using the tools of this musical language. Additionally, this album contains one piece for theorbo written for Orí by the composer Simon MacHale. NESHIMA is Hebrew for breath. In enhancing on the title Ori wrote "our breath is our constant friend. While breath is universal in that it is what connects us with life, it is also extremely personal, my breath is my life." Between Orí's creation of this album, it's name, and Orí's performance, we experience an extremely intimate encounter that connects us to the world of historical plucked instruments on a whole new level.