The Varangian's Saga - Epic Symphony feat. The Skaldic Bard

A collaboration between ​⁠‪@SkaldBard‬ and Farya Faraji. Music by Farya Faraji and The Skaldic Bard with traditional melodies from Greek, Scandinavian, Georgian, Belarusian and Ukrainian folk music.

Old Norse and Old East Slavic lyrics by The Skaldic Bard, Koine Greek lyrics by Demetrios Paraschos, with additional texts from The Alexiad, Kutadgu Billig, the Divan of Khayyam, and the Roman des Franceis.

Instrumentation by ‪@Dimitrios_Dallas‬, Jiří Maršálek, Mohab Attalah, Illias de Sutter Ndavidlis, GSMusicStudio and the Hiimart Group.

Vocals by Skaldic Bard, Farya Faraji, ‪@julyvitraniuk‬, Dimitris Kap, and The Skaldic Bard's wife Lady Skald.

This work is mainly based on the sounds of the depicted cultures' modern counterparts, using the instruments, melodic motifs and rythmic patterns of the traditional forms found in those cultures today, as follows:

The Norse are represented using modern Scandinavian sounds: Norwegian-Faroese melodic motifs, Schottische dance melodies, as well as Swedish-Norwegian instrumentation such as the nyckelharpa, hardanger, harps, and traditional zithers of the region.

The Eastern Romans are represented using modern Greek traditional and liturgical sonorities: Constantinopolitan, Thracian, Nisiotika, Pontian and Cretan folk sonorities, including Psaltic liturgical forms such as kalophony using Byzantine musical temperaments. The instruments consist of: oud, kanun, Dodecanese, Thracian, Constantinopolitan, Pontic and Cretan lyras, gaida, saz, tzouras, and the medieval organ, as well as toumberleki, davul and bendhir drums.

Slavic passages are rooted in modern East Slavic folk motifs and instrumentation, primarily using guslis, bagpipes, the hurdy-gurdy, and flutes. July Vitraniuk provides the vocals using traditional vocal intonations of the region. The melodies associated with the Slavs come from the folk songs "Što j pa Moru," and "Yurya,"
both from Belarus.

Georgian passages utilise modern Georgian traditional music, namely their specific kind of harmony, musical forms such as the Sachidao chant and Acharuli dances, the touloumi bagpipe, and the panduri.

The Normans are represented using historical medieval French music, with bagpipes, hurdy-gurdys (with the anachronistic usage of chiens on the latter), lutes and gitterns. Their passage uses Organum fifth and fourth parrallel harmony as per the era.

The Seljuks utilise a mixture of modern Turkish and Iranian music, with the usage of the ney, kopuz, and bağlama, drawing partially from Sufi musical forms as well as Anatolian folk dances.

00:00 Overture
02:58 My Astrid
06:27 Yearning
10:58 The Merry Vikings
15:02 To The World
22:42 Rivers of the Slavs
28:05 Miklagard
33:08 A Raven-Haired Maiden
36:26 The Emperor
42:24 Love's Blossoming
45:16 To Georgia
53:42 The War in Georgia
1:07:14 My New Faith
1:09:42 Zonaradiko of Wealth
1:14:30 The Choice
1:17:23 My Wedding
1:20:06 Against the Rus'
1:23:00 Battle in Lemnos
1:26:57 Fury of the Slavs
1:31:14 The Varangians Retaliate
1:37:08 Zonaradiko of Greed
1:41:10 The Passing of Basil II
1:44:26 Tides of Time
1:48:50 Love's Souring
1:51:58 Against the Normans
1:54:26 Battle in Montemaggiore
2:02:24 Farewell to Sigurdsson
2:05:06 A Life of War
2:13:54 Lament of Gold
2:16:02 Love's Death
2:18:14 Taksims of Time
2:22:10 In the Year 6579
2:24:14 Astrid's Lament
2:30:30 Elder's Wisdom
2:36:14 Against the Turks
2:39:49 The Last Prayer
2:43:06 Manzikert
2:53:20 The Last Stand
2:56:52 Death