A collaboration between The Skaldic Bard 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 Hafez, and the Roman des Franceis. Instrumentation by Dimitrios Dallas, Jiří Maršálek, Mohab Attalah, Illias de Sutter Ndavidlis, GSMusicStudio and the Hiimart Group. Vocals by The Skaldic Bard, Farya Faraji, July Vitraniuk, 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
Only made it to “The world” and already I love the use of the Roman “To Marble” theme. EDIT: I LOVE the reprise of the Boulgaroktonos theme! EDIT 2: I also LOVE the second reprisal of the Seljuk Theme as well as the reprisal of the Romanos Theme! EDIT 3: ARSLAN! HIKANATOI! EDIT 4: Dude, this symphony has everything. Mf Terirem is here too!?
Maybe something about William the Conqueror and his story, battle of Hastings and slaying his a friend-enemy Harold II (William give him a maille, helmet etc.)?
@@Eugene-tm8fm Might sound a little heretical, but I like to skim through Symphonies on first listen to pick out leitmotifs. It helps me enjoy the Symphony more on consecutive run throughs because I know what I’m getting into.
@@swirlyskyshock1155 Can't blame you, I'm the same with open world games. Every time a new Elder Scrolls comes out, I do one speedrun to get a feel of the game, and then I do my "actual" walkthrough once I know what to expect
Farya, dear friend, it has been a privilege to work on this with you. Your vision, talent and brilliance know no bounds. I am honoured to have added what I could to a musical masterpiece that only one man alive is capable of. Thank you everyone for listening and for your kind words of support, and Merry Christmas. Guð blessi yðr!
Damn! This is the reason why Farya rarely posted song regulary as usual. I told you guys he was cooking something unusual and suspicious in his kitchen!!
When he disappears in the shadows for a while, he's either composing music for the gods like this masterpiece he just made, or preparing a killer Epic Music episode because he's that goat
This is amazing! When I read the name of the chapter "Elder's Wisdom" I thought something like: "Hell yeah, some sort of Old wise man is gonna show the Varangian the error of his ways." I was really (pleasantly) surprised when this got twisted and the old Varangian was the Elder and gave advice to young Romanos. Also I find it great that Isabella has no voice lines, but Astrid has a lot. If my interpretations that Isabella is a Symbol of Greed and Wealth and Astrid of Love and Peace, it shows that Gold does not love you back, it doesn't share the warmth for you that you may feel for it. Gold does not care. Astrid/Love does care, it waits for you and wouldn't give up, even if all hope may be lost. Thank you, Farya, SkaldicBard and everyone else, who was envolved! This is a wonderful Christmas present
>Caesar & Augustus: 0.5h each >Crusader: 1 hour >Justinian: 2 hours >Varangian: 3 hours At this rate we can expect a 24h symphony somewhere around late 2026, or a double event by mid 2025.
SPOILER BELOW: - - - - I think it's really fitting that, just like the Varangian we go into this sympony expecting an epic tale of badass glory, and come out of it realizing it is secretly (like another comment put it:) a moral lesson about counting your blessings and not giving into greed
Holy, where do I even start? An amazing story is being told here... it's truly fascinating to see such an exceptional and adventurous life be so masterfully portrayed in all its aspects. All the glories, tragedies (especially poor Astrid), battles, emotions, stories of riches, and moments of love have been captured so beautifully here. And not to mention all the appearances of those many different past songs and motifs of you two. Your Varangian theme, Boulgaroktonos, The Empire of the Romans / Kyrie Eleison theme, Sons of Mars (we fully expect Sons of Mars in even more languages now :P), Alp Arslan's theme from the Manzikert Symphony, the two Roman themes from the Manzikert Symphony, The Seljuks' theme, Hikanatoi, Skaldic Bard's Varangian theme, Skaldic Bard's Harald Hardrada theme, and probably so much more where I just haven't heard the individual songs yet... And in all these languages! You make all languages sound so beautiful, it's miraculous. This is, once more, a fantastic masterpiece by both of you, and listening to these 3 hours has been a true blast. Thank you for blessing our ears with this!
Speaking of motifs where I probably didn't hear the original song yet: I swear I recognize "Tides of Time", but I just can't tell from where... another symphony, or an individual song? Or am I imagining things?
I see alot of people saying they skip through Farya's symphonies to listen only to the loud battle parts, and having listened to this one in its entirety... guys, DO YOURSELVES A FAVOUR and listen to the whole thing, you have NO idea what you're missing out on by skipping to only a few parts. This isn't a song compilation, this is an epic sweeping opera with an actual story that Skald and Farya wrote. Even if it takes you a few days, do it, by the end you'll feel like you've watched an epic historical film about a Varangian's life and you'll be crying your eyes out during the ending. if anything the epic parts feel so much more grand and epic once you know their story/emotional context
Absolutely Agree. By far the greatest collab of previous songs Farya has done yet. And as a speaker of Slavic Languages myself, it was cool to be able to understand what was being said in Rivers of the Slavs and against the Rus.
I'm here literally bawling my eyes out at this absolute masterpiece of a Greek Tregedy. Though I've always said since it's release, that "Justinian" is your Magnum Opus, I now believe you've outdone yourself, not only in bringing the sounds of the instruments and voices of the past in this Modern Song, but you've also succeeded at telling an incredibly compelling story, since once more (as you did with "The Jannissary") you decided to tell the story of an unrecorded, but plausible, and flawed man. I'm used to gasp and be surprised in your songs more closely inspired by actual historical figures, but this one has absolutely left me speechles. Bravo
''In those days i was the richest of men.'' ..... The whole story with Astrid is truly something of great beauty. This is the most wonderful symphony i ever heard, God bless you Farya & Skaldic/ Lady Bard.
Zonaradiko with Old Norse lyrics?? The Thracian-Norse crossover I didn't know I needed Welcome back Farya, the world missed you and your music! This symphony is such a wealth of musical traditions and our ears are blessed.
HOW MANY HOURS!? The Canadian Persian has cooked once more. This will be playing on repeat for the next 8 months. Edit: Aaand I've been reminded of Manzikert once more.
Wow, the story behind this song is so engaging... A man who finds his life as a farmer a monotonous one, despite loving his wife Astrid intensely. One day, a ship of Varangians returns from Constantinople filled with riches and the man runs to the coast to see the men he admires so much arriving. The Varangians, happy, excited and filled with riches for their services, invite new recruits to sail down the river to Miklagardr, and the man finds himself in a dilemma:stay with his beloved wife in a monotonous life or follow his calling and intense desire of his heart, but far from his wife? He decides to leave for Miklagardr, and there lives surreal experiences for a common norse... Congratulations Farya Faraji, Skaldic Bard and everyone involved for this musical gem! Pop songs become noise compared to this!
10:58 The Merry Vikings ACTUALLY sounds like nordic folk music! I'm so glad to hear some appreciation for the cheerful tunes so common up here in the north, thank you so much!
Thanks alot! I quite spent some time studying Norwegian and Swedish folk tunes when preparing the Scandinavian segments, glad to see it comes through here :)
@@faryafaraji if you still feel like diving into something specific, the ballad Sven Svane / Sven Vonved in danish, norwegian and swedish and Vestmanviiki in Finnish might be a fun deepdive, it's both a vengeance ballad (in its oldest scandi versions and in the finnish loan) and a riddle song (in later scandi folk music)
Finally finished it It made me tear up a few times What a journey, this is better than movies If we Greeks build the Empire again, our northern brothers should know you will always be welcomed back to Miklagard (golds and Isabellas included)
29:28: Imagine stepping into Hagia Sophia as a foreigner for the first time. Meeting the divine through the monumental. If the Varangians could hear the music of that moment, this is exactly what it would sound like. Absolutely epic.
