{"product_id":"lament-from-epirus-an-odyssey-into-europes-oldest-surviving-folk-music-9780393248999","title":"Lament from Epirus: An Odyssey Into Europe's Oldest Surviving Folk Music","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn a gramophone shop in Istanbul, renowned record collector Christopher C. King uncovered some of the strangest--and most hypnotic--sounds he had ever heard. The 78s were immensely moving, seeming to tap into a primal well of emotion inaccessible through contemporary music. The songs, King learned, were from Epirus, an area straddling southern Albania and northwestern Greece and boasting a folk tradition extending back to the pre-Homeric era. To hear this music is to hear the past.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003eLament from Epirus\u003c\/em\u003e is an unforgettable journey into a musical obsession, which traces a unique genre back to the roots of song itself. As King hunts for two long-lost virtuosos--one of whom may have committed a murder--he also tells the story of the Roma people who pioneered Epirotic folk music and their descendants who continue the tradition today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKing discovers clues to his most profound questions about the function of music in the history of humanity: What is the relationship between music and language? Why do we organize sound as music? Is music superfluous, a mere form of entertainment, or could it be a tool for survival? King's journey becomes an investigation into song and dance's role as a means of spiritual healing--and what that may reveal about music's evolutionary origins.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKing, Christopher C.:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eChristopher C. King\u003c\/strong\u003e, a Grammy-winning producer, musicologist, and prominent 78 RPM record-collector, has written for \u003cem\u003eThe Paris Review\u003c\/em\u003e and the \u003cem\u003eOxford American\u003c\/em\u003e. Profiles of him have appeared in the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/em\u003e. He lives in Virginia.","brand":"W. W. Norton \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50503304151314,"sku":"9780393248999","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_5bb026f0-4c19-4289-a06d-7419a166adf9.jpg?v=1730787841","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/lament-from-epirus-an-odyssey-into-europes-oldest-surviving-folk-music-9780393248999","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}