Pharamond is the project by the french journalist Sylvain Mazars. His second album "Naturalis Historia" is a gem of manifoldly electronic composition about one of the biggest topic of World history:
Pliny's Natural History (Latin: Naturalis Historia) is a book about the whole of the natural world in Latin by Pliny the Elder, a Roman author and naval commander who died in 79 AD.
It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day and purports to cover all ancient knowledge. The work's subject area is thus not limited to what is today understood by natural history; Pliny himself defines his scope as "the natural world, or life".[2] It is encyclopedic in scope, but its structure is not like that of a modern encyclopedia.
The work is divided into 37 books, organised into ten volumes. These cover topics including astronomy, mathematics, geography, ethnography, anthropology, human physiology, zoology, botany, agriculture, horticulture, pharmacology, mining, mineralogy, sculpture, painting, and precious stones.
Pliny's Natural History became a model for later encyclopedias and scholarly works as a result of its breadth of subject matter, its referencing of original authors, and its index. The work is dedicated to the emperor Titus, a son of Pliny's close friend, the emperor Vespasian, in the first year of Titus's reign. It is the only work by Pliny to have survived, and the last that he published. He began it in 77, and had not made a final revision at the time of his death during the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius. (Source: Wikipedia)
"But these monstrous fishes in the sea, are most to be seen about the middest of summer, and when the days be at the longest with us. For then by the means of whirlewinds, storms, winds, and blustering tempests which come with violence down from the mountains and promontories, the seas are troubled from the very bottom, and turned upside down: whereupon the surging billowes thereof, raise these monsters out of the deep, and roll them up to be seen" ("Natural History" Book IX (II, 2)
credits
released July 1, 2018
Composed, performed and mixed by Sylvain Mazars
Mastered at STORK Mastering Studio
Inspired by Pliny the Elder's "Natural History" (79 AD)
supported by 18 fans who also own “Naturalis Historia”
The more I listen to Johan's beautiful thematic compositions, the more I can appreciate his talent for intriguing melodies and atmospheric sounds and rhythmic sequences. This album is no exception, I can highly recommend it. Martin R
supported by 13 fans who also own “Naturalis Historia”
It's Node, what's not to like!?
Finally got round to getting a physical copy of this, with many thanks to Ian, Wendy & Bandcamp! A sensational album! eugene51
The chilled product of a snowed-in weekend in the Swiss Alps, the debut EP from this ambient duo is a winter wonderland in and of itself. Bandcamp New & Notable Dec 6, 2018
Jasper Ewing brings all manner of electronic equipment to his bright, jittery songs, resulting in tiny, sparkling melodic wonders. Bandcamp New & Notable May 23, 2022