Absolute hits by my opinion: -Merry Vikings -The Emperor -To Georgia -The war in Georgia -Zonaradiko of Wealth -Zonaradiko of Greed -Passing of Basil II -A life of war -My Wedding -Manzikert
This is one of the greatest Christmas gifts I could have ever received. 29:28 Literally the most majestic rendition of the "Kyrie eleison" motif I've heard, even surpasses the one from Nineveh 627, and I think I'm geeking out over Boulgaroktonos showing up as well
Wow man. I was expecting a bunch of combat and glory like The Crusader and Justinian, and there was plenty of that, but I didn’t expect this shit to nearly bring me to tears. Hell this put me through every emotion imaginable. Frustration at the guardsman's greed and then terrible sadness for Astrid. Laughter at the Normans calling the Byzantine defense shitty. Awe at the war in Georgia, and amazement at the power of the Turks at Manzikert, (which that section is better than the actual Manzikert symphony). Just wow man.
'onestly, i was not aware you were allowed to swear in these symphonies. The normans seriously went: Your defences ain't worth shit bro, i wude feel sad for you if this werrent so hilarious
I listened to the whole symphony from beginning to end and it was as if I lived the whole life of this Varangian. At "Astrid's Lament" I cried with her. This is an absolute masterpiece, Farya. Thank you very much.
@@kekw1667 Komi sigr eða bani Verðum vér ei hugvani Betra er at mey siti í sorgum En lifi í náðum með orgum x2 Brøðr erum Norðrsjóvar Einskonar eiðs, blóðs ok trúar Fyrir sakir Miklagarðs Lifa ok deyja Værengjar! x2
This is a truly mesmerizing composition about the life of a varangian as it well could've been, dreaming of the glory joining the Emperor in Constantinople, leaving behind his home and his loved one, battling on alongside the famous and infamous Harald "Hardrada" Sigurdsson in the East and West, finding a noble wife for his life in the service of the Emperor but not being quite true as the love he felt back home, finally dying after a lifetime of war in one of the most humiliating defeats of the Eastern Roman Empire, remembering the "smell of pines" and his beloved Astrid as he's making the final journey towards Heaven/Valhalla. Truly a masterpiece, shed a tear in the end. Well done to you Farya, the Skaldic Bard and all the people who worked on this symphony!
Every time I think that Farya Faraji can't do better, he does. A true masterpiece, even better than Justinian's symphony when I thought it was the best that could be done. Farya Faraji and The Skaldic Bard have once again shown that they are capable of amaze us and make us travel with their music. I don't have the words to express how much this music touched me. There are so many emotions that emerge from this story that we follow through the music. The notes manage to reflect the emotions much better than images would. This whole symphony is such a mix of style, different cultures, recognizable musical motifs and subtle historical references, it is a real pleasure to follow from start to finish. A big thank you to Farya Faraji, The Skaldic Bard and all those who collaborated to create this masterpiece.
As a Pontian myself of course I find it the most divine sound in the universe, but I always understood it's a bit difficult for everybody else. Makes me happily surprised to see other people appreciate it.
I listened to it all and ive got to say. This is the most beautifil story ive ever heard. Genuinely felt like i was sucked into the whole narrative. The tale of astrid serves as a beautiful flipside to this heroic man. I genuinely felt that this was a real true story with this man who is 3xtremely imperfect morally, yet still serves as a beautiful protagonist. I felt sympathy, hapinness and anger for the same man. Which is beautiful. For your next project i would love a story of Mahmud of Ghazni, or Qutbuddin Aibak, ive recently been reading medevial texts about these people and the narrative potential is immense. You can even make the narrator or writer the protagonist!
Edit: Okay, listened straight through at work, I adored the way the love story paralleled the seduction of the northman by the glory of Constantinople. I did not expect a greek tragedy with a moral lesson about not leaving the blessings you are given for riches and glory either, I was invested in the characters of oir farmer turned Varangian and Astrid to the end. Bravo and bravo again to Skaldic and Farya, you've shown once again why you guys are far and away my favorite musicians on youtube! This is a true Saga worthy of the name! Okay, I don't comment often and I haven't even listened yet, but I know already this will be amazing and I wanna do a bit to boost you for the algorithm. I loved Justinian and The Crusader, and they got me through many a rough retail work day and help me do a lot of my historical-fantasy writing. I've been with you and a huge fan of your music, Farya and Skaldic, since early in both of your channels' days and I've always loved both of your unique historic-themed work with the very languages of those you sing of. This topic in particular sings to my Anglo-saxon ancestry and Roman heart together. My prayers are with you both and the continued success of your channels.
You know if you asked me a year ago, i enjoyed music but i was never really truly excited for it. Now, at 29:28, when the Byzantine Leitmotif returned triumphantly as the Varangians reach Constantinople, i had a reaction of pure joy, adrenaline, and excitement that Avengers: Endgame could only hope to elicit from me. Well done Farya, well done.
Farya, I want to thank you for the tireless effort and passion you put into your work. I like how you tell stories through music and create memorable pieces which one ends up associating to specific people, individuals or places (In this symphony, 'The Varangians' as the recurrent theme, 'Sons of Mars' in Nordic at one point, 'Constantinople' or 'Bulgaroktonos' come to mind). This is the first time I am commenting on one of your works, because the parts revolving around Astrid brought to mind the love of youth, the consequences false promises have, and how one ends up regretting not valuing the earnesty, faithfulness and genuine love of that one person so long ago. Likewise, it also reminds me that there are people who, in fact, love until death and beyond, and hold fast to those promises, even when everything else fails. I greatly enjoyed your 'Justinian' symphony and thought that was about the pinnacle of historical music. This masterpiece surpasses any expectation I could have had, as an uneducated music but interested in history enjoyer. Thank you for this tale and for the fantastic work you both have done with this. Merry Christmas and best wishes, Farya, to you and your Astrid!
When The Crusader came out, I knew it is not enough. It was very good but... I knew the time will come, when you two will do something special. And this is exactly it. The quality of music, vocals, the story it brings... It's just unbelievably good. I'd have never imagined that the next collab would be THAT awesome. Man, hearing your two's best Varangian/Byzantine pieces next to each other with an actual story behind them is just otherworldly experience. Thank you, Faraya and Skald, for this christmas present.
Damn, the contrast between the zonaradiko of greed and Astrid's lament gave me a real "Vanity of vanities, everything is vanity" moment. This man is an artistic titan
33:08 this is the piece I first heard from The Skaldic Bard. Hearing it again, with a different arrangement and as part of a bigger piece, totally hits different, and I love it!!!
