Peter Gabriel – ion

Subtitle: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ, a film by Martin Scorcese.

"I have put together two albums around the music of The Last Temptation of Christ. This album is my work; the other, ion Sources, represents a selection of some of the traditional music, sources of inspiration and location recordings.
I was excited to be asked to work on the music. When I first discussed the project with Martin Scorsese in 1983 I wanted to find out how he was intending to film this controversial novel. He wanted to present the struggle between the humanity and the divinity of Christ in a powerful and original way, and I was convinced by his commitment to the spiritual content and message. He is an excellent and very musical director and working with him has been a great experience.
After we finished mixing the film there were some unfinished ideas that needed developing, and I took some extra time to complete this record. There are several pieces that were not able to be included in the film and I felt that the record should be able to stand as a separate body of work. I chose the working title for the film - ion.
We recorded some of the finest singers and soloists in the field of world music and we set the score on a backdrop of traditional North African rhythms and sounds. It wwas a wonderful experience working with such different and idiosyncratic musicians. They came from Pakistan, Turkey, India, Ivory Coast, Bahrain, Egypt, New Guinea, Morocco, Senegal and Ghana. For many of them working with this material was something quite new and they were very enthusiastic. The soundtrack is full of the spirit of their performances." Peter Gabriel

The following tracks contain selections from existing recordings of traditional music:
Track A1: The Doudouk is playing an Armenian melody; 'The Wind Subsides'(recorded for Ocora Records under the direction of Robert Ataian).
Track A4: This piece incorporates a traditional melody from Kurdistan telling of the unhappy love of a young girl for Bave Seyro, a legendary warrior. (Kurdish Duduks are from Unesco Collection - A Musical Anthology of the Orient, General Editor Alain Danielou for Musicaphon Records).
Track A8: This was written around a traditional Egyptian rhythm which is performed to fend off evil spirits.
Track A10: Based on an improvisation by Shankar and Peter Gabriel.
Track A11: The Ney Flute is playing a traditional Armenian melody.
Track B2: Based on an improvisation by Mahmoud and Peter Gabriel.

℗ 1989 Virgin Records Ltd.
© 1989 Real World/Virgin Records Ltd.