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Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru
Church of Kidane Mehret
Mississippi Records - Cat No: MRI214lp-C1
- updated:2025-06-04
An Ethiopian Orthodox nun, composer, and pianist, Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru has come to be widely known and beloved through recordings reissued in recent years on Ethiopiques and Mississippi. Mississippi Records calls this their favorite of all her recordings. It opens with "Ave Maria," captured with the sound reverberating off the ancient stone walls of the church, and also includes recordings featuring pipe organ and harmonium (reed organ). (Available in two versions: black vinyl and clear vinyl.) This is the clear vinyl edition.
Track List
"Church of Kidane Mehret," the fourth Mississippi reissue of her work, features three piano performances plus three pipe organ performances. The core of the album is the four tracks from the B-side played by Emahoy on the LP "Yet My King Is From Old," privately pressed and released in 1972 by the Church of Kidane Mehret. Also included are a track from "Der Sang Des Meeres" — of which only 50 copies are said to exist, this one owned by a fellow nun who attended the funeral of Emahoy, who passed away in 2023 at the age of 99 — plus two previously unreleased piano performances. Spiritual music brimming with tenderness. The artwork features metallic silver foil stamping, and the release comes with a 12-page booklet containing detailed liner notes by scholar and pianist Thomas Feng. (Original Japanese text by Saito)