Alright I’ve listened to the symphony in its entirety, this is without a doubt your magnum opus, I don’t even know where to begin with how fantastic this. I don’t know how you went from uploading spare music you made (if I remember correctly) to this absolute masterpiece but here we are. Don’t know how you’re gonna top this one but knowing you you’ll probably cook up a 6 hour symphony about the Spanish conquest of Mexico or the Epic of Gilgamesh or something in six months time. I now understand how people are able to sit around a fire for hours on end and listen to tales and epic poetry being recited. The homeless Canadian man and the 21st century Viking have cooked harder than they’ve ever cooked before
I'm truly honoured, thanks so much. It did start with me just uploading random music scribbles here as a personal Google Drive, but it's the support of viewers like you that got me here. Also, as much as I also believe this to be my best symphony to date, it's all thanks to the Skaldic Bard and his lyrical/linguistic genius. I can only manage largely instrumental stories that hint at character development on my own; but Skald elevated this to the level of an actual opera with his lyrical prowess. The man's a legend
Well I know what im gonna be doing all day tommorow. I'll be frank, I was having a decent day before this dropped, but this will now be one of my great personal memories. When Manzikert dropped, I was walking down the street alone at night, and began sprinting down it from joy. When Thermopylae dropped I immediately called all my friends to tell them how damn happy I was. When Justinian dropped, I screamed like a 16 yo girl loudly enough to alert someone in the next room over. Seeing this, I was merely left solemnly speechless. Not to brag, but i have an uncanny ability to predict what toure going to upload next. Just before you upload a new banger, I get the urge to listen to similar works. Yesterday, I got the unexplainable urge to listen to Manzikert and The Varangians. And today, you turn all of us, the hundreds of thousands of your admirers, into 16 yo fangirls at a beatles concert in the 1960s! Glory to you, Farya, the greatest of our time!
By far, for me, the most musical part I guess in this symphony is the Manzikert part, not only it adds the "Drottin Jesus Kristr" prayer but also Hikanatoi and Terirem, besides the muslim/Seljuk/Persian(I guess, pls correct me if I'm wrong) man, it feels so unique and amazing ngl. Thank you Farya and Skald for making this amazing 3 hour symphony of amazingness.
Bar my joke comment 6 mins after this dropped I have to say this has to be my second favourite piece of yours so far (I have a weak spot for Nineveh- That build-up to the drums and the duel was just too hype for me) I really felt this story, was hyped when our viking lad was doing great, was regretful when he was filled with vainglory, was hyped at the battle segments, and was sad seeing his regrets I felt bad for Astrid, and ofc I was immensely hyped for the Basil segments (Holding out the gaida solo for the actual war in georgia has to be one of my favourite things in this symphony) Recognising the individual leitmotifs was also great fun- and really good for piecing together the details of the story Now, were I to pick my favorite segments / motifs- in no particular order - War in Georgia - The various Zonaradika - To Georgia, (with the Pontic song) - Merry Vikings - My Wedding - Fury of the Slavs - Astrid's Lament - Last Stand And, finally, just to give an idea of something I'd like to see in a future symphony The 1204 - 1261 timespan - With the Fall of Constantinople to the crusaders - With the struggles of the successor states vs Latins, their successes and failures - With the Latins and their struggle to keep their Empire together - With the rise of the Bulgarian Empire - With the Arrival of the Mongols - With Strategopoulos' fluke of a win and Michael's coronation (In full honesty this is a bias pick bc I'd just like to see more Epirote stuff in this channel, and the Despotate's zenith would be a good place for that)
Im literally crying here this song is so Powerful! Especially the Last stand part! Farya Faraji and Skaldic Bard you are the best musician in existence!
I just finally finished the janissary in time for another "the life of" symphony. Oh, joy. And 3 hours? What a massive offering you've served up today, Farya!
This and the Janissary have got to be the best compositions Farya has made, I love the narrative aspects of them. I’m only halfway through this but I’m convinced that this is Farya’s (and the Skaldic Bard’s) magnum opus
He does it again. Every time I think, "Ah yes, this is peak Farya Faraji", he just outdoes himself with a three hour epic. On top of that, its a collab with Skaldic Bard! I cannot emphasize enough that anyone who looks at this listens to the whole thing and not just parts of it. This is a work of art gents! Well done!
I love this symphony. It's a blend of musical traditions stretching from Scandinavia all the way to Iran, and especially Iran as you really nailed the santur. The choice of the Varangian had to make between marrying Isabella, staying in Byzantium to serve the emperor and returning to his beloved Astrid who he will never see again is bound to hit plenty of emotional nerves
2:10:24 So first we had Sons of Mars, then we had the version sung in ancient Greek in the Justinian symphony, snd now we have a version for the Varangians? My man is going all in on this one.
My first language is Swedish and I actually understand some of the old norse lyrics. Lines like Älskan min, mitt hjärta är ditt (modern spelling) are almost the exakt same in modern Swedish. Though there is a noticable difference in the spelling. In modern swedish älskan min has changed to min älskade but still. I didn't expect to understand as much of it as I did. Oh and fantastic work as always BTW.
and the moment i almost fell asleep farya snaped me back to reality with a notification of a new amazing piece of music. Seems the sleeping time s just been delayed. Been waiting for something just as grand as Justinian and Crusader but seems that i ve got evene more. Thanks, Farya! Also Last Stand is a cool choice for one of final pieces
hearing 'Death' after listening and following along with the story it hit me right in the feelings, gave me goosebumps. oh and especially the last lyrics of 'the last stand' made me feel real sad.
The 'Death' was the perfect embodiment of it in song form. All the memories, your life flashing before your eyes, before you lie cold you remember your life and all you have done and what has happened. It was truly devastating, beautiful and peaceful all at the same time
I never anticipated such a mesmerizing, otherworldly experience in witnessing the grand Varangian saga; it truly stands as your magnum opus, surpassing even the majestic heights of the Justinian Symphony.
Without even going into the musical artistry, the composition, the attention to detail, the rich instrumentation, the use of leimotifs from within this symphony and from the rest of your work. The story itself, painted like this, could easily be a movie!
1:42:47 i loved the wedding part. It reminded me of the greek patinades when somebody got married in a Greek island. Also the rhythm of the lyra is very similar to Armenaki. The choise of greek is also great because patinades are usually sung by close friends or people attending the marriage
You're hearing correctly! I wrote this part entirely based on Nisiotika traditional songs of the Aegean islands, and my buddy Dimitrios brought it to life with the instruments :)
Holy cow This hit hard This genuinely moved me in a way that nothing else you've made, not even Justinian, has. Farya, somehow you've exceeded even Justinian in all its glory with this. Can't wait to see what's next- and the Skaldic Bard collab was GLORIOUS too. I loved hearing all the familiar themes, and new ones too!
THIS IS EPIC, 38:20 , 1:00:58 References after references to songs made by both music creators ,GENIUSES MAN JUST A PURE MASTERPIECE im going crazy each time there's a refference man YOOOOOO SKALDIC'S VARANGIAN AT 1:20:50 BRO NAAAH 1:31:21 IS FARYA'S VARANGIAN TOO NAHH BROOOOOO!!! 1:55:22 HARDRADAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! 2:06:47 YOOO 2:22:48 WHAAAAAAATTT?!?!?! 2:43:09 HU! HU! HU! YA ALLAH! HAQ HAQ HAQ YA ALLAH! HU! HU! HU! YA ALLAH! HAQ HAQ HAQ YA ALLAH! 2:46:28 THE HIKANATOI'S COMING! 2:52:04 THEY LOST 2:53:52 KOM HEILL BANI KOM HEILL BANI KOM HEILL BANI KOM HEILL BANI KOM HEILL BANI....this is one of the best things i've listened to, i have edited this comment many times in order to put in my reactions, Farya and Skald and all the participants in this have accomplished the creation of a masterpiece, a three hour song,i've listened to in 30 minutes and concluded this,speedrun.
I think I've listened to Farya too much to the point where I keep checking the lyrics to immerse myself more into the story of the music. A certified classic. Thanks for the banger.
I'm still listening, but when I heard the Varangian Guard Ballad from Skallad I got the largest grin, then when I heard parts of Boulgarktonos, I felt another grin come across my face. Also, the addition of parts of Reforms from your Justinian symphony was a beautiful call back. So far, it's a beautiful symphony and tops the Justinian one in my opinion.
I knew the weekly song upload going missing was unusual, glad to see it was for the grandest symphony, both in scale of themes and instruments, that you have crafted yet. The most grand of standing ovations for you, funny persian man.
May God bless you Farya! You are truly amazing! And Skaldic Bard as well! Thank you all so much for your hard work and dedication to create such masterpieces which give us strenght to carry on and make life feel worth living! There still is hope for humanity! ❤
Oh boy, this is really the Time for Giving. Christmas came early lads. Virtuous Farya and the Bard went all out with this one. Thanks gentlemen, we didn't deserve such bounty.
This is breathtaking! One of your best symphonies for sure! So many good moments, new and old leitmotifs (usage of the Scandinavian female song to end the symphony reminded me of the "Gladiator" movie). And great thanks (Дякую and Спасибо!) for the Old East Slavic parts of the symphony! Kyivan Rus is somewhat unrepresented even in Byzantine-related historical media.
I just finished listening to that masterpiece. It is very long but it worths every single second that you are hearing.I discovered ScaldBard a few months ago and I like the music he makes. I am Greek and I have to admit that again that your accent was very good for a Non-Greek speaker. Finally I love that two musicians collaborated to create a Symphony that is 3 hours long and featured so many different languages and rythms. If I could rated it I was for sure putting 10/10. Merry Christmas to Everyone!!
Been listening to this almost nonstop for the past couple days, absolutely epic. One thing that intrigues me that I haven't seen anyone else comment on, that this is the second piece of yours I've listened to with a chapter titled "My New Faith". Both of these are stories of warriors, centuries apart, in the very same city, who adopt a new faith for twisted reasons. The Janissary, who is forced to convert to Islam, and the Varangian, who begins his worship of Christ not out of reverence but because he has been seduced by the wealth and opulence of Constantinople (both literally and as personified by Isabella), and believes Christ will give him wealth and power in exchange for his worship. And the tragedy is that by the time the Varangian realizes that it was all vanity, he's so far steeped in blood and gold that there's no way out, and all he can do is see his course through to the bitter end, all while counseling a young basileus not to make the same mistakes he did. And The Last Stand, is just perfect at depicting the final moments at Manzikert, as the Varangians make their final stand, the protagonist giving his commands and watching his men fight their last. When Astrid's leitmotif comes in for a moment in the battle, I can picture the grizzled captain of the guard, having done all he can to command his men up to that point, seeing more and more of his men fall while the younger, stronger warriors are tightly encircling the emperor in their final moments. Then his mind drifts for a split second as he accepts his fate, and he pictures Astrid's face again, which steels his resolve enough for him to take his last act of courage and make his death charge at Alp Arslan. The sheer image of the grey bearded Varangian captain making his suicidal charge to meet the sultan in single combat is just a perfect tragic end to the action, and his last words encapsulate the overall theme so well. Altogether perfect beginning to end. Bravo!
I'm really happy that the images you describe are exactly what I was imagining when composing this haha, good to hear, and thanks alot for the kind words!
A collaboration between The Skaldic Bard 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 Hafez, and the Roman des Franceis.
Instrumentation by Dimitrios Dallas, Jiří Maršálek, Mohab Attalah, Illias de Sutter Ndavidlis, GSMusicStudio and the Hiimart Group.
Vocals by The Skaldic Bard, Farya Faraji, July Vitraniuk, 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
Only made it to “The world” and already I love the use of the Roman “To Marble” theme.
EDIT: I LOVE the reprise of the Boulgaroktonos theme!
EDIT 2: I also LOVE the second reprisal of the Seljuk Theme as well as the reprisal of the Romanos Theme!
EDIT 3: ARSLAN! HIKANATOI!
EDIT 4: Dude, this symphony has everything. Mf Terirem is here too!?
Maybe something about William the Conqueror and his story, battle of Hastings and slaying his a friend-enemy Harold II (William give him a maille, helmet etc.)?
@@swirlyskyshock1155 how have you listened to the whole song already it’s only been an hour and a half ☠️
@@Eugene-tm8fm Might sound a little heretical, but I like to skim through Symphonies on first listen to pick out leitmotifs. It helps me enjoy the Symphony more on consecutive run throughs because I know what I’m getting into.
@@swirlyskyshock1155 Can't blame you, I'm the same with open world games. Every time a new Elder Scrolls comes out, I do one speedrun to get a feel of the game, and then I do my "actual" walkthrough once I know what to expect
Farya, dear friend, it has been a privilege to work on this with you.
Your vision, talent and brilliance know no bounds. I am honoured to have added what I could to a musical masterpiece that only one man alive is capable of.
Thank you everyone for listening and for your kind words of support, and Merry Christmas. Guð blessi yðr!
Merry Christmas, Selamat hari Natal!
Merry christmas mate, your work is truly brilliant.
@SkaldBard Merry Christmas to you and thank you for this worthwhile gift!!
Thank you for this great song sir!
Merry Christmas
Babe wake up! Iranian man contributed to world cultural heritage again!
Feel the scent, Persian man and British man have cooked once more!!!
Persian poet Ferdowsi: best arts are from iranians and that's it❤
Damn! This is the reason why Farya rarely posted song regulary as usual. I told you guys he was cooking something unusual and suspicious in his kitchen!!
@@luthfilofianda3999 I’d say let him cook, but Farya and Skald had fries and a drink with this order!
I wanted a symphony about the Varangians and Basil II and it seems like we got both.
Was thinking he would drop us the Reconquista Symphony or the Fall of Granada but no....he dropped us a three hour Varangian banger
@@justinianthegreat1444 I really hope the symphony about the conquest of the New World, the fall of Tenochtitlan or Cuzco in a future
When he disappears in the shadows for a while, he's either composing music for the gods like this masterpiece he just made, or preparing a killer Epic Music episode because he's that goat
" *Halfdan Carved These Runes* "
This is amazing! When I read the name of the chapter "Elder's Wisdom" I thought something like: "Hell yeah, some sort of Old wise man is gonna show the Varangian the error of his ways." I was really (pleasantly) surprised when this got twisted and the old Varangian was the Elder and gave advice to young Romanos.
Also I find it great that Isabella has no voice lines, but Astrid has a lot. If my interpretations that Isabella is a Symbol of Greed and Wealth and Astrid of Love and Peace, it shows that Gold does not love you back, it doesn't share the warmth for you that you may feel for it. Gold does not care. Astrid/Love does care, it waits for you and wouldn't give up, even if all hope may be lost. Thank you, Farya, SkaldicBard and everyone else, who was envolved! This is a wonderful Christmas present
Spot on my friend
@@faryafaraji WOO! Thank you for responding! And thank you so much for humanizing history through your music!
so you're saying that love is...
...never gonna give you up?
@YeetyboisEmpire You know the rules.....
and so do I
@@johannesullmann8457 And so do I
can we get an F in the chat for astrid though? Her husband left to greece and then immedietly decided to cheat on her with a greek woman
F, she deserved better
F, Astrid, daughter of a farmer
F
F
F. Her fate is heartbreaking.
>Caesar & Augustus: 0.5h each
>Crusader: 1 hour
>Justinian: 2 hours
>Varangian: 3 hours
At this rate we can expect a 24h symphony somewhere around late 2026, or a double event by mid 2025.
you forgot Thermopylae, .75 hr
Waiting for the 6 week long Mahabharata symphony in 2036
We are waiting the 4 weeks Sympohony WWIII
@@AstraphUriel I'm waiting New World Conquest 6 hours.
Still waiting for the 3 month long Sengoku Jidai symphony
SPOILER BELOW:
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I think it's really fitting that, just like the Varangian we go into this sympony expecting an epic tale of badass glory, and come out of it realizing it is secretly (like another comment put it:) a moral lesson about counting your blessings and not giving into greed
Holy, where do I even start?
An amazing story is being told here... it's truly fascinating to see such an exceptional and adventurous life be so masterfully portrayed in all its aspects. All the glories, tragedies (especially poor Astrid), battles, emotions, stories of riches, and moments of love have been captured so beautifully here.
And not to mention all the appearances of those many different past songs and motifs of you two. Your Varangian theme, Boulgaroktonos, The Empire of the Romans / Kyrie Eleison theme, Sons of Mars (we fully expect Sons of Mars in even more languages now :P), Alp Arslan's theme from the Manzikert Symphony, the two Roman themes from the Manzikert Symphony, The Seljuks' theme, Hikanatoi, Skaldic Bard's Varangian theme, Skaldic Bard's Harald Hardrada theme, and probably so much more where I just haven't heard the individual songs yet...
And in all these languages! You make all languages sound so beautiful, it's miraculous.
This is, once more, a fantastic masterpiece by both of you, and listening to these 3 hours has been a true blast. Thank you for blessing our ears with this!
Speaking of motifs where I probably didn't hear the original song yet:
I swear I recognize "Tides of Time", but I just can't tell from where... another symphony, or an individual song? Or am I imagining things?
I see alot of people saying they skip through Farya's symphonies to listen only to the loud battle parts, and having listened to this one in its entirety... guys, DO YOURSELVES A FAVOUR and listen to the whole thing, you have NO idea what you're missing out on by skipping to only a few parts. This isn't a song compilation, this is an epic sweeping opera with an actual story that Skald and Farya wrote. Even if it takes you a few days, do it, by the end you'll feel like you've watched an epic historical film about a Varangian's life and you'll be crying your eyes out during the ending. if anything the epic parts feel so much more grand and epic once you know their story/emotional context
Can confirm, this legitimately felt like a movie
Indeed,even the more chill parts are brilliant.
As hard as it is for some (including me) to sit down, relax and pay attention, by the end it truly is worth it
Indeed! A symphony is driven by the elegance of its lows and the intensity of its highs. Farya always delivers magic for both!
Absolutely Agree. By far the greatest collab of previous songs Farya has done yet.
And as a speaker of Slavic Languages myself, it was cool to be able to understand what was being said in Rivers of the Slavs and against the Rus.
I'm here literally bawling my eyes out at this absolute masterpiece of a Greek Tregedy. Though I've always said since it's release, that "Justinian" is your Magnum Opus, I now believe you've outdone yourself, not only in bringing the sounds of the instruments and voices of the past in this Modern Song, but you've also succeeded at telling an incredibly compelling story, since once more (as you did with "The Jannissary") you decided to tell the story of an unrecorded, but plausible, and flawed man.
I'm used to gasp and be surprised in your songs more closely inspired by actual historical figures, but this one has absolutely left me speechles. Bravo
''In those days i was the richest of men.''
.....
The whole story with Astrid is truly something of great beauty. This is the most wonderful symphony i ever heard, God bless you Farya & Skaldic/ Lady Bard.
Zonaradiko with Old Norse lyrics?? The Thracian-Norse crossover I didn't know I needed
Welcome back Farya, the world missed you and your music!
This symphony is such a wealth of musical traditions and our ears are blessed.
HOW MANY HOURS!?
The Canadian Persian has cooked once more. This will be playing on repeat for the next 8 months.
Edit: Aaand I've been reminded of Manzikert once more.
Yyyyyyep one for the books!
Wow, the story behind this song is so engaging... A man who finds his life as a farmer a monotonous one, despite loving his wife Astrid intensely. One day, a ship of Varangians returns from Constantinople filled with riches and the man runs to the coast to see the men he admires so much arriving. The Varangians, happy, excited and filled with riches for their services, invite new recruits to sail down the river to Miklagardr, and the man finds himself in a dilemma:stay with his beloved wife in a monotonous life or follow his calling and intense desire of his heart, but far from his wife? He decides to leave for Miklagardr, and there lives surreal experiences for a common norse...
Congratulations Farya Faraji, Skaldic Bard and everyone involved for this musical gem! Pop songs become noise compared to this!
10:58 The Merry Vikings ACTUALLY sounds like nordic folk music! I'm so glad to hear some appreciation for the cheerful tunes so common up here in the north, thank you so much!
Thanks alot! I quite spent some time studying Norwegian and Swedish folk tunes when preparing the Scandinavian segments, glad to see it comes through here :)
@@faryafaraji if you still feel like diving into something specific, the ballad Sven Svane / Sven Vonved in danish, norwegian and swedish and Vestmanviiki in Finnish might be a fun deepdive, it's both a vengeance ballad (in its oldest scandi versions and in the finnish loan) and a riddle song (in later scandi folk music)
Finally finished it
It made me tear up a few times
What a journey, this is better than movies
If we Greeks build the Empire again, our northern brothers should know you will always be welcomed back to Miklagard (golds and Isabellas included)
hail to Harald Hardrada and our brother Olafr!
@@дімавасилик-п2е And Halfdan
3 hours of not just Farya Faraji but the Skaldic Bard too??!!! I’ve wanted this for so long… I can truly die a happy man now
29:28: Imagine stepping into Hagia Sophia as a foreigner for the first time. Meeting the divine through the monumental. If the Varangians could hear the music of that moment, this is exactly what it would sound like. Absolutely epic.
"Ho I wish the varangian theme from Farya was more popular, it's a great piece"
Farya *hold my nyckelharpa*
It's christmas ! Thank you so much Farya.
Absolute hits by my opinion:
-Merry Vikings
-The Emperor
-To Georgia
-The war in Georgia
-Zonaradiko of Wealth
-Zonaradiko of Greed
-Passing of Basil II
-A life of war
-My Wedding
-Manzikert
war in georgia fav
You are sleeping on In the Year 6579, Elder's Wisdom and Against the Turks
And The Last Stand Obiously!
astrids lament is too underrated imo
To Georgia, Mother of God, Digenis Akritas back.
This is one of the greatest Christmas gifts I could have ever received.
29:28 Literally the most majestic rendition of the "Kyrie eleison" motif I've heard, even surpasses the one from Nineveh 627, and I think I'm geeking out over Boulgaroktonos showing up as well
AND THE LAST STAND FROM MANZIKERT SYMPHONY MAKES A COMEBACK HOLYY
"Kom heill, Bani" over and over was metal bro
Another epic production. The Persian wonderkid never seizes to amaze.
Miklagard 🇬🇷❤️🇳🇴🇩🇰🇸🇪🇮🇸🇫🇮
Wow man. I was expecting a bunch of combat and glory like The Crusader and Justinian, and there was plenty of that, but I didn’t expect this shit to nearly bring me to tears. Hell this put me through every emotion imaginable. Frustration at the guardsman's greed and then terrible sadness for Astrid. Laughter at the Normans calling the Byzantine defense shitty. Awe at the war in Georgia, and amazement at the power of the Turks at Manzikert, (which that section is better than the actual Manzikert symphony). Just wow man.
'onestly, i was not aware you were allowed to swear in these symphonies. The normans seriously went: Your defences ain't worth shit bro, i wude feel sad for you if this werrent so hilarious
Farya, Skald? This is the kinda shit that turns random teenagers into history majors.
I listened to the whole symphony from beginning to end and it was as if I lived the whole life of this Varangian. At "Astrid's Lament" I cried with her. This is an absolute masterpiece, Farya. Thank you very much.
Bro just casually drops another 3 hr collab symphony. Truly a Christmas miracle
2:09:33 FARYA REALLY PUT SONS OF MARS (or is it Sons of Tyr?) AND THOUGHT WE WOULDNT NOTICE!
ABSOLUTELY AWESOME
Ehehehe, thought I'd sneak in a few surprised in here
hey wait, what are the lyrics since they're not stated anywhere @@faryafaraji
@@kekw1667They're the same as the rest of that segments', just sung to the Sons of Mars tune
@@kekw1667
Komi sigr eða bani
Verðum vér ei hugvani
Betra er at mey siti í sorgum
En lifi í náðum með orgum
x2
Brøðr erum Norðrsjóvar
Einskonar eiðs, blóðs ok trúar
Fyrir sakir Miklagarðs
Lifa ok deyja Værengjar!
x2
@@faryafaraji Many references from you song and still awesome good work 👏
Your rendition of Akritas Ontan Elamnen is so beautiful. This has to be said. Probably my favorite section of the symphony.
This is a truly mesmerizing composition about the life of a varangian as it well could've been, dreaming of the glory joining the Emperor in Constantinople, leaving behind his home and his loved one, battling on alongside the famous and infamous Harald "Hardrada" Sigurdsson in the East and West, finding a noble wife for his life in the service of the Emperor but not being quite true as the love he felt back home, finally dying after a lifetime of war in one of the most humiliating defeats of the Eastern Roman Empire, remembering the "smell of pines" and his beloved Astrid as he's making the final journey towards Heaven/Valhalla. Truly a masterpiece, shed a tear in the end. Well done to you Farya, the Skaldic Bard and all the people who worked on this symphony!
Every time I think that Farya Faraji can't do better, he does.
A true masterpiece, even better than Justinian's symphony when I thought it was the best that could be done.
Farya Faraji and The Skaldic Bard have once again shown that they are capable of amaze us and make us travel with their music.
I don't have the words to express how much this music touched me. There are so many emotions that emerge from this story that we follow through the music. The notes manage to reflect the emotions much better than images would.
This whole symphony is such a mix of style, different cultures, recognizable musical motifs and subtle historical references, it is a real pleasure to follow from start to finish.
A big thank you to Farya Faraji, The Skaldic Bard and all those who collaborated to create this masterpiece.
48:40 the moment when Pontian lyra starts playing hits hard asf. Such a "metal" instrument!
As a Pontian myself of course I find it the most divine sound in the universe, but I always understood it's a bit difficult for everybody else. Makes me happily surprised to see other people appreciate it.
I listened to it all and ive got to say. This is the most beautifil story ive ever heard. Genuinely felt like i was sucked into the whole narrative. The tale of astrid serves as a beautiful flipside to this heroic man. I genuinely felt that this was a real true story with this man who is 3xtremely imperfect morally, yet still serves as a beautiful protagonist. I felt sympathy, hapinness and anger for the same man. Which is beautiful.
For your next project i would love a story of Mahmud of Ghazni, or Qutbuddin Aibak, ive recently been reading medevial texts about these people and the narrative potential is immense. You can even make the narrator or writer the protagonist!
Edit: Okay, listened straight through at work, I adored the way the love story paralleled the seduction of the northman by the glory of Constantinople. I did not expect a greek tragedy with a moral lesson about not leaving the blessings you are given for riches and glory either, I was invested in the characters of oir farmer turned Varangian and Astrid to the end. Bravo and bravo again to Skaldic and Farya, you've shown once again why you guys are far and away my favorite musicians on youtube! This is a true Saga worthy of the name!
Okay, I don't comment often and I haven't even listened yet, but I know already this will be amazing and I wanna do a bit to boost you for the algorithm. I loved Justinian and The Crusader, and they got me through many a rough retail work day and help me do a lot of my historical-fantasy writing. I've been with you and a huge fan of your music, Farya and Skaldic, since early in both of your channels' days and I've always loved both of your unique historic-themed work with the very languages of those you sing of.
This topic in particular sings to my Anglo-saxon ancestry and Roman heart together.
My prayers are with you both and the continued success of your channels.
You know if you asked me a year ago, i enjoyed music but i was never really truly excited for it.
Now, at 29:28, when the Byzantine Leitmotif returned triumphantly as the Varangians reach Constantinople, i had a reaction of pure joy, adrenaline, and excitement that Avengers: Endgame could only hope to elicit from me.
Well done Farya, well done.
So true... I was overjoyed like a fanboy... I guess I am one now 😅
Farya, I want to thank you for the tireless effort and passion you put into your work. I like how you tell stories through music and create memorable pieces which one ends up associating to specific people, individuals or places (In this symphony, 'The Varangians' as the recurrent theme, 'Sons of Mars' in Nordic at one point, 'Constantinople' or 'Bulgaroktonos' come to mind).
This is the first time I am commenting on one of your works, because the parts revolving around Astrid brought to mind the love of youth, the consequences false promises have, and how one ends up regretting not valuing the earnesty, faithfulness and genuine love of that one person so long ago. Likewise, it also reminds me that there are people who, in fact, love until death and beyond, and hold fast to those promises, even when everything else fails.
I greatly enjoyed your 'Justinian' symphony and thought that was about the pinnacle of historical music. This masterpiece surpasses any expectation I could have had, as an uneducated music but interested in history enjoyer. Thank you for this tale and for the fantastic work you both have done with this.
Merry Christmas and best wishes, Farya, to you and your Astrid!
When The Crusader came out, I knew it is not enough. It was very good but... I knew the time will come, when you two will do something special.
And this is exactly it. The quality of music, vocals, the story it brings... It's just unbelievably good. I'd have never imagined that the next collab would be THAT awesome. Man, hearing your two's best Varangian/Byzantine pieces next to each other with an actual story behind them is just otherworldly experience.
Thank you, Faraya and Skald, for this christmas present.
Well, three free hours of my life are going to be very well spent now. This is a grandiose masterpiece, from my two favorite creators on TH-cam!
Damn, the contrast between the zonaradiko of greed and Astrid's lament gave me a real "Vanity of vanities, everything is vanity" moment. This man is an artistic titan
3 HOURS
I am shocked. This is the entire history of the Varangian Guard in an endless melody
Amazing!
I finished it
It was beyond all words of praise
Loved the protagonist, poor Astrid though
Oh yeah, What a good Christmas present dear Farya!!
THANKS!!
Those first words of the Lord’s Prayer over the Rome leitmotif will never fail to make me shiver
33:08 this is the piece I first heard from The Skaldic Bard. Hearing it again, with a different arrangement and as part of a bigger piece, totally hits different, and I love it!!!
Yep, me too! The Varangian Guard Ballad; it was through that one I discovered him, still my favourite song of his :)
Alright I’ve listened to the symphony in its entirety, this is without a doubt your magnum opus, I don’t even know where to begin with how fantastic this. I don’t know how you went from uploading spare music you made (if I remember correctly) to this absolute masterpiece but here we are. Don’t know how you’re gonna top this one but knowing you you’ll probably cook up a 6 hour symphony about the Spanish conquest of Mexico or the Epic of Gilgamesh or something in six months time. I now understand how people are able to sit around a fire for hours on end and listen to tales and epic poetry being recited. The homeless Canadian man and the 21st century Viking have cooked harder than they’ve ever cooked before
I'm truly honoured, thanks so much. It did start with me just uploading random music scribbles here as a personal Google Drive, but it's the support of viewers like you that got me here.
Also, as much as I also believe this to be my best symphony to date, it's all thanks to the Skaldic Bard and his lyrical/linguistic genius. I can only manage largely instrumental stories that hint at character development on my own; but Skald elevated this to the level of an actual opera with his lyrical prowess. The man's a legend
@@faryafarajiIt is still hard for me to compare between the Justinian symphony or The Varangians Saga that which one is the best.
Well I know what im gonna be doing all day tommorow.
I'll be frank, I was having a decent day before this dropped, but this will now be one of my great personal memories.
When Manzikert dropped, I was walking down the street alone at night, and began sprinting down it from joy.
When Thermopylae dropped I immediately called all my friends to tell them how damn happy I was.
When Justinian dropped, I screamed like a 16 yo girl loudly enough to alert someone in the next room over.
Seeing this, I was merely left solemnly speechless.
Not to brag, but i have an uncanny ability to predict what toure going to upload next.
Just before you upload a new banger, I get the urge to listen to similar works.
Yesterday, I got the unexplainable urge to listen to Manzikert and The Varangians.
And today, you turn all of us, the hundreds of thousands of your admirers, into 16 yo fangirls at a beatles concert in the 1960s!
Glory to you, Farya, the greatest of our time!
Aaah yes a 3 hour music masterpiece. Well done!!! Greetings from Greece 🇬🇷
Respect to greek bros from Lebanon yall are the best!
Babe, wake up, the homeless persian man just divined the stars and created peak... again.
Homeless?
It is very rare that stories make me cry, and this one is in their ranks now.
Thank you for this masterpiece, thank you.
By far, for me, the most musical part I guess in this symphony is the Manzikert part, not only it adds the "Drottin Jesus Kristr" prayer but also Hikanatoi and Terirem, besides the muslim/Seljuk/Persian(I guess, pls correct me if I'm wrong) man, it feels so unique and amazing ngl. Thank you Farya and Skald for making this amazing 3 hour symphony of amazingness.
Bar my joke comment 6 mins after this dropped I have to say this has to be my second favourite piece of yours so far
(I have a weak spot for Nineveh- That build-up to the drums and the duel was just too hype for me)
I really felt this story, was hyped when our viking lad was doing great, was regretful when he was filled with vainglory, was hyped at the battle segments, and was sad seeing his regrets
I felt bad for Astrid, and ofc I was immensely hyped for the Basil segments (Holding out the gaida solo for the actual war in georgia has to be one of my favourite things in this symphony)
Recognising the individual leitmotifs was also great fun- and really good for piecing together the details of the story
Now, were I to pick my favorite segments / motifs- in no particular order
- War in Georgia
- The various Zonaradika
- To Georgia, (with the Pontic song)
- Merry Vikings
- My Wedding
- Fury of the Slavs
- Astrid's Lament
- Last Stand
And, finally, just to give an idea of something I'd like to see in a future symphony
The 1204 - 1261 timespan
- With the Fall of Constantinople to the crusaders
- With the struggles of the successor states vs Latins, their successes and failures
- With the Latins and their struggle to keep their Empire together
- With the rise of the Bulgarian Empire
- With the Arrival of the Mongols
- With Strategopoulos' fluke of a win and Michael's coronation
(In full honesty this is a bias pick bc I'd just like to see more Epirote stuff in this channel, and the Despotate's zenith would be a good place for that)
Im literally crying here this song is so Powerful! Especially the Last stand part!
Farya Faraji and Skaldic Bard you are the best musician in existence!
I just finally finished the janissary in time for another "the life of" symphony. Oh, joy. And 3 hours? What a massive offering you've served up today, Farya!
This and the Janissary have got to be the best compositions Farya has made, I love the narrative aspects of them. I’m only halfway through this but I’m convinced that this is Farya’s (and the Skaldic Bard’s) magnum opus
He does it again. Every time I think, "Ah yes, this is peak Farya Faraji", he just outdoes himself with a three hour epic. On top of that, its a collab with Skaldic Bard! I cannot emphasize enough that anyone who looks at this listens to the whole thing and not just parts of it. This is a work of art gents! Well done!
As a Dane, I'm so incredibly happy that you have made so much old Nordic music. Thank you so much.
Word cannot describe the masterpiece this is.
Hail Farya and Skaldic Bard, the true masters of art and music.
22 minutes youve already got me ugly crying over astrid
Astrid’s lament got me depressed
@@Eugene-tm8fm Same, especially since the love song at the beginning was enough to make me cry. Poor Astrid.
I love this symphony. It's a blend of musical traditions stretching from Scandinavia all the way to Iran, and especially Iran as you really nailed the santur. The choice of the Varangian had to make between marrying Isabella, staying in Byzantium to serve the emperor and returning to his beloved Astrid who he will never see again is bound to hit plenty of emotional nerves
Farya be posting bangers when it's 1am in Sweden. Sure, I got three hours to spare! (Not sarcasm, I am very hyped)
2:10:24
So first we had Sons of Mars, then we had the version sung in ancient Greek in the Justinian symphony, snd now we have a version for the Varangians? My man is going all in on this one.
God forbid he!
My man, this is the best Christmas gift you could have given us. God bless you
My first language is Swedish and I actually understand some of the old norse lyrics. Lines like Älskan min, mitt hjärta är ditt (modern spelling) are almost the exakt same in modern Swedish. Though there is a noticable difference in the spelling. In modern swedish älskan min has changed to min älskade but still. I didn't expect to understand as much of it as I did. Oh and fantastic work as always BTW.
Im honestly stunned as an eastern slav
You did our cultural music so well, thank you for having women sing some parts
They are a big part of our music
Hello! I have just read your name is one of your parents Coptic? I am a Coptic Egyptian.
@amirelkomos6457 ⲁϩⲁ, ⲡⲁⲓⲟⲧ ⲡⲉ ⲣⲙⲛⲭⲏⲙⲓ (ايوه، ابويا مصري)
@@stiqioy اتشرفت بحضرتك.
بتتكلم قبطي كمان! عاااااش بجد! اتعلمت قبطي منين؟
@@amirelkomos6457 انا عارف اتكلم شويه بس
I'm not fluent or anything like that
and the moment i almost fell asleep farya snaped me back to reality with a notification of a new amazing piece of music. Seems the sleeping time s just been delayed. Been waiting for something just as grand as Justinian and Crusader but seems that i ve got evene more. Thanks, Farya! Also Last Stand is a cool choice for one of final pieces
Yeah I often repeat the same titles across my symphonies; my way of making a point about the universality of human experience and whatnot haha
@@faryafarajiand a collaboration of two of the best in the the field, dream come true
I fell asleep and Farya posted this masterpiece
hearing 'Death' after listening and following along with the story it hit me right in the feelings, gave me goosebumps.
oh and especially the last lyrics of 'the last stand' made me feel real sad.
The 'Death' was the perfect embodiment of it in song form. All the memories, your life flashing before your eyes, before you lie cold you remember your life and all you have done and what has happened.
It was truly devastating, beautiful and peaceful all at the same time
I never anticipated such a mesmerizing, otherworldly experience in witnessing the grand Varangian saga; it truly stands as your magnum opus, surpassing even the majestic heights of the Justinian Symphony.
Without even going into the musical artistry, the composition, the attention to detail, the rich instrumentation, the use of leimotifs from within this symphony and from the rest of your work.
The story itself, painted like this, could easily be a movie!
I dream of glory beyond this farm...
Relatable
@@Alexander-oq3gc 😂 same
That ending is absolute peak cinema
Or peak acoustics, as it were lol
1:42:47 i loved the wedding part. It reminded me of the greek patinades when somebody got married in a Greek island. Also the rhythm of the lyra is very similar to Armenaki. The choise of greek is also great because patinades are usually sung by close friends or people attending the marriage
You're hearing correctly! I wrote this part entirely based on Nisiotika traditional songs of the Aegean islands, and my buddy Dimitrios brought it to life with the instruments :)
It's an honor for me to see Georgian script displayed on your work.
3h?!?! Yooooo let's go!!! Thanks a lot Farya and Skaldic Bard!
OMG! My name is Astrid ❤
You died 😞
@Hu55ar everyone died 😞
The twist on the hikanatoi theme was genius
Holy cow
This hit hard
This genuinely moved me in a way that nothing else you've made, not even Justinian, has.
Farya, somehow you've exceeded even Justinian in all its glory with this. Can't wait to see what's next- and the Skaldic Bard collab was GLORIOUS too. I loved hearing all the familiar themes, and new ones too!
THIS IS EPIC, 38:20 , 1:00:58 References after references to songs made by both music creators ,GENIUSES MAN JUST A PURE MASTERPIECE im going crazy each time there's a refference man YOOOOOO SKALDIC'S VARANGIAN AT 1:20:50 BRO NAAAH 1:31:21 IS FARYA'S VARANGIAN TOO NAHH BROOOOOO!!! 1:55:22 HARDRADAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! 2:06:47 YOOO 2:22:48 WHAAAAAAATTT?!?!?! 2:43:09 HU! HU! HU! YA ALLAH! HAQ HAQ HAQ YA ALLAH! HU! HU! HU! YA ALLAH! HAQ HAQ HAQ YA ALLAH! 2:46:28 THE HIKANATOI'S COMING! 2:52:04 THEY LOST 2:53:52 KOM HEILL BANI KOM HEILL BANI KOM HEILL BANI KOM HEILL BANI KOM HEILL BANI....this is one of the best things i've listened to, i have edited this comment many times in order to put in my reactions, Farya and Skald and all the participants in this have accomplished the creation of a masterpiece, a three hour song,i've listened to in 30 minutes and concluded this,speedrun.
You are a real one for getting all these
What's kom hel bani? Is it used in previous musics?
@@ਗੁਰਸਿਮਰਸਿੰਘ the translation is in the video
@@dutystalker ik but is this sed in any of his previos musics?
OH MY GOD, SKALDIC BARD AND FARYA COLLAB. AND IT'S 3 HOURS LONG. THIS IS A MOMENT IN HISTORY!!!!!
You’re on fire. I can’t wait to see you do a symphony on Achilles or the Trojan War
33:08 no brother! Dont fall for the temptation!
This is the best Christmas gift one could get. Thank you papa farya for this marvelous feast
I loved the lore of that varangian
You know you're awesome when you read the amount of amazement of your fans on their comments. Congratulations to all involved! Truly epic folks!
3 hour long Varangian saga piece of music by Farya and Skaldic Bard? Excellent Christmas gift!
I think I've listened to Farya too much to the point where I keep checking the lyrics to immerse myself more into the story of the music. A certified classic. Thanks for the banger.
Our ears have been blessed
I'm still listening, but when I heard the Varangian Guard Ballad from Skallad I got the largest grin, then when I heard parts of Boulgarktonos, I felt another grin come across my face. Also, the addition of parts of Reforms from your Justinian symphony was a beautiful call back. So far, it's a beautiful symphony and tops the Justinian one in my opinion.
I knew the weekly song upload going missing was unusual, glad to see it was for the grandest symphony, both in scale of themes and instruments, that you have crafted yet. The most grand of standing ovations for you, funny persian man.
As a historical Reenactor, Byzantine fan and Farya-enthusiast, I couldn't wish for a better present 🔥
May God bless you Farya! You are truly amazing! And Skaldic Bard as well! Thank you all so much for your hard work and dedication to create such masterpieces which give us strenght to carry on and make life feel worth living! There still is hope for humanity! ❤
Oh boy, this is really the Time for Giving. Christmas came early lads. Virtuous Farya and the Bard went all out with this one. Thanks gentlemen, we didn't deserve such bounty.
Love how Farya included both the Hikkanatoi and Seljuk theme at the Manzikert section.
As well as terirem
Can you leave me the timestamp of the Hikanatoi? I can't find it
@@Uy1825 2:46:27
@@ShahzadeOfGallia Thanks!
Farya finds anyway to fit Sons of Mars anywhere and I’m here for it
This is breathtaking! One of your best symphonies for sure! So many good moments, new and old leitmotifs (usage of the Scandinavian female song to end the symphony reminded me of the "Gladiator" movie).
And great thanks (Дякую and Спасибо!) for the Old East Slavic parts of the symphony! Kyivan Rus is somewhat unrepresented even in Byzantine-related historical media.
Amazing end product from an incredible mind! Bravo Farya and thank you very much for including me in this EPIC!
The blending of all motifs and different cultural elements makes this creation a true masterpiece!
OH THANK YOU FARYA IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! What an amazing present!
Happy birthday💪
I just finished listening to that masterpiece. It is very long but it worths every single second that you are hearing.I discovered ScaldBard a few months ago and I like the music he makes. I am Greek and I have to admit that again that your accent was very good for a Non-Greek speaker. Finally I love that two musicians collaborated to create a Symphony that is 3 hours long and featured so many different languages and rythms. If I could rated it I was for sure putting 10/10. Merry Christmas to Everyone!!
A GROUP OF MAN COOKING FOR STRAIGHT 3 HOURS HELL YEAH 🔥🔥🔥 χαίρε βάρανγγι!!
Been listening to this almost nonstop for the past couple days, absolutely epic. One thing that intrigues me that I haven't seen anyone else comment on, that this is the second piece of yours I've listened to with a chapter titled "My New Faith". Both of these are stories of warriors, centuries apart, in the very same city, who adopt a new faith for twisted reasons. The Janissary, who is forced to convert to Islam, and the Varangian, who begins his worship of Christ not out of reverence but because he has been seduced by the wealth and opulence of Constantinople (both literally and as personified by Isabella), and believes Christ will give him wealth and power in exchange for his worship. And the tragedy is that by the time the Varangian realizes that it was all vanity, he's so far steeped in blood and gold that there's no way out, and all he can do is see his course through to the bitter end, all while counseling a young basileus not to make the same mistakes he did.
And The Last Stand, is just perfect at depicting the final moments at Manzikert, as the Varangians make their final stand, the protagonist giving his commands and watching his men fight their last. When Astrid's leitmotif comes in for a moment in the battle, I can picture the grizzled captain of the guard, having done all he can to command his men up to that point, seeing more and more of his men fall while the younger, stronger warriors are tightly encircling the emperor in their final moments. Then his mind drifts for a split second as he accepts his fate, and he pictures Astrid's face again, which steels his resolve enough for him to take his last act of courage and make his death charge at Alp Arslan. The sheer image of the grey bearded Varangian captain making his suicidal charge to meet the sultan in single combat is just a perfect tragic end to the action, and his last words encapsulate the overall theme so well.
Altogether perfect beginning to end. Bravo!
I'm really happy that the images you describe are exactly what I was imagining when composing this haha, good to hear, and thanks alot for the kind